Good morning…
Wow! Yesterday was an incredible day.
I started out at Mend Coffee with thirty friends from Northside’s Morning Mission Circle. I took notes in the back of my Hope Heals book, as author Katherine Wolf told her life-changing story of narrowly surviving a massive brain stem stroke at age twenty-six. Forty days in the ICU. Disfiguring disabilities. When she was unable to speak, she typed, “I am the same on the inside.” In neurological rehab, she relearned to walk, to talk, to swallow. She and her husband Jay now compassionately advocate for those with disabilities. Mend Coffee offers a space of beauty where people with disabilities work and engage with able-bodied people “with invisible wheelchairs”, as Katherine points out, “We all have stuff inside us, not-okay parts.” She also runs Hope Heals camp, with a multitude of volunteers hosting five weeks of camp in Alabama free of charge for the families of disabled people. What an inspiring two hours we shared!
The day went on with me preparing for classes which start up in my home today.
Then the evening opened up into a celebration of my husband Steve being given the 2025 Founder’s Award for the Lovett School. For happy hour before the event, all of our kids came into town, and we laid out pictures from over the years. They made him a video set to music, which we enjoyed twice through before heading to the Atlanta History Museum for the reception honoring Steve’s faithful legacy.
The school also made a moving video of loving clips sent from students, teachers, and parents from all over the country. In Lovett’s ninety-nine year history, Steve is the first faculty member ever to win this award. How cool is that? In his five minute talk, Steve told God’s unlikely story of us coming to Lovett, returning to Lovett, and stay at Lovett for thirty fertile years. It was an amazing night filled with so many people who have been so important to our family, decade after decade.
“What a joyful night!” a friend texted this morning, sharing some sweet pictures.
Now I prepare for the joy to continue as I head to Northside Church to teach a new aerobics class with longtime friend and beloved fitness instructor Martha Kimbel. I will visit women in a few of our studies that meet at church on Wednesdays, before I come home to host in our home the first Wednesday afternoon class of this fall semester.
Wow! What an amazingly joyous day!
“Listen to me…” I can sense the LORD whisper. “I’ve been carrying you on my back from the day you were born, and I’ll keep on carrying you when you’re old. I’ll be there, bearing you when you’re old and gray. I’ve done it and will keep on doing it, carrying you on my back, saving you” (Isaiah 46:4, MSG).
What a wonderful lifetime we are sharing with God.
…Sue…
