Hearts in Service

Epiphany is the manifestation of God in human flesh; God with us. And it is God's manifestation not just to the Jewish people, but to the Gentiles. Today is Epiphany Day and Orthodox Christians around the world celebrate it.  The message that was communicated to me when I was growing up was, "Make something of yourself." "Don't settle." "You are better than this." and "Be somebody." That same message is prevalent in our society. It's as if there is a collective fear of being mediocre or insignificant. And yet, the God of the Universe, humbled himself and made himself less, and willingly took on this frail human form. He allowed himself to experience emotions, pain and exhaustion. He came under the care of two human parents. He was betrayed by friends who were fickle. And ultimately he was tortured by arrogant men and died on a wooden cross which was a symbol of humiliation. Why would He do that? We go out of our way to avoid those neg...

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" ~ Philippians 4:4 Really, Lord? In these circumstances? Surely, this is an impossibility.  A mountain of concern and anxieties buzzing daily and at times, feeling like they will overwhelm me. Rejoice not just in the good, but the bad? Always??? How can one do that? Paul, the author of this letter, certainly must have been superhuman. This is not possible for us regular people. "Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near." ~ Philippians 4:5 How can I be gracious or gentle when I am overwhelmed on a daily basis by my own  issues? And there is the some of the problem. Focusing on my  problems prevents me from extending a hand of grace or mercy to others. When I'm consumed with me  there is no room for others. And there is that little sentence, "The Lord is near."   A reminder. It tells me that God is waiting for me to hand off those anxieties to Him. He has my back and is never ...

My new year got derailed as I was down with the flu for a few days. Today I feel like I'm on the mend. Unfortunately, Dan and the boys are sick so now they are under the weather. The hazards of living together! I decided to go ahead and post some of my 2025 goals here and just leave out some of the more personal ones.  My word for the year is Thrive, but I also don't want the connections I worked on in 2024 to go by the wayside. So I'm incorporating thrive into connecting. 2025 Goals Word for the year: THRIVE Theme verse Psalm 92:12-15 ~ The righteous THRIVE like a palm tree and grow like a cedar tree in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, they THRIVE in the courts of our God. They will still BEAR FRUIT in old age, HEALTHY and GREEN, to declare: “The Lord is just; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.” My goal this year is to thrive in every area of my life and walk in the path God has for me. Thriving happens when I stay connected to Him and ...

2024 was a good year and one in which I was able to stick with my plan and accomplish most of my goals and I'm looking forward to 2025. I sat down yesterday and came up with some goals moving forward, but found it more difficult than I imagined it would be. Some of that is because I'm a little uncertain about this year and feel foggy about my future. I usually have a good amount of clarity, but this year feels like I'm surrounded by fog. I don't like when I feel that way because it's unsettling when I'm not sure what the end result will be or where I'm headed. However, I do know that I'm going to remain faithful to what I am doing already and keep trusting the Lord as I move forward. In the last blog post I mentioned that thrive is the word I'm focusing on, but I want to continue to keep that in the context of connecting. I'm not ready to let go of that just yet. So as I came up with goals that centered around thriving they also include connectin...

 In 2024 I wanted to work on staying connected in three areas of my life - to the Lord, to others and to the purpose He has given to me. In John 15, Jesus uses an analogy that his disciples would have understood very clearly - that of a grape vine. Throughout this passage he uses the word, "remain."  He tells his disciples the following 5 things: Branches that don't remain connected to the vine do not bear fruit and are thrown away.  Those branches that do bear fruit will be pruned to make them even more fruitful.  Jesus reminds them that His word must remain in them in order to be fruitful. He lets them know that they must remain in God's love as they go out and love others. They can't love in their own strength. If they remained connected to the vine then they would produce a lasting fruit that would stand the test of time.  My goals and activities all centered around the idea of staying connected and while I did have some distractions, I did a fairly goo...

This picture is of a rare moment when I sat down and just rested over the past week. It was a busy few days and our Christmas celebration is over. I loved every minute and do think this was one of the most enjoyable Christmas celebrations we've ever had.  Dan came over to me and gave me a hug last night and thanked me for all I did to make it enjoyable. Mothers do put a lot of work in behind the scenes to create beautiful memories. Sometimes things go as planned, and other times, not so much. But I am thankful this year was one of the good ones. However, this in-between week is truly one of my favorite times of each year. We are still in the Christmas glow and relaxed state. There is still New Year's Eve and New Year's Day which we look forward to celebrating. There seems to be this random week in the year where time feels like it is standing still. But my main reason for enjoying it is that this is the time when I sit down and start reflecting on some goals for the new yea...