Good morning... "Sweet dear friend," she emailed after yesterday's post, "I’m smiling as I know your family and I can just imagine how fun and light-filled that breakfast was and the jovial conversation which flowed from your son's prompt." "And yet I wonder," she continued, "how will these examples of near-death experiences “sit” with a community that is [...]
Good morning... What was my best birthday gift of 2019? All six of our family members coming into town to enjoy a Sunday brunch at West Egg on the westside. Our 24-year-old son brought back from his Campus Outreach beach trip one question that sparked an animated discussion: "When in your life have you been closest to dying?" [...]
Good morning... As we walk on the road God calls us to travel, we are encouraged by the verse ending yesterday's post: And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences (Ephesians [...]
Good morning... Inspired by a deep discussion over a birthday season brunch, God grew within me an opening activity for our Enneagram class this week. As about fifty women gathered together in the Chapel at church, I said, "On a blank sheet of paper, we are going to answer five simple questions. On the left side of your [...]
Good morning... Well. Your cascade of comments over the past twenty-four hours has been fascinating to me. Popping though the soil of our online community are a plethora of profound perspectives. As I sit back and witness God growing a gorgeous garden among us, I see four life-giving take-aways written in our collective handwriting. 1. We all make [...]
Good morning... "Did you read Sue's devotional? I thought it was unfortunate that she chose an unflattering story about Bryant Skinner after his death," read one text that came into my phone after yesterday's post. Oh no. I felt dread. Self-doubt. Embarrassment. What had I written that could be seen as unflattering? Had my prayed-over words been a [...]
Good morning... This morning in extra measure my soul lifts loving prayers for 93-year-old Betty Skinner. Today she and loved ones will lay to rest Bryant B. Skinner, Sr., a lifelong resident of Jacksonville, Florida, who died on March 10, 2019 at the age of 96. As Bryant's obituary reads: "He married Betty Walthour of Birmingham, AL, in 1948. They [...]
Good morning... As I flipped through my stack of favorite books for yesterday's post, I found my way back to two pages I love. The story of a tulip encourages us as we wait beneath the dark soil of not seeing, not knowing, not understanding exactly what God is growing in us. The beauty of spring popping in [...]
Good morning... With this Scripture verse ending yesterday's post we sense our True Self coming up like jonquils out of fallen snow: May He grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality] (Ephesians 3:16, AMP). I [...]
Good morning... "Beneath or inside the life we lead every day is another life," says the John Tarrant quote in the notes I borrowed from our 93-year-old friend, Christian mystic Betty Skinner. For years Betty used these notes to facilitate spiritual retreats on the Enneagram, the ancient study of the nine basic types of people. Now as I [...]
