Good morning... "The post is beautiful - just beautiful," my dear friend wrote after yesterday's message, When Our Strength Runs Out. "Seeing his obit in the paper this morning made it so real." She shared a red broken heart emoji. "It's a beautiful obituary," I texted back. "Simple. Straightforward. In keeping with his strong, loyal presence." My friend [...]
Good morning... My dear friend's husband died on Sunday night after a long, excruciating battle with a rare disease. He was just sixty-four years old. I am grateful this friend turned me onto the brilliant work of author Kate Bowler. It gives me great comfort knowing we both savored this holy blessing as we woke yesterday. ****** A [...]
Good morning... "After we let go, what do we do with our own emptiness?" a woman privately asked after my Let Go. Let God. talk with the Lovett Moms In Prayer. "Emptiness - we naturally feel it," I think I said. "Emptiness - we patiently endure it. Emptiness - we quietly wait for God to fill us." Ours [...]
Good morning... One of my favorite fall commitments, year after year, is speaking at the kickoff gathering for the Lovett School Moms In Prayer group. Yesterday around 8:00 am, about seventy-five of us collected in the Lovett scout hut to receive an encouraging word as we begin this new school year. I was kindly introduced. Sue Allen. Mom [...]
Good morning... Many public schools here in the south began classes on August 1st. Some private schools and colleges began last week, while others begin today. I talked with my brother in Pennsylvania last night, and they don't start school until next Monday. When we grew up in Ohio, the new school year always began after Labor Day. [...]
Good morning... I reminded her of a discerning truth we had learned together years ago. "When you are proceeding from good to better, you will experience God's touch as light and gentle, like a drop of water falling on a sponge," writes Larry Warner on page 153 in Journey With Jesus. If something is not right for now, [...]
Good morning... This week I learned a fascinating fact. The biggest booster of dopamine, our brain’s feel-good neurotransmitter, is community. Life-giving relationships boost our spirits more than a brisk walk, a great meal or an awesome glass of wine! No wonder we can’t wait to return to our weekly classes offered through Northside Church. Every semester, I am [...]
Good morning... "I'm going to Ukraine on the 29th," said LaTonya Gates, founder and director of PAWkids, as we sat together yesterday. "I'm excited about serving outside of our community. This 'Crates for Ukraine' project reaches so far outside of Grove Park to help people in great need." "What can we do to best support you?" I asked. [...]
Good morning... "It's like a ton of confetti has been unleashed from above," I told a friend yesterday. "This week I feel like I am frozen in one of those celebratory photographs, looking up, wondering how all of these pieces of possibility will fall into place." I texted another friend: "Overwhelmed and excited describes how I feel as [...]
Good morning... This week I have run into one rare word twice, in the thought-provoking image above and in Henri Nouwen's meditation below. Pilgrimage. This is a fresh word found in my everyday life. "A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about [...]
