Good morning... The Bible begins in chaos. When God began creating the heavens and the earth, the earth was a shapeless, chaotic mass, with the Spirit of God brooding over the dark vapors. Then God said, “Let there be light.” And light appeared (Genesis 1:1-3, TLB). Then immediately God went to work, divided the light from the darkness, [...]
Good morning... "In every picture you take at PAWkids, you exude such joy," said a trusted friend. I'm beginning to realize that the joy we exude offers an "X marks the spot" revelation. A sensation of joyful passion is a great indicator of where and with whom God might want us to invest our time and our talents. [...]
Good morning... As we met on Sunday to discuss the first five chapters of Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, we discussed the central Bible verse, highlighted here in various translations. Micah 6:8 - English Standard Version He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and [...]
Good morning... A forever friend sent me the image above. "I'm not interested in whether you've stood with the great. I'm interested in whether you've sat with the broken." True. Tender. Touching. I sense the nod of God. Words we read aloud in our Sunday afternoon class now bring this quote to life. ****** Excerpt from pages 17 [...]
Good morning... "And here is the miracle —" writes poet Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer, "to find in grief not only sorrow but a ravenous gratefulness for life, to find in loss not only emptiness but an unimaginable abundance. It doesn’t happen in a day, no, not even in a year, but who said miracles need be instantaneous." Words from [...]
Good morning... The praise band led us in a meaningful song. I thought of all the dusty rubble blanketing Ukraine. All our living bodies that came from dust and will someday return. The humbling pain of the lost, the grieving, the vulnerable. The organic growth of hope that mysteriously sprouts from our chaos. Revisiting the simple lyrics now, [...]
Good morning... As we move through this first month of this brand new year, we are repeatedly reminded that the world's ways oppose the ways of God. War. Greed. Violence. Injustice. Innocent death after innocent death. How are we to respond? Becoming a vessel of healing light and resurrected life in today's toxic times, we deepen down into [...]
Good morning... After snapping a photo of still branches silhouetted in purple gray, I revisit a quote shared by a friend before the dawn of a new day. "Sit with it. Sit with it. Sit with it. Sit with it. Even though you want to run. Even when it’s heavy and difficult. Even though you’re not quite sure [...]
Good morning... "As I let our little dog outside in the middle of this cold, dark night..." began our windchime blog post from yesterday. "I was feeding my adopted cat this morning..." later came her witty reply, an email entitled He Is Here. "I was walking back in the house to wash my hands. Happened to look down [...]
Good morning... As I let our little dog outside in the middle of this cold, dark night, my ears breathe in the music of our loudly dancing windchimes. Unseen. Untethered. Uncontrollable. The mystery of Movement plays all around me. My mind drifts to thoughts of yesterdays and yesteryears. I call to mind my music; it keeps me company [...]
