Sally Penning, Author at St. Luke's United Methodist Church

29 06, 2018

How to pray for your country

Sally Penning2018-06-29T09:07:02-05:00June 29th, 2018|All blogs, Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

Our inside-out habits: We pray. We study the Bible. We make friends. We tell our stories. We give ourselves away in generosity and service. A PERSONAL PRAYER Gracious God, As I have grown older, you know that I have grown more patriotic. I find tears welling up as the anthem is sung at the beginning of ball games. I am more moved than ever at the sacrifice some men and women make in their service of our country. And so this week, as Independence Day approaches, I pray for our country, pouring out my heart of pride and [...]

22 06, 2018

Do right and risk the consequences, by Justice Martha Hill Jamison

Sally Penning2018-06-22T09:01:42-05:00June 22nd, 2018|All blogs, We Tell Our Stories|0 Comments

Before I joined St. Luke’s and met my wonderful husband Bruce (now married 30 years!), I faced the “conscious uncoupling” of my first marriage, to a lawyer,“H”, in another town. At the time, I was “stay at home” and my precious children were 3 and 5. My fairy-tale life was planned far into the future, but it was not to be. No substantial negotiations took place before the divorce trial, but I was stunned to hear for the first time—during opening arguments—that H was contesting the custody of our children. My immediate instinct was to give up everything [...]

22 06, 2018

Doing what is right

Sally Penning2018-06-22T08:21:51-05:00June 22nd, 2018|All blogs, Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

Our inside-out habits: We pray. We study the Bible. We make friends. We tell our stories. We give ourselves away in generosity and service. A PERSONAL PRAYER God of all people, The world is full of complicated problems. How can I know what is right? I seek to be guided by the life and character of your son Jesus, and his teachings. But applying them to our world today is not easy, and I need the Holy Spirit, whom you sent us in Jesus' name to "teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said." [...]

15 06, 2018

Talking to Mary Holland, by Whitney Mears

Sally Penning2018-06-15T08:49:27-05:00June 15th, 2018|All blogs, We Tell Our Stories|0 Comments

When I spend time with Mary Holland, I like to talk to her and tell her about my hopes and dreams for her when she grows up. She always smiles at me and makes cute noises, which I am, of course, interpreting as full understanding and agreement with my plans. We also “talk” about God and the relationship I hope she has with God. Again, Mary Holland smiles and responds in her little language of squeaks which I take as “yes, Dad, sounds good!” One of the things I have been telling her lately is that because we [...]

15 06, 2018

Learning to trust

Sally Penning2018-06-15T11:48:47-05:00June 15th, 2018|All blogs, Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

Our inside-out habits: We pray. We study the Bible. We make friends. We tell our stories. We give ourselves away in generosity and service. A PERSONAL PRAYER God, sometimes I feel like I am in control, and don't worry at all. But sometimes, anxiety gets its tentacles into me, and I find myself staring at the ceiling, wondering about tomorrow. Either way, I am missing out on what you offer me. When I believe I am in command of my own life, that I am "the master of my fate, the captain of my soul," I miss the [...]

8 06, 2018

We Said Yes!

Sally Penning2018-06-08T09:17:22-05:00June 8th, 2018|All blogs, We Tell Our Stories|1 Comment

Rolling River Adventures VBS 2018 is about to begin! We can’t wait. As young children at St. Luke’s we learned VBS songs, acted out Bible stories, made crafts, and left with new friends. We always felt loved and secure at St. Luke’s. Still do! Both of us have always loved young children and enjoy teaching. While Dr. Underwood and Dr. Moore were the senior ministers, we were elementary school teachers and volunteered to teach VBS for many years! After a while we noticed that the other teachers were getting younger and many were mothers of the children. We [...]

8 06, 2018

When everything seems dark

Sally Penning2018-06-08T08:45:43-05:00June 8th, 2018|All blogs, Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

A PERSONAL PRAYER God, I didn't know anything about Kate Spade, the fashion designer who took her own life this week. I didn't even know she was a real person. I thought she was a brand, or maybe even just a handbag. But there was a person there, flesh and blood and heart and soul living behind the façade of a brand. I didn't know her, but I know a lot of people like her. They come to church or work or school, getting through the day behind the façade of smiles or productivity, trying to believe that [...]

1 06, 2018

God is Good, All the Time

Sally Penning2018-06-01T11:44:47-05:00June 1st, 2018|All blogs, Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

Our inside-out habits: We pray. We study the Bible. We make friends. We tell our stories. We give ourselves away in generosity and service. A PERSONAL PRAYER Dear God, Today I spot your mighty works everywhere I look. In this moment, I pray on the patio as the dawn approaches, and the sky grows light. The humid air feels like your arms holding me close, the birds your voice bidding me good morning. The coffee tastes good. The night refreshed me, and daybreak feels an opportunity for a new start. So I praise you, and give you thanks [...]

25 05, 2018

Memorial Day, by Rev. Bill Denham

Sally Penning2018-05-25T09:34:21-05:00May 25th, 2018|All blogs, We Tell Our Stories|3 Comments

I leaned up against the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington that afternoon, one hand placed firmly over his name: William T. Hale. My shoulders shook, as the tears rolled down my cheeks. One name, his name, just one name among some fifty-eight thousand etched into that black granite wall. He had been my little brother in my fraternity. I had looked after him, or tried to, during his pledgeship. Standing six feet three inches tall, he really was a long, tall Texan, hailing from Big Spring. William Thomas Hale or Bill Tom, as we called him, had the biggest [...]

25 05, 2018

How can I tell you that I love you?

Sally Penning2018-05-25T09:19:54-05:00May 25th, 2018|All blogs, Inside-Out with Dr. Tom Pace|0 Comments

A PERSONAL PRAYER Dear God, I love you. That is what you have asked of me, to love you with all my heart, mind, soul and strength. And so I do. I love you. Sometimes that love is hot and fiery, full of the emotion of passionate worship. Sometimes it is a more nitty gritty kind of love, like taking out the trash is a way of loving my wife, or buying a birthday gift is a way of loving my grandson. You have shared in your scripture that the love language you hear best is our service [...]

About Sally Penning