Why Be Stingy?
Good morning... I love the way God bubbles up to blossom between us. The Holy Spirit nudged a loyal friend to share encouragement with our class yesterday: "Thinking of each of you and your families this 3rd Sunday in Lent. What a beautiful reflection below from my ever-favorite Henri Nouwen." ****** The Spring of Living Water by Henri Nouwen from Show Me the Way - Daily Lenten Readings, 1992 In the midst of [...]
It’s Never Too Early To Plan With Peace
Good morning... For thirteen consecutive years, our Women's Ministry at Northside Church hosted an annual gathering each spring. We called the well-attended evening event the "Women's Lenten Communion Service." Each year, we would invite a different woman from our faith community to share an uplifting talk about some pressing issue we might face in our lifetime. Together we tackled many important topics. Cancer and our journey through. Divorce and remarriage. Mental illness in [...]
Two Moms Went To Heaven
Good morning... Over the past several months, we have prayed diligently for my mom to pull through surgery after surgery and, gratefully, she is now slowly healing at home with my dad. At the same time, two other friends have said "goodbye" to their mothers on earth, releasing them to God's eternal care in the home of heaven. "Good morning Sue," one friend wrote this week from Florida. "My heart breaks for the [...]
My Muddled Emotions
Good morning... When I arrived at our therapeutic community group at PAWkids yesterday morning, I didn't know what "blob" from the "blob tree" described how I felt (this is a check-in ritual we share each week). My emotions were deeply muddled. I had just received a return text from a close friend who lives in Athens, Georgia, and, overwhelmed by her words, I read them out loud to the trusted men and women [...]
Polar Opposites Melt Together
Good morning... "Soak with me a while," I sense God whisper, as I snap this photo on a busy afternoon. The dark and the light. The cream and the color. The wet and the dry. The simple and the sacred. When the Spirit leads, opposites melt together. Within us and around us, opposites melt together. It doesn't take long to take quality time with God. A silent soak is well worth the investment. [...]
When Our World Feels On Fire
Good morning... She shared with us a photo when we met for class, a photo from St. Luke's church in Baton Rouge (her husband's parents' church) that burned last weekend. We marveled at the cross standing strong amid the fiery devastation. As I later read about the fire, I was struck by this hopeful line shared by Father Bryan Owen: "In the face of adversity, let us find solace and strength in our [...]
A Murder And A Suicide
Good morning... My prayers are sent forth to the families and friends of the two young people who died this week at the University of Georgia. A young woman was murdered while on a run in a familiar area and a young man hung himself in a freshman dorm. Classes were canceled yesterday as the whole community processes fear, shock, grief. God, I don't know how You might bring healing out of all [...]
Our Personal Transformation
Good morning... "The essence of Christian spirituality is following Christ on a journey of personal transformation," explains David G. Benner in Sacred Companions: The Gift of Spiritual Friendship & Direction. "The distant land to which we are called . . . is the new creature into which Christ wishes to fashion us - the whole and holy person that finds his or her uniqueness, identity and calling in Christ." If you have heard [...]
We Are Created For Oneness
Good morning... The waxing moon, three nights before full, casts a funky design on our bathroom floor, and moonlight paints cool shadows all over our living room walls. Beckoned barefoot out into the mild night, I marvel at the dark branches stretching toward the light of the moon. "If God's created world peacefully embodies light and dark, night [...]
A Gift For Our Mothers
Good morning... "It is a blessing to still have our mothers," a friend wrote after visiting her mom for her 86th birthday. I just returned home from Ohio after a successful surgery for my own 85-year-old mom. "Praise the Lord for good news about your mom's surgery, Sue!" wrote another dear friend. "Speaking of moms and the special place they have in our lives, I think you would like [...]
My Mom’s Surgery Day
Good morning... I loved overhearing my parents' conversation in the kitchen as I got ready in the living room for my mom's surgery day. "Well, I had my first surgery on Labor Day and now hopefully my last reversal surgery on President's Day," astutely said my 85-year-old mom. "You can tell I was a kindergarten teacher, always moving from holiday to holiday." "Without holidays, what would a kindergarten teacher do?" laughed my dad. [...]
A White Feather From Heaven
Good morning... "Another minute. Another day. Year after year. Life lives through us. What an incredible gift." I had just finished reading these final words from our Saturday morning blog post, We Live Through Death. The message shared a moving poem by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer entitled Still Here. Suddenly, I felt a prick on my left arm, and, looking down, I saw this small white feather. I smiled at the mysterious creativity of [...]