Being, Doing: Finding Balance

Okay so I admit, I’ve been so oriented to doing and achieving all my life that the core of my existence – my being – has felt threatened time and again as I’ve hurried through my daily personal To Do lists. But it’s the being side of living that gives meaning, joy, and a potential…

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Clean Eating

June fifth is coming up soon – World Environment Day. And boy, do we have a lot of issues to address! But one essential dimension of our impact on the environment that calls out right now is what we choose to eat. “Clean eating” is a phrase that’s becoming popular in some circles these days.…

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Attitude, Cancer and Prayer

There’s no more stark realization than hearing cancer has attacked your body and you must defeat it to live. That happened to me four years and five months ago. So it’s a very moving experience every year when I attend the Relay for Life, celebrating that I’m a survivor/thriver, and joining hundreds of people from…

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What Deserves Your Time?

What Deserves Your Time? I know from personal experience: it’s tempting to give away every bit of your time if asked, reserving nothing for yourself to simply be present to God – or for God to lead you into unexpected places of generosity and blessing. Over-giving our time can be a seductive habit, especially if…

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Big Day of Giving 2018

Yesterday was this year’s Big Day of Giving. Begun in 2013, it’s a program of the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, to grow philanthropy through a 24-hour online giving challenge that highlights the year-round work of the region’s nonprofit community. Last year, donors gave almost 39,500 donations, worth $7.2 million. Yesterday, givers donated nearly $7.4 million…

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Olympics: Strength, Beauty, Excellence, Praise

It’s an admirable and challenging thing to be a good steward of one’s body: being healthy and living fit. But it’s another order entirely to give praise to God with our physical being, and showing that to the world! I was stunned and thrilled to see the world’s top figure skating athletes at the Olympics,…

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Plan Now for Health Day

In a delightful move, the North Georgia Conference and the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries have come together to sponsor a United Methodist Health Day this September 15. The in-person event will take place from 1 to 5 p.m. at Dunwoody UMC in Atlanta. Breakout sessions will include cooking demonstrations, health information, fitness fun,…

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The Energy Within

There I was with the Urgent Care doctor, someone I’d never met before, as he looked at my hand, overused after recent surgery. “I’m a writer,” I explained. “I’m writing a book.” “What are you writing about?” he asked. “Stewardship and generosity: generous-hearted living.” “That’s great!” he immediately replied, looking me square in the eye.…

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Don’t Panic

“Don’t panic” was a key phrase early in my life with personal computers. It was the Post-It Note message I stuck on my monitor, back when I wasn’t sure the computer had stored something as soon as it left the screen. I’d almost forgotten that phrase until earlier this month, when I discovered I would…

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Beyond “Don’t Panic”

“Don’t panic” was a key phrase early in my life with personal computers. It was the Post-It Note message I stuck on my monitor, back when I wasn’t sure the computer had stored something as soon as it left the screen. I’d almost forgotten that phrase until earlier this month, when I discovered I would…

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Food, Simple or Easy

Living more simply is not necessarily living more easily. In fact, it often means putting in more time and effort to do things the old-fashioned way. Take food, for instance – finding it, preparing it, cooking it – choosing more natural, organic foods, without preservatives, fillers, or radiation that kills the “food” part of the…

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Our Bodies on the Line

I want the donut, but do I reach for vegetables instead? It depends on my mood, stress level, self-image at the moment, all kinds of things. And to my anything-goes appetite, it feels like this question is way too personal. But why not? Paul tells us that our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit,…

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Creating Community

Recently I went to an outdoor memorial to celebrate the life of a friend. She had multiple interests and participated in several different groups. Hearing different people speak about her life, I marveled at how she had the gift of cultivating community wherever she went. Sometimes a sense of community develops quickly among people with…

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Cancer Lessons in Grace

The diagnosis of breast cancer came as a shock. It took several weeks before that wore off, and it occasionally returns at new bends in the road. But the cancer was caught very early and after surgery remained at Stage 1. Even so, there’s radiation ahead (gratefully missing out on chemo) and hormone therapy for…

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Choices

Most things in life are not rocket science. They’re more a matter of persistence and consistent behavior. That doesn’t make living a good life easy, but it does make it possible. Health habits are a good example, including food and exercise. I’m a Lifetime Weight Watcher. That means I weigh in at least once a…

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