Good morning... In my message yesterday morning, I honored my faithful friend Julie Harlan and by mid afternoon I got word that Julie had passed on to heaven. Her husband's words posted earlier this week have met their sequel. Chad wrote on Julie's CaringBridge page, "EVERYONE wonders how this rare form of cancer could happen to a healthy, fit, [...]
Good morning... When I shared lunch with my longtime friend Julie Harlan on Thursday, February 16th, the word "cancer" did not enter our meaningful conversation. The next Tuesday she had her annoying symptoms of reflux checked out medically, and by Thursday she was given a shocking diagnosis. Stomach cancer. On Saturday when I visited her at home to listen, [...]
Good morning... "Please transform my desires," I hear my deepest self say. "Please transform my desires into Your desires." I desire love. I desire power. I desire beauty. I desire wealth. I desire comfort. "LORD, help me to rest in Your love, Your power, Your beauty, Your wealth, Your comfort. Gradually surrendering more of me to more of You, [...]
Good morning... Betty Skinner walked slowly from the rugged valley of clinical depression up toward the mountaintop of joyful oneness with God. How did she do it? Betty took one healing step at a time. Solitude. Silence. Contemplative prayer. Eating well. Journaling thoughts. Creating art and poetry. Focusing on life's positives. Talking honestly with others. Enjoying long walks outside [...]
Good morning... Did I tell you that in January God brought a dog walker-whisperer into our Tuesday afternoon Bible study? Let me paint you the picture. We got our 8-week old puppy last June from Adopt-a-Golden Rescue and, when I began hosting daily classes in my home in September, Tate's puppy-ness was full-blown. She was an all-out-crazy bundle of [...]
Good morning... "Beautiful young people are accidents of nature," said Eleanor Roosevelt. "But beautiful old people are works of art." Last week, I shared my birthday lunch with beautiful 91 year old Betty Skinner. She truly is a work of art. Kitty Crenshaw and Dr. Cathy Snapp, authors of The Hidden Life Awakened, the book chronicling Betty's extraordinary life, [...]
Good morning... In a memorable service, we honored his life. A father and a grandfather. A coach and a mentor. A friend and a legend. His full-bodied life we honored wholeheartedly. At the reception afterward, I quietly browsed the table of memorabilia. Awards and pictures. Boyhood smile to doting dad to grinning grandad. Snapshot after snapshot captured his unique [...]
Good morning... We self-published our first book in 2004, my artist friend and me. Our book, Scribbling a Masterpiece: Doodle to Your Destiny, took a poem I had written when I was in my twenties and married it with her colorfully creative drawings, drawings which captured the essence of God's truth. On the back of our book, we shared [...]
Good morning... I had heard the phrase before, but I chuckled when she said it in a casual conversation. "Don't 'should' on yourself." I "should" do this. I "should" not do that. I "should" say this. I "should" not say that. I "should" think this. I "should' not think that. We "should" on ourselves all the time. Other people [...]
Good morning... As I was browsing the nearest Goodwill store, a framed print caught my eye. Beside a funky image of a woman chopped up in colorful shapes, I read these words. "I have too much to lose she said, if I cross that line. Like what? I said. She could not think of anything that day so she [...]
