Good morning… Our daughter is struggling to make some major life decisions. Which college? What major? Who to befriend? We as parents are prayerfully dialoguing with her, and we all would love God's will for her to be revealed clearly. Soon. I thought of her as I read these words in one of my Spiritual Direction books this week. [...]
Good morning... I learned lots of tantalizing tidbits as I read my two Spiritual Direction books. In passing, one set of authors wrote, "The next time you feel enthusiastic about something, remember that that word means literally 'God within' you" (p. 87 in Hagberg and Guelich's The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith). With my intrigue sparked, [...]
Good morning... As many of you know, I am in the middle of a Spiritual Direction training program and the dense, intense reading is very hard for me. With my dyslexic, ADD brain, I read slowly and I struggle with comprehension. Unlike many of you avid readers, I cannot read for thirty minutes, do another task, then return to [...]
Good morning... 900. That's right. A whoppin' 900 points were scored on the single SAT test I took in 1980. Nowadays, a handful of brainiacs score the perfect 1600, many kids score just below perfection, and every high school student I know gets a tutor and takes the test two, three, four or more times to boost their chances [...]
Good morning... We often miss two words in the following sentence. By the seventh day God had finished his work, and so he rested (Genesis 2:2, CEV). We focus our attention on "work" and "rest," understanding our need to rock between both. Unfortunately, we overlook the words "finish" and "his." When my mind's eye gets tired, I envision two [...]
Good morning... Instinctively, we know, "It's time to slow down." For me, tangible indicators begin to pile up. 1) Often we get sick. Itchy ears. Scratchy throat. Fever and cough precede complete congestion. A full blown fall cold invaded my body last week. 2) Loved ones notice our need. As I scurried around last weekend, my husband said, "You [...]
Good morning... Hurricane Matthew has affected the lives of millions this weekend. The messy photos of wreckage from high winds and water tug at our hearts. Chaotic. Uprooted. Torn apart. We all lift prayers for the rebuilding of rummaged lives. Even inland here in Atlanta, the ripple effects are everywhere. Eerie skies and windy rain. Horrendous traffic traveling north [...]
Good morning... Speaking light into the formless dark, God creatively gave order to life's chaos. As we read the first chapter of Genesis, verbs tumble all over us. God saw and separated. God called and said. God made and named creation "good." Then the land itself creatively cooperated, producing and bearing, plants and trees. The expansive sky also joined [...]
Good morning... "Transitions are messy. Transitions are chaotic. Transitions are where our hard-won order breaks down into disorder," admits Margaret Silf in The Other Side of Chaos: Breaking Through When Life is Breaking Down (p. 43). The Bible tells us that all of creation was born from chaotic disorder. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the [...]
Good morning... It has been just over six months since her son's sudden death, and she planned a beach getaway for a few inner circle friends, a tangible way of saying, "Thank you" for unwavering support. The women took time to soak in the sunset on their last night at the beach. Not long after settling into the sand, [...]
