Good morning... This is the question grabbing my attention from yesterday's post Eight Questions To Ponder: "How have I been shaped by the strongest hate and the strongest love?" Asked by the speaker to quickly jot our first response to each of the eight questions, my answer to this question tumbled onto two lists. Strongest hate: Names of my [...]
Good morning... This hurting world needs Our Special Endowment, the unique spiritual gift God has placed within each of us. Tucked inside the bulletin from our Women's Lenten Communion Service, we meet deep questions to help us discern: “GOD, WHAT AM I MADE FOR?” Focusing on these eight questions as we journey through the forty days of Lent, we [...]
Good morning... He sent me a poem last week, a poem giving voice to our shocking loss, now a poem speaking truth in the wake of a school shooting, and, years back, a poem ringing true on the day it was written by a 12th-century Jewish poet. ****** 'Tis A Fearful Thing by Yehuda HaLevi (1075 – 1141) ‘Tis a [...]
Good morning... I slept well in the afterglow of the Women's Lenten Communion Service. Now quietly I sit and savor the Scriptures saturating last night's trip-fold bulletin. Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, [that special endowment] which was intentionally bestowed on you [by the Holy Spirit]... Practice and work hard on these things; be absorbed in them [completely [...]
Good morning... In my recent post Fill The Hole In My Soul, I shared words handwritten by my 25-year-old self in my first official journal back in 1988. Afterward a supportive subscriber wrote: "Wow. You are the same as when you were at 25. Older. Wiser. But really the same. If you had cut and pasted that message from your [...]
Good morning... Over thirty years ago when my husband and I walked up the wedding aisle as twenty-four year old newlyweds, we could not have known we would wake today seeking God's wisdom with a community of grievers. Before crafting this morning's blog message, I dig down deep to mine the hidden gems of God's living presence. As the [...]
Good morning... I am not sure why the Spirit nudged me to google: "Mother Teresa quotes." I suppose I was looking for a bit of wisdom from a woman who loved well, loved both our God and the hurting people around her. The following poem was reportedly inscribed on the wall of the home she founded for orphaned children [...]
Good morning... Somewhere at some point within this past week, I ran across this quote hanging on someone's wall: "Our deepest roots are not touched by the frost." Our deepest roots have been growing since God first brought us to mind, and disaster and depression and even death deepen us down to our sturdiest roots. Jesus whispers, "I have [...]
Good morning... Looking for something else in our storage room, I found an unexpected gift. This week both of our daughters have had a friend end their earthly lives early. One young man a senior, one a freshman, each at different colleges. In life's darkest hours, I struggle: "Where are You, God? Who are You, God? God, what are [...]
Good morning... "Your post reminds me of one of my favorite poems," she wrote after reading yesterday's message, Be Deep-Spirited Friends. ****** “The Friend who Just Stands By,” B. Y. Williams When trouble comes your soul to try, You love the friend who just “stands by.” Perhaps there’s nothing he can do— The thing is strictly up to you; [...]
