Good morning... A peaceful saying lives on this purple journal. "Nature does not hurry and yet everything is accomplished," Lao Tzu wisely notices. Now I am drawn to change one letter. "Nature does not worry and yet everything is accomplished." Worrying does not do any good; who here can claim to add even an hour to his life [...]
Good morning... Yesterday, my dad sent me a really encouraging article. After offering nineteen powerful thoughts, the author concludes, "Find one, two or 10 you can relate to — and use them effectively in your daily life." I actually found five which speak to me most loudly. Now as you read through these nuggets of wisdom, which top [...]
Good morning... When I was a young mom of four little kids, a wise woman from our church shared an important nugget of wisdom. "Children are not for molding," she said. "Children are for unfolding." Through the change in one single word, God continues to guide me. To me, molding means pushing, shaping, exerting control. The change of [...]
Good morning... Our tree is down. Our hopes are up. Before the new day dawns, a poem breezes in. ****** i am running into a new year By Lucille Clifton i am running into a new year and the old years blow back like a wind that i catch in my hair like strong fingers like all my [...]
Good morning... With me taking a Sabbath rest from writing each Sunday, this is our final blog post for 2023. I feel drawn to pass along the encouragement a friend shared with me. In the midst of her journey with breast cancer, she wrote, "Yesterday I read the whole book Chris Beats Cancer by Chris Wark. It was [...]
Good morning... "I am feeling the magic of just being with, fully present," I email a friend whose father passed away this year. This week I am hanging out with my dad in Ohio as we support my mom, who is slowly recovering in the hospital from a life-threatening infection. "Keeping quiet. Letting things unfold. Trusting God with [...]
Good morning... Last week at their senior living community, my dad performed the role of "Tommy-O, the elf" and my mom was his happy sidekick. What a fun photo! This week, my mom is recovering in a hospital room near my hometown of Berea, Ohio. On Christmas Eve, she was not herself, exhausted and lethargic. The ambulance came [...]
Good morning... On my way to church to work the second shift of worship services on Christmas Eve, I enjoyed dropping off a container of homemade soup for a feverish friend who was home sick with COVID. I love making and sharing soup regularly. The thick, rich smells. The warm wafting comfort. This week's one-of-a-kind concoction included boiled [...]
Good morning... Up in the middle of the night, I scroll through photos I snapped last month while visiting my parents in Ohio. As my mom and I went on a walk through the welcoming sidewalks of their senior living community, I took the picture above at one of her favorite resting spots on a bench outside the [...]
Good morning... If we were to send out a Christmas card this year, we would likely share this sweet family photo from the September day our son Kyler married his amazing wife Chandler. What you would not see is the bitter of the hurricane sweeping through Charleston, S.C. two days before, or the bitter of my parents missing [...]
