Good morning... As we enjoyed our current favorite show from the comfort of our bed, one sentence in a commercial caught my attention. I grabbed a pen and a box of Christmas matches still lingering on my dresser, and I jotted down the five words piquing my interest. "Everything is birthed through discomfort." These words are too important [...]
Good morning... As our immediate family celebrated the college graduation of our third child last night, it is a perfect morning to feed our ongoing needs as lifelong learners. Privately reading books and collaboratively discussing them is a great way to continue our spiritual education as followers of Christ. For the past few weeks, the following announcement has [...]
Good morning... Strolling our dog down a very familiar street, a breeze picked up and this beautiful blossom floated down at my feet. I stopped and marveled at the exquisite design. Right before my eyes, this fragile flower had just switched from the process of living fully to the process of dying quietly. In one instant, one moment, [...]
Good morning... Many of you have written to ask more about the EMOTION WHEEL talked about in yesterday's blog post, Treasure Each Tuesday. So, I went on a treasure hunt to find a copy of a similar image for our written word community, and viola! Here it is. Take a moment to look over the emotions detailed above. [...]
Good morning... Last Tuesday, I excitedly gathered the treasures pictured above. I collected these items in my little corner of our community, I packed them in my car and I drove to PAWkids, a non-profit ministry in the Grove Park neighborhood of downtown Atlanta. (PAWkids partners with Julie's Dream, a non-profit begun in honor of our dear friend [...]
Good morning... These rocks sit on the table beside the couch where I journal with God every morning. They are hard. They are rough. They are ugly, an eye sore. But when I turn them over, I see the sparking beauty of the gems inside. Recently I received words of wisdom unpacking for the the [...]
Good morning... Wildly generous artist Corinne Adams and I had a delightful time creating jewelry this month for the kids at the Agape Youth and Family Center (see our recent post I Feel Like Santa's Elf). Then our joy was made more complete as we and a few Julie's Dream volunteers spent Wednesday afternoon helping bilingual children of [...]
Good morning... My mind wakes from sleep filled with a short sentence. "This is an incredibly broken place." What an odd first thought for me, an eternal optimist. When I experience odd, unexpected, surprising, I figure the Spirit of God is somehow rising up to shed light on something new. What might this strange revelation mean? "This is [...]
Good morning... My spiritual director opens our phone conversation with a sacred reading each month. Through her surrendered spirit, God channels life-giving words. This month's poem woke up my wonder. ****** TRILLIUMS by Mary Oliver 'Every spring among the ambiguities of childhood the hillsides grew white with the wild trilliums. I believed in the world. Oh, I wanted [...]
Good morning... As I was sipping on coffee and writing our devotional message this morning, our twenty-six year old son came downstairs and climbed into our king-sized bed beside me and our dogs. With his acting up car still sitting at the mechanic's shop nearby, he unexpectedly spent the night at home. A few minutes later, coming upstairs [...]
