Hearts in Service

"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 ...

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...

There are just two more sleeps before Christmas! The anticipation has been building like a crescendo and I'm looking forward to the quiet reflection tomorrow night during our Christmas candlelight service at church and then the raucous celebration on Christmas day. I often reflect that Jesus came into this world on a dark and quiet night and yet, we have ramped up this holiday crazy loud chaos. At times, it doesn't feel like it really would be Christmas without the craziness. I often wonder, "Could I still feel the same joy during Christmas without all the noise?" However, as I read the passage in Luke this morning something new struck me. I realized it probably was not as silent a night as we think.  Luke 2:8-20 ~ That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t...

This was prior to the service while the worship team was practicing. My weekend consisted of decorating, cookie baking, a Christmas play and banquet and preaching at our church. Dan and I have been taking turns giving the message through the month of December and it's been nice to work alongside my husband in this way. When we got home yesterday, he told me how much he enjoyed seeing me using my gifts. It was a busy weekend and by the time I got home yesterday afternoon I was feeling wiped out. But while my body was tired, my mind was busy replaying all the aspects of the morning and my heart was full. It was wonderful to see so many visitors yesterday, including two families - a young couple with their child and a single woman - who are refugees that we've been working with once a month. Because I knew ahead of time that they were coming I was able to translate my message and give it to them so they could follow along.  I had the children come up and sing 4 songs. The majority...