Good morning... Unexpectedly waking at dawn near Cleveland, Ohio, I shed quiet tears beside the bay window in my parents' villa. As I look out on their continuum of care community, gloomy rain turns to gentle, white snowflakes on this memorable late March morning. Soon we will visit my mom in the ICU, wondering whether her loving life [...]
Good morning... Wrapped beneath a cozy blanket, I nestle alone on the outdoor couch below our back porch. With my ear to my phone, I savor the four familiar voices on our monthly call. After the silence of our opening prayer, one friend reads aloud a poem. What a quietly transformational place to begin. ****** Hide and Seek [...]
Good morning... This baffled woman surrounded by a wide variety of delicious possibilities represents the way I feel the morning after my fun filled birthday: "I don't remember the name, but it had a taste that I liked." I couldn't possibly name all of the nuanced ways God's love pours through you to me yesterday. Just like a [...]
Good morning... "Hi there," yesterday I texted a dear friend I have enjoyed quality time with for nearly thirty years. "I have our birthday season lunch on my calendar. What time do you want to meet at our special spot?" "Argh," she replied immediately, "was just going to write you. Spent five hours in Kaiser Urgent Care yesterday. [...]
Good morning... I have continued to think about a random quote shared in our supervision group last week. "There are a lot of people who work for God and very few who actually work with God." Changing just one word makes all the difference. What might it mean for us to work with God rather than working for [...]
Good morning... During our Friday morning class, we wondered together how we ordinary people might actually hear the guiding voice of God. Enlivening our discussion, one of our classmates told us a true story. Lake Blue Ridge is a thin place for this friend, a sacred spot where heaven and earth seem seamlessly bound. On one of her [...]
Good morning... After texted about My Rough Re-entry, my friend responded with life-giving words. "You are carrying the load," she noticed, "yoking with so many." "This morning I read a Kate Bowler devotional (my Lenten practice) from _Good Enough_," my friend explained. "She wrote about this idea: Sometimes there are two selves - a 2:00 am self (the [...]
Good morning... It can be hard to re-enter life's normal rhythm after being swept up into mountaintop moments. Personally, quietly, my re-entry has been rough. Sharing my truth, I found myself texting a friend in the middle of the night. "I am taking my time re-entering the rhythm of life following our ten day trip through Israel," I [...]
Good morning... I have texted with a dear friend whose husband was forced to retire this week due to worsening health concerns. "My heart is heavy," she wrote. "We finished moving him completely out of his office yesterday. 35 years as a lawyer, reduced to a few boxes piled in a closet in the home office we are [...]
Good morning... After exploring the varied history and terrain of the countryside of Israel, Steve emailed our group a summary of our time together. Reliving our moments through the Hebrew words chosen for each day brings on a collective smile, helping us to hear, to remember, to live out our own personal love affair with God. ****** [...]
