Good morning... When I posted yesterday's message, "The gift of tears," I did know know I would be crying within a few short hours. As he told his personal story through heaving waves of tears, he struggled to say, "These have been the best years of my life." His gut-wrenching tears wrenched my gut and I began to cry. [...]
Good morning... She expressed concerned over crying so much. So I wrote to her my thoughts about the gift of tears. Grief is an unpredictable thing. "Crying so much lately" may feel like "going backward" instead of "making headway," but I think tears are a sign of the Holy Spirit deeply at work. Tears tenderize us and express overwhelming [...]
Good morning... Heading into a difficult day, a close friend wrote to request my prayers of solidarity. God crafted through me the message below, a message I sense He wants all of us to experience. As we face various challenges requiring the brute strength of what my friend calls our "faith and courage muscles," we tap into the power [...]
Good morning… A well-loved subscriber from Jacksonville, Florida often sends me words of loving encouragement. This week she sent me the 5.4.17 blog of Maureen Ahearn Cully entitled "Begin with the End in Mind." I resonate with these words as our oldest son graduates from college today and my youngest daughter graduates from high school next Sunday. I am [...]
Good morning... Our prayers for healing from cancer for our friend Julie were not answered as we had hoped, but Julie's mom still believes in God's healing power, just like I do. Taught to trust through painful life experience after painful life experience, she still believes boldly in God's higher plan. "I only know that throughout my life, even [...]
Good morning... After yesterday's post, one subscriber wrote: "How to have faith and belief in God when you can’t KNOW everything is something I struggle with all the time. Your daily words help so much. I especially love your last words this morning and will keep them with me: 'My sinking heart can rise up and trust what my [...]
Good morning... My heart sank when my close friend texted yesterday morning, four days into her unexpected hospital stay: "Waiting for the pathology from the spinal tap. Yes, no doubt there is an abnormality. They have it in one of two camps: a very rare syndrome that causes recurrent meningitis or a malignant tumor. Praying no malignant or other [...]
Good morning... In my early morning hours, why has God been teaching me about boundaries? Boundaries seem like such a human construct, such a worldly theory, such a man made model for heathy living. Why focus my quiet time on boundaries, LORD? I sense God saying, "It is time to exchange your boundaries for My boundaries. As I melt [...]
Good morning... When I googled the term "semi-permeable boundaries" for yesterday's post, I happened upon this article by Dr. Neill Neill entitled: "Personal Boundaries and Healthy Relationships." The wisdom shared here is very important as we consider how we are made in the image of God and empowered by the Holy Spirit to follow in Jesus' footsteps into healthy [...]
Good morning... When I was training in my twenties to be a Marriage and Family Therapist, I learned a lot about boundaries. Some families have rigid boundaries. Secrets and unresolved pain grow like weeds in the petri dish of a closed system. Some families are open systems, where anything goes all the time, stripping members of privacy and protection. [...]
