Good morning... All weekend long, gift items kept arriving on our doorstep. Toiletry packs. Beautiful, reusable bags. Bibles and Scripture cards. A bunch of brown boxes were dropped off by Amazon. Kleenex packs. Nail files and gum. Lotions and lip gloss. Some people left their offerings on our front porch. Fuzzy socks. Colorful journals and pens. Handwritten notes [...]
Good morning... Yesterday I went to the memorial service for Edith (Dede) Burnette, the mom of a loyal friend in our Friday morning class. Held in our small chapel at Northside Church, the service offered beautiful music (Blessed Assurance and Amazing Grace), encouraging Scriptures (Psalm 23, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, Revelation 21:1-7), and a few prayers with brief, touching remarks [...]
Good morning... With the humid heat and our furry dog, I began a short walk to take care of her business. When I saw a gorgeous plume of colorful clouds blessing the morning sky, I turned around and went back to our home to get my phone. With leash in hand, I awkwardly took photos of the gentle [...]
Good morning... On the same morning my 86 year old mom left the skilled nursing care center to return home to the villa with my dad in Ohio, a dear, dear friend settled her own aging mom into her new home, a memory care facility in Huntsville, Alabama. That same evening, another loyal friend rested beside her mom [...]
Good morning... Sarah Otto, the Retreat and Program Director at Ignatius House Retreat Center, reached out to me on Tuesday morning. "I realize I didn't text you about an upcoming ISP retreat!" she wrote. (Remember, ISP stands for Ignatian Spirituality Project, a program which offers quarterly spiritual retreats for people recovering from homelessness and addiction in our community). [...]
Good morning... "Hi Sue," she wrote after yesterday's blog post. "Up early today and feeling connected to you and your thoughts. Your messages always draw me back toward a centering orbit. Thank you for the beacon, the reminder - that every day we live, breathe, and walk through our day - is the most precious blessing." Below her [...]
Good morning... I received this fun photo from my sister yesterday. In March, she will celebrate the birth of her second grandchild. Soon after, I received another text. "We started hospice care on my mom today," wrote a friend who has been nurturing her mother in the ICU. "What might that look like?" I texted back. "We started [...]
Good morning... Might it be time to break out of your shell? We can learn important lessons from a baby chick. The protective shell, which has been strong enough to shield the creature from the outside world, eventually becomes permeable. As the maturing bird absorbs calcium from the egg, her bones grow stronger, stronger, stronger. Additional calcium is [...]
Good morning... Stuck at the airport, so many people have experienced travel troubles this summer. In solidarity with the mixed-up masses, a friend shared a real story which gently shifts our perspective. ****** "Gate A-4" by Naomi Shihab Nye Wandering around the Albuquerque Airport Terminal, after learning my flight had been delayed four hours, I heard an announcement: [...]
Good morning... After writing about our need to be kneaded by God, I am drawn back to an old favorite poem. The first line begins: "It takes time to bake a loaf of bread, to grind, to knead, to wait..." Please take your time, reading these sacred words as slowly as you can. ****** It Takes Time by [...]
