Hearts in Service

Today's post is going to be a smorgasbord of recent life. There is a lot going on and I've been busy with a multiple things. This week has been so crazy that other than Monday I haven't even been able to get out and walk. I did manage to decorate for fall last weekend. I've been preparing for two retreats this weekend. One is a district-wide retreat for the women from different churches. That goes from this evening until tomorrow afternoon. The other is a retreat for my leadership team that starts tomorrow evening through Sunday afternoon. I've been busy working on both of these events. Next weekend I am the main speaker for a woman's retreat in the Catskill Mountains. I am speaking four times and have been attempting to work on those talks in between preparing for this weekend's event.  I've had multiple meets for both our district, church, and other ministries I'm involved in. I've had doctor's appointments for my son that I've needed t

This past year I've been focusing on staying connected - connected to the Lord, connected to others and connected to the purpose God has for me. Despite my normal tendency to get distracted and hop down bunny trails, I've worked really hard at staying focused on what I set out to do.  One of the things on my list of specific ways to go about doing this was to take a personal retreat to study, pray and write on a monthly or at least every other month basis. That hasn't happened as much, but I was able to carve out some time for that this weekend. I had a speaking engagement at a church yesterday morning so went a day early and spent the night in a hotel for this very purpose. I find there is something about being out of my normal environment that helps me to zero in on hearing from the Lord. When I'm home I can find a million things to do that keeps me distracted. I arrived around 3:30 p.m., checked in, and then found a local hiking trail. Walking in nature is one way I

"Words are seeds that do more than blow around. They land in our hearts and not the ground. Be careful what you plant and careful what you say. You might have to eat what you planted one day." ~Unknown I had a conversation with a friend yesterday about words and the sheer volume of talking that happens nowadays. People use words all the time and yet, so few of those words carry any sort of deep meaning at all.  We are in an election year here in the United States. It's also the day after the presidential debate in which both candidates used a plethora of words, most of which had absolutely no meaning. In an election year the sheer amount of words people use is exhausting. There are blogs, social media posts, videos and many other means of communication and yet, most of that communication is gut-reactions to events and details in all sectors of life.  Life is short and I want to choose the words I use carefully. I would like the words I speak and write to have some depth,

Matthew 21:18-22 ~ Early in the morning, as he was returning to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, he went up to it and found nothing on it except leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” At once the fig tree withered. When the disciples saw it, they were amazed and said, “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you tell this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. And if you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” The week before my daughter's wedding I was really struggling with anxiousness about the weather. Her wedding venue was at a place with a renovated old stone barn that was beautiful. That's where the reception was to take place, but the ceremony was outdoors. The backup plan was to move into the reception hall, but it really wouldn

My baby girl is all grown up and looked stunning for her wedding day! It was a beautiful day, full of love, family and friends. I enjoyed every second of the weekend and it was perfect.  I've spent the past couple of days trying to recuperate while doing some computer work. This mama's heart is full.

Back in July, my daughter's maid-of-honor and I hosted the bridal shower for her. We had a toast for her and different people offered words of advice for her marriage. I shared the following and thought I'd share it here today. We are down to 5 days before the wedding - yikes! Skating Through Life Together Some say marriage is a 50/50 arrangement where both parties give 50% to the marriage. Then I’ve heard others say it’s a 100% arrangement, where you both bring 100% to the marriage. However, I think marriage is more like figure-skating. It has always been one of my favorite sports at the Olympics. I love the gracefulness and beauty of the skaters and could watch it for hours. When a marriage is good, it is like those skaters gliding over the ice. I came up with 5 reasons that marriage is like figure-skating. 1. The couples who skate at this level have chosen their partners wisely. They didn’t just pick the first person that came along. Figure skaters often take the advice of t