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 [...]
Good morning... "I've heard it said, 'We are in the down elevator of summer,'" she commented. What an interesting way to describe this week. In Atlanta, we woke to a cooler Saturday morning after a week of warm afternoon rains. Autumn seemed to briefly sneak peak her head around our corner, with hope in her eyes. Today a [...]
Good morning... As the song from yesterday's blog post ended, I was mysteriously led into a music video entitled "The Story Behind - The Anchor Holds written and performed by Lawrence Chewning." "We had one of those years," Lawrence admits. "It was 1992. My wife and I call it 'our year of sorrows.'" Pain piled up. The death [...]
Good morning... "Loved your reflection, Sue," after yesterday's post, The Perfect Getaway. "The amazing power (His not ours) of being still and truly listening! And now God speaks in stereo as I screen shot the verse I happened upon late last night." "The LORD will fight for you; you need only be still," says Exodus 14:14. In stillness, [...]
