Scripps Sundays

I read this to Taylor and Sikose on Sunday night, and they both loved it. I am not sure if you have seen this before, but it's one of my favorites.  "When I wake up in the morning- regardless of the temperature, whether the sun is shining or the rain is pouring- I go outside. I speak aloud to the predawn darkness or the tail end of the moon just kissing the edge of the horizon or the 9 a.m. bright sun of a sleep-in Saturday morning. I say, “This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.” I say it out loud because I’m groggy. I say it out loud because I’m speaking it and hearing it.    And I don’t just say it once. As the cobwebs and sleepy confusion start lifting from my brain, I keep saying that phrase, accenting different syllables, placing varying degrees of importance on different words.    “ This  is the day that the Lord has made.”  This -  the one I’m in right now. Not yesterday. As much as I want to reach back and rel...

You might remember me telling you about this over the summer as this article really encouraged and challenged me....   SOFT & SACRED My husband and I (and a host of others) have lived in our home for 27 years. Let’s just say it was (over) due for a freshening up. Last year, we put our Christmas money toward the project and invited our friend Brenda to help. Brenda is an artist with an eye for interior design and a heart to create hospitable places and spaces. Even though we know and love Brenda, it felt vulnerable to invite her into the areas of our home in need of change. I had to face things I didn’t really want to face. Throughout the month we worked together, I fought the urge to hide and cover, coaxing myself to stay open and fully present to the process. I’m glad I did. “This creates softness,” Brenda would repeatedly say as she recommended paint colors, advocated for plants and hung curtains. “Soft,” she’d say, “is more hospitable, not only to others but to the happ...

  At the End of the Day: A Mirror of Questions  by John O'Donohue What dreams did I create last night? Where did my eyes linger today? Where was I blind? Where was I hurt without anyone noticing? What did I learn today? What did I read? What new thoughts visited me? What differences did I notice in those closest to me? Whom did I neglect? Where did I neglect myself? What did I begin today that might endure? How were my conversations? What did I do today for the poor and the excluded? Did I remember the dead today? When could I have exposed myself to the risk of something different? Where did I allow myself to receive love? With whom today did I feel most myself? What reached me today? How did it imprint? Who saw me today? What visitations had I from the past and from the future? What did I avoid today? From the evidence – why was I given this day?   John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings

I am not sure if you saw this from my August Twenty-Twenty-Three email that I shared, but if not, this is such a wonderful blessing for back to school from Sarah Bessey....  “Beloved one, as you begin anew, may the light of curiosity and truth of love guide you on this journey back to school. May you find the courage and humility to be both student and teacher, knowing that we all hold wisdom to share. May your hearts remain open to the stories woven into the pages of textbooks and the lives of your fellow travelers . Let the diversity of thought and experience expand your horizons and deepen your love for the world. In the stress of deadlines and assignments, remember that your worth is not measured by grades alone. Embrace the process, the questions that lead to even more questions.  May you experience moments of challenge and grace, laughter and learning as gifts. As you gather with friends old and new, may you build connections that bring goodness to you and the community ...

as you have closed the door on summer and are beginning your junior year,  I thought these words were so beautiful to consider after this first week of your semester....    for beginnings and  endings This life is made up of so many beginnings and so many endings. We start new jobs and leave old ones. We move to new cities and leave our childhood hobbies in our parents’ basement. (Sorry, Mom.) We become new people slowly (hopefully kinder and funnier?). Friends and relationships come and go. Dreams blossom and then they wither. And we find ourselves here once again at the precipice of change. Afraid to let go, and afraid of what will happen if we don’t. Might this be a place of blessing too? Blessed are we standing in the hallway between closed doors and ones still to come, between the old and the new, between the worn-in and the doesn’t-quite-yet-fit, between who we were and who we might become. God, make it remotely possible to grow and change, become open to new a...