Where Love And Hatred Meet
Good morning... She also loved the same profound sentence from yesterday's post, The Mathematics of Love. "Your love has a math that compounds according to the mystical science of the cross." Opening wide the blessing, she read aloud to me a poem about God's compounding love. Now it's our turn to embody these words, to read slowly and to ponder deeply the mystical science of the cross. [...]
The Mathematics Of Love
Good morning... "Sue and Steve," a longtime friend emailed my husband and me yesterday. "Sending blessings to the two of you who minister to so many in so many ways. I bet you already have this resource, but I’m forwarding in case you don't. Steve, I am praying for you and our community at Lovett as we begin a new school year. God is in the mix!" Then she shared with us the [...]
Audrey Amazes Everyone
Good morning... This wordless prayer card I created, which remains front and center for me this week, depicts my deepest desire for Audrey DeShetler: May she live to be a wise, old woman. A resilient eighteen year old, who is battling through her fifth relapse, Audrey was diagnosed with neuroblastoma at age five. Being treated with risky radioactive therapy at the Children's Healthcare of Philadelphia, Audrey amazed the doctors as her body processed [...]
I Want To Know…
Good morning... It doesn't interest me to know... what my husband and I will look like as we age. I want to know... how to connect amid the toxicity of our world. I want to know... how to rise above my self-protection (my clenched fists, my rushing forward, my eyes down), rising above to let my true colors come out to play. I want to [...]
Family Photos Whisper Truth
Good morning... With our oldest son's wedding less than three weeks away, we pulled out our plastic picture bin to search for framable photos for the rehearsal dinner. Along with lots of fun pictures of Kyler and Chandler as a couple, we will include photos from our own wedding, from her parents' wedding, and from the weddings of the four sets of grandparents grounding our family tree. Wandering through a visual lineage of [...]
We All Need Help
Good morning... The Holy Spirit of God gives power, wisdom, and guidance to all of us, each day. How often do we fully access this gracious gift? But this is what God told the prophet Joel to say, “When the last days come, I will give my Spirit to everyone. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your young men will see visions, and your old men will have dreams. In those days I [...]
We Are Given Holy Spirit Power
Good morning... Two segments of Scripture quietly flow my way in the early morning hours of this brand new day. Dear friends, keep building on the foundation of your most holy faith, as the Holy Spirit helps you to pray. And keep in step with God's love, as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to show how kind he is by giving you eternal life (Jude 1:20-21, CEV). My deepest prayer is [...]
God In Stereo!
Good morning... "God in stereo!" she emailed me after yesterday's post, What's The True Purpose Of Prayer?" She shared with me a devotional message she had just read, a message amplifying the process of metamorphosis, God's Spirit gradually transforming ordinary people, like you and like me, into the very image of Christ. ****** "Truth For Life Daily: Alistair Begg Devotional" August 9, 2023 - Work Out Your Salvation, Philippians 2:12 Every parent knows [...]
What’s The True Purpose Of Prayer?
Good morning... "Good morning Sue - we are on the same wavelength," she wrote after yesterday's post, Uncertain. Unsettled. Ungrounded. "I read this a few days ago and was reminded of it as I read your reflection - XO." “Are our needs important to God? Yes. But the true purpose of prayer is to commune with the God of our souls, to be enclosed with Him, adoring Him, and conformed to His likeness. [...]
Uncertain. Unsettled. Ungrounded.
Good morning... When I try hard to walk a perfectly straight line through the foggy haze of this wounding world, my forceful feet fail me. Peace. Playfulness. Inner balance. These life-giving qualities evaporate. Like a giant balloon girl in the showy Macy's parade, I float through the motions, hovering aimlessly. Ungrounded. Uncertain. Unsettled in my soul. I start to stop trying. I’m not trying to get my way in the world’s way (Psalm [...]
Steve Does A Sweet Baptism
Good morning... Ordained as a Presbyterian minister, my husband Steve has been helping out a bit at Kairos Church, a small nearby church that is in between pastors. Last week, he led communion; this week he did a sweet baptism. The father of the baptized baby is one of Steve's former students from Lovett, and the paternal grandfather and his awesome wife came on our Israel trip in 2022. Over the years, our [...]
Your Ache. My Ache.
Good morning... One line lingers from a poem I shared this week: "Your ache. My ache." After last week's church service, several of us stayed behind to lay hands on Julianna, a 38 year old mom of four who is a committed member of our small group. We spoke intimate blessing over her and her husband, as she prepared for surgery this week to remove her colon cancer. In prayerful solidarity we expressed, [...]