My Mom And Audrey
Good morning... I woke yesterday in Ohio on my mom's 87th birthday. Her part-time helper snapped a few pictures of us before we shared her birthday breakfast in their villa and opened her birthday cards and gifts. After the simple celebration, I opened my computer and up popped a reminder: "Audrey DeShetler's birthday." Sure enough my mom and Audrey share the same June 9th [...]
Audrey’s In Heaven
Good morning... Around 3:00 pm yesterday, from Jennifer DeShetler our small group of friends received a text. "Audrey just passed." Then privately she wrote me. "Who is the pastor on duty?" "I will ask," I replied. "Will get back to you." "Please asap." I connected her to Dr. Bill, our head pastor at Northside Church. Soon after, I read the Facebook post written by Audrey's big brother, Scott (seen smiling a week ago [...]
Audrey’s Prayer Walk
Good morning... Last night, on the grounds of my parents' senior living community in Ohio, I went on a walk at dusk, around 7:30 pm. At 7:56 pm, I received this update from the DeShetler family. I gave my full focus to our God, the Maker of heaven and earth, asking for divine healing power to saturate [...]
Prayers For Audrey
Good morning... This morning, my soul possesses the Spirit of the living God. So does yours. So does Audrey's. So do the souls of her family and all her many loved ones. Our souls all possess the Spirit of the One and Only, the everlasting God. The eternal power of God is not contained by heaven and earth. This morning our souls are greater than the painful struggles of this world. Because we [...]
Audrey’s In The ICU
Good morning... At 10:00 am at University Hospital near Cleveland, Ohio, my dad had surgery scheduled to remove a cancer spot on his leg yesterday. I stayed at their villa, caring for my mom. At 9:30 am yesterday at CHOA in Atlanta, Georgia, Audrey DeShetler was scheduled to have surgery to put in a stent to open up her bile duct that was pressed in by new tumors. Both surgeries began late. My [...]
Dad Asked For Help
Good morning... "I'm having surgery on my leg to remove a cancer spot on June 5th. Is there any way you could come in town to be with your mom during my procedure?" my dad asked in April, as I visited my parents in Ohio for my dad's 88th birthday. I felt honored my dad asked. To be trusted with my mom's care. To be vulnerable enough to ask for what he needed. [...]
Shift Your Focus
Good morning... There are lots of quirky artists. Grant Snider's work, as creator of Incidental Comics, feels absolutely fabulous to me. As a person who examines myself incessantly, I love the shift Grant captures on a moonless night. The heavens tell about the glory of God. The skies announce what his hands have made. Each new day tells more of the story, and each night reveals more and more about God’s power. You [...]
Quiet Kind Of Miracle
Good morning... These words came to me and stayed. "You don't have to rush to be loved." Grow at your own pace. You are worthy, already. Patience is a quiet kind of miracle. There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in [...]
Benefits Of Being Late
Good morning... My inner clock is set at ten minutes late. Actually, my problem is this: I get so caught up in the present moment that I have a hard time ending what I am doing now to move on to comes next. And... Atlanta driving is always quite iffy, so add that to my equation, and I am notoriously late. On a day crammed full with really good stuff, I had to [...]
Take Margaret’s Hand
Good morning... As Margaret wakes the day after the memorial service for her husband Tommy, I pray that you take her hand, Lord. Please guide her, moment by moment, step by step. "The substance of grief is also the substance of love," writes author and artist Jan Richardson. "They are made of the same stuff, and if we can be present to this—if we can stay with both the grief and the love [...]
I Search For A Pearl
Good morning... Each dark night when I am stirred from sleep, I find myself in search of a pearl, a pearl of wisdom, a fresh revelation. Like a mesmerized mermaid, I dive deep down, deep down to the foot of Christ's heavy cross. There I discover a gem, a gift of the Holy Spirit. I am always amazed when you tell me, "Today you wrote [...]
Grief: Love’s Shadow
Good morning... Up in the darkness of this night, I pull out yesterday's funeral bulletin to revisit my own handwriting. "Grief is the shadow side of love," said our pastor in his message. It's true, isn't it? What we love, and lose, we grieve. What we deeply, deeply love, we deeply, deeply grieve. Resting in the shadow of our grief, we savor all we've loved. Sages invest themselves in hurt and grieving (Ecclesiastes [...]