Good morning... I just stumbled upon a fascinating Bible story, expressed vividly in the Message translation. On the day you were born your umbilical cord was not cut, you weren’t bathed and cleaned up, you weren’t rubbed with salt, you weren’t wrapped in a baby blanket. No one cared a fig for you. No one did one thing to [...]
Good morning… Letting down our guard and sharing our genuine self is a lot easier said than done. In truth, our guard is an important part of us, serving us well until it doesn't anymore. We are handmade uniquely in our Creator's image (Genesis 1:27) and filled with the living breath of God (Genesis 2:7). Freshly formed from our [...]
Letting down our guard and sharing our true self is easier said than done. Our guard is an important part of us, serving us well until it doesn't anymore. We are handmade uniquely in our Creator's image (Genesis 1:27) and filled with the living breath of God (Genesis 2:7). Freshly formed from our Father's fingers, we each come into [...]
Good morning... "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What? You, too? I thought I was the only one!'" - C.S. Lewis I have witnessed similar exchanges amid Bible study after Bible study these past few weeks. When we let down our guard and share our genuine selves, "What? You, too?" experiences birth new [...]
Good morning... This morning I wake pondering the song "Make new friends but keep the old." So I write to my friend of twenty-something years, a friend with whom I share a two or three hour meal most every month. She keeps in good touch with old friends and family while remaining openhearted to the new friends God brings [...]
Good morning... Do not ask me why, but I wake with my morning mind focused on an idiom. After researching the phrase my heart weds my mind. "Feathering one's nest" means to decorate and furnish one's home in style and comfort, which alludes to birds lining their nests with feathers to make them warm and comfortable. A weird truth [...]
Good morning... On the other end of the phone, her voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard to me. Uptight. High-churchy. A bull-in-a-china-shop talker. I must admit, I turned down the volume on my listening ears, saying to myself, "We are SO DIFFERENT, complete opposites." When it was my turn to share some thoughts, I talked about locking eyes [...]
Good morning... Still shocked by the loss of her loved one, my friend sent out a "thank you" email to those whose prayers now carry her. God shared through her hurting heart life-giving words, words I now share with you. "His service was amazing. It glorified God, celebrated his young life and faith and was attended by approximately 1500 [...]
Good morning... I looked out my window and I saw eyes staring back at me. In the middle of the day from three feet away, dark eyes locked with mine. Eyes, no neck, and perfectly quaffed feathers, an eighteen inch owl was perched on my porch. We looked at each other for a very long time. Motionless. Peaceful. Soul [...]
Good morning... After reading yesterday's blog God's Grace With Skin On, my writer-friend wrote: "I read your blog with tears of joy and gratefulness. God really does make beauty from ashes. He used your extraordinary skills to transform what I felt was ugliness into something for His Kingdom. Sometimes people need to see an honest exchange like we had in [...]
