Good morning... In yesterday's blog post, I shared about The Dawn Of Advent, introducing you to the daily devotional gift of Dr. James Johnson, our Discipleship Director from Northside Church. By mistake, I gave you the wrong link to sign yourself up to receive these morning messages throughout the season of Advent. The link I gave somehow returned [...]
Good morning... Yesterday the annual email came in, announcing the beginning of Northside Church's Advent devotional. Exquisitely written and creatively shared, the talent of Dr. James Johnson and his new wife, Elisabeth Shabbi Johnson, are on full display. I invite you to come along on the daily journey with us, beginning with yesterday's introductory email. ****** Introduction to [...]
Good morning... In last week's Sunday school class, we admired the kindness, the empathy and the attunement of the main character in the book Theo of Golden, written by Allen Levi. Learning from the life of Theo, might we all come to realize how important it is to see people, really see people who are walking this earth [...]
Good morning... "Was that you walking down the street with a red tree last Friday?" asked a curious neighbor. "Yes. That was me," I replied. "The branches were cut from a large tree near the horse farm, and they were way too beautiful to be eaten by the wood chipper. So I brought them home." I was walking [...]
Good morning... All week last week, Steve visited with his 94 year old mom in rural Pennsylvania. Cold. Windy. Harsh. He experienced a different kind of beauty found in our family's favorite summertime spot. Also last week, as my sister was preparing the traditional family Christmas calendar for [...]
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 [...]
