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Summer Showers….Let it RAIN!

Posted by Merrill on Aug 13, 2010 | 0 comments

The other day I was thinking about a powerful moment I had on a mission trip I took to Panama with my son Andrew. It had been a long hot day, no air conditioning of course and showers were limited at the base camp we were at. We had come together in this small outdoor pavilion for worship after dinner. As Andrew led us in worship the wind started to picked up due to a thunderstorm brewing. The breeze felt refreshing and cool against our warm dirty bodies. Then as we began to sing Grace Like Rain it started to pour. AHHH…..Relief in so many ways. First, this is one of my all time favorite songs that my son sings, he is amazing and knows how to invite the Holy Spirit...

A Summer Love Affair

Posted by Merrill on Jul 19, 2010 | 1 comment

This summer I have started a wonderful love affair with a new author named Barbara Brown Taylor. A reading love affair that is, but one of the best in a while. Over the years I have stumbled across different writers that just connect with me in a very soulful way. John Ortberg, Carl Hiassen, Henri Nouwen, Joan Borysenko and Wayne Muller to name a few. These authors captured me with their words and called my name on hot lazy summer days. Their writing was so delicious that it was like sitting down to a great meal of comfort food that leaves you feeling full and satisfied. You know when a line from their pen can make you stop, re-read and ponder or brings a smile from...

Swinging Doors….

Posted by Merrill on Jul 12, 2010 | 0 comments

Whenever I am waiting for an answer to something, I start to think of all the doors that have opened and closed in my life over the years, and boy have there been a lot! Some, I never thought would swing open, while others slammed shut and left me hunkered down wondering “Why? What am I to do now?” But as I have “grown up” ( if you can call it that, I just like it better than “grown old”), I can see how important it is to stay settled in the fact that all I really want is God’s will in my life. His Perfect Plan for me at this moment in time. It might not always look the way I have planned or dreamed it would be. It’s not...

The Game of LIFE

Posted by Merrill on Jun 26, 2010 | 0 comments

The other night after a speaking engagement I came home and took Sunshine for a long walk. It had been a long day and I needed some down time to clear my thoughts. It was a beautiful summer night around 8:30 and there was even a slight cool breeze and a full moon on the rise. We got up to the baseball field in our neighborhood and played chase for a bit then both plopped down in the middle of the field. Happy, tired and done for the day. As always I was pondering life. Really the “game” of life and what a game it is…. We talk about the “game” but do we know where we are in it? What position are you playing? Are you a Star Player or a Bench...

Good Morning Life….all is good.

Posted by Merrill on Jun 20, 2010 | 0 comments

I woke a little anxious this morning, life has been a bit crazy. Schools out and summers here, WOOHOO! But ready set go…. the juggling of kids, camps, work, vacations, home and life….you know what I mean. Then you add into the mix that I took a HUGE leap, well let’s say Dive off the Deep end and did an Oprah audition for all to see. Talk about out of the box and feeling exposed…. So this morning I went out really early to clear my head, just as the sun was waking and starting to shine….what a gift! It’s like God said “Merrill, relax! Take a deep breath and look at the beauty I have created that surrounds you…. All is...

What is needed?

Posted by Merrill on Jun 2, 2010 | 0 comments

I am facilitating a group doing the book SABBATH by Wayne Muller (one of my ALL TIME FAVORITES as many of you know) and there was a line in it that I asked the group to ponder… “Be still. Stop. There is no rush to get to the end, because we are never finished. Take time to rest, and eat, and drink, and be refreshed. And in the gentle rhythm of that refreshment, listen to the sound the heart makes as it speaks the quiet truth of what is needed.” It is that last line that I asked them, “What do you hear that is needed?” For me it was loud and clear but I felt a bit silly, like a little girl saying it, “I need someone to tell me I am...