Good morning... As our daughter was in Louisiana with friends Grieving A Suicide, the Henri Nouwen meditation for yesterday brought to life the gift she was experiencing. Our ability to suffer in solidarity, with God and with each other, creates beautiful moments amid life's brokenness. "God loves us so much that he does not simply take our suffering [...]
Good morning... As I drove our oldest daughter to the airport yesterday, God felt very present. Tessa was flying to Baton Rouge, Louisiana to support a group of college students she cares about after the brother of one young woman died of suicide this week. Tessa does college ministry at the University of Georgia through the thriving chapter [...]
Good morning... As we begin this Thanksgiving week, there are places to be and people to see, with a huge list of to-do's to accomplish. Check. Check. Check. We embody the common phrase, "Don't just stand there. Do something." Yet I am drawn to live this week differently. I return to one sentence from our book for this [...]
Good morning... After creating Martha's Happy Painting, my artist friend, Gina, talked about the process of transforming the unfinished painting I had purchase at a flea market. "Sue, the original looked like the painter was struggling with body form, layout and color," Gina wrote. "The colors were cold and it had no depth. I did not like the [...]
Good morning... Last Friday night, I received this text from a friend. "At a Rally Foundation event," she wrote. "The DeShetlers just won a trip!! God's handiwork!" (As you likely remember, Audrey DeShetler's fifteen year cancer journey took her to heaven in June, ten hours shy of her twentieth birthday). Texting with Jennifer and our Fab Five friend [...]
Good morning... I've told you about Martha Kimbel, our friend who had taught beloved fitnesses classes at Northside Church for twenty-five years. Eight years ago her husband's Alzheimer's worsened and she needed to stay home as his full time caregiver. Two years ago, her husband, Chris, went to heaven. Martha feared her dancing days were over, but, in [...]
Good morning... "From my writer/poet/mystic friend from high school," my friend texted me last night, sharing these touching words. "I love this," I replied. "ME too!" she responded. "He's gifted with tender words." I will add my own wonders to the list of a thousand different things. our new puppy licking [...]
Good morning... Last Monday night, we had dinner with our small group, a group we've been meeting with regularly for several years now. Each time we've gathered, we've shared a meal and talked about faith and kids, weddings and grandkids, aging parents and life's highs and lows. One man asked, "Throughout your lifetime, what life phase has been [...]
Good morning... The unusual word "storehouse" came to me twice last week. In our blog post on Saturday, we savored this prayer. Father, make my mind a storehouse for past promises kept, love lavished and hope fulfilled. Earlier in the week we had read "storehouse" in our book, God's Joyful Surprise by Sue Monk Kidd. Now I turn [...]
Good morning... She snipped and sent these powerful words. I have never thought about this enduring truth: The antidote for anxiety is remembering. Teach me to remember, Father, make my mind a storehouse for past promises kept, love lavished and hope fulfilled - so that I can be a prophet to my own present, a watchman on the [...]
