Good morning... Before lighting candles and singing "Silent Night" to end the sacred Christmas Eve service, our church family was invited to take communion. We were reminded that, at his final earthly meal, the grown up baby Jesus took bread and blessed it, broke it and said, "This is my body, broken for you. Take and eat." Likewise, he [...]
Good morning... Yesterday as a family, we donned disposable hair nets with plastic aprons and gloves to assemble meals for the homeless through Hosea Feed the Hungry. For the first year of this annual Christmas tradition, I left feeling badly about the gift we had given. To me, the meals we served in styrofoam boxes felt unfair and inconsistent. [...]
Good morning... "When you arrive at the manger, where do you stand? What do you do, think, feel, and say," asks my devotional book. My imagination responds: "After asking, 'Mary, may I hold your sweet baby?' I cradle Jesus in my arms. I kiss his forehead gently. I slowly rub my cheek against his cheek then draw back to [...]
Good morning... I wake with a Christmas song dancing in my head. "Still. Still. Still." I know this first word, but I can not come up with the next line. So, I crawl out of bed. I plug in the tree lights and silently scoop coffee before brewing a small pot. I choose my cobalt blue 'Whistler' mug (a [...]
Good morning... "Slow down your feet," the voice of a loving mom reminded her preoccupied preschooler. As the crowd rushed away from Sunday morning worship, I heard above the energized din, "Slow down your feet." "Don't run!" I have heard before. "Slow down your feet," is a new thing. This morning, I remind all of us: "Slow down your [...]
Good morning... God sparks in me a quirky reading of Matthew 8:23-26 (NIV). Then Jesus got in the boat and his disciples followed him...they sailed on to Christmas morn. Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake... "What if I don't get everything done?" "How do I allow my 'difficult person' to change my entire mood?" "Why do [...]
Good morning... Her response to yesterday's blog post, "Jesus drank wine," made me smile before making me think. She wrote: "To your first paragraph question - 'Why are we drawn to a t-shirt that reads "Jesus drank wine?"' Because some of us want Jesus to be like us, instead of wanting us to be like him. That's the short [...]
Good morning... "Jesus drank wine." That's what the t-shirt said. The clerk added, "We sell out of these t-shirts all the time. It's tough to keep them in our store." Why is that? Why are we so drawn to this truth? "Jesus drank wine." Because we want Jesus to sign our alcohol permission slip. If Jesus drank wine, it [...]
Good morning... I searched high and low, downstairs and up, trying to find the book containing the quote God laid upon my heart. During my early morning prayer time, I sensed somehow that at least one of you needs these words today. So I searched for the book, searched and searched. I finally found my well-worn copy of Paula [...]
Good morning... "Dear Santa," the sign outside the restaurant reads, "what if we are naughty and nice?" We chuckle because we relate. Then we open our Bible to read about the 'naughty and nice' war raging within us. For if I know the law but still can’t keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging [...]
