Good morning... "Friendship is one of the greatest gifts a human being can receive," observes Henri Nouwen's morning meditation from 1.7.18. "It is a bond beyond common goals, common interests, or common histories. It is a bond stronger than sexual union can create, deeper than a shared fate can solidify, and even more intimate than the bonds of marriage [...]
Good morning... Today, I could write about football, yesterday's rainy day off school, or our daughter's safe return from Australia with her tattered, three-wheeled suitcase. This morning, I could write about our finicky coffee pot, this week's beginning of our new class semester, or the strengthening pull of God's call upon my life. Right now, I could write about [...]
Good morning... "Amen and amen," she wrote after yesterday's post, God's Peace Is Louder Than Bombs. She continued: "After a year of what has felt like bombs in our world order, I’m wondering if God’s faithful are digging in closer to Him (breathing deeply) and exhaling more of His goodness, grace, peace, and light. Let’s make this the year [...]
Good morning... She texted me this poem as she lay in bed following surgery. I sense deep peace gathering strength, within and around her. ****** Amazing Peace by Maya Angelou It is the Glad Season. Hope is born again in the faces of children. It rides on the shoulders of our aged as they walk into their sunsets. Hope spreads [...]
Good morning... "I must listen to my life and try to understand what it is truly about - quite apart from what I would like it to be about - or my life will never represent anything real in the world, no matter how earnest my intentions," writes Parker Palmer, author of the book we will be digesting and [...]
Good morning... As I wake, an old song wells up within my soul and I marinate in a tried, true favorite performed live in 2007. Though I do not know what language is being translated in this YouTube video, I love the foreign subtitles and the clearly-moved crowd visually reminding me: God's Word lights the path for every person [...]
Good morning... Waking to frigid temperatures, she playfully texted me after yesterday's post, "Heaven may be better than Hawaii, but I wouldn't mind going to Hawaii now..." (three smiley, sunglassed emoji faces). "Agreed. Do you know Messiah and his family?" I asked because my friend has close ties to our cancer community. "No, I don't," she answered. "I was [...]
Good morning... A prayer grows roots deep in my soul. "LORD, You are the Director. Help me be a clear reflector." I envision a still lake reflecting the pink-purple pastels painted by the rising sun and the old oak trees silhouetted by the same sun as it sets. The more still the water, the more clear the moving reflection. [...]
Good morning... Throughout this Christmas season, a small group of us have been praying for a boy with cancer named Messiah. "My Make A Wish child, Messiah, passed away this morning," our friend texted us midday, completely brokenhearted. "We didn't have time to fulfill his wish of going to Hawaii. Life is so short and precious." "I'm so sorry, [...]
Good morning... After yesterday's post, I pondered all day, "What is my 'one thing'?" What is the 'one thing' I cling to that shrinks heavens treasures while I walk this earth? My fear of pain. My love of comfort. My desire to get what I want when I want it. "LORD, is there really only 'one thing' I lack?" [...]
