Hearts in Service

"To the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world."
Can one make a difference? 
How can I change the world?   How in the world can just one woman with three children or five children or no children (just fill in the blank) do anything worthwhile in my little corner of the universe?
By realizing the power of one.
One wave, hitting a shoreline over and over again, eventually causes erosion.

One ray of sunlight can brighten a room.

One note can start the Hallelujah Chorus.

Many times in my life I have said that I want to follow God's will and yet, more often than not, I have tried to impose my will upon Him. But I've lived long enough to know that if God is leading me then I need to follow even when I can't see the end result.

We had our first service yesterday in our new church and it was a good morning. The people were welcoming and Dan was encouraged. I came home, put my head down on my dining room table, and wept. Why? Because it was different. Different style of music, different people, different order of worship, and different role for me. I felt like a fish out of water, gasping for air.

Change is hard, and I know that I'll come to embrace this new everything, but for now I feel loss. And while I don't like the emotion, I know that it's a normal part of grieving. But I also know that God called us and we chose to be obedient in following even if that means that everything is different.

As a teenager I made a vow that I would …

This week has been a blur - one massive emotionally and physically exhausting week. The beginning of the week found us saying goodbye to dearly loved friends, saying goodbye to our son, packing a truck with much needed help and cleaning a house. A friend supplied us with a meal for our last night there. Then we made the 5 hour trek to our new home where we were greeted with help unpacking the truck. We also received meals for the first two nights we were here.

There is still so much to do, and so many boxes to unpack, but it's actually starting to feel like home. We fall into bed exhausted each night but we have been sleeping well and each day sees a bit more progress. I'm cooking for the first time in our new house tonight. 

Dan had his first board meeting last night and came home encouraged and excited. I've been able to get some district work done which is helping me to feel like things are getting back to normal.

The weather was perfect for both the day we packed the truc…

Empty promises.  "I promise that I will...."  "I swear that I will...."  "I vow that I will...."   These words pour so quickly off the tongues of people nowadays and yet, are very rarely kept.   People make wedding vows and then get a divorce at the first sign of trouble.  Politicians swear to uphold the laws of the land and then end up convicted of some wrongdoing.  Children promise their parents or parents promise their children and those promises are never kept. We all make resolutions at the start of a new year and usually break them by February.

As Joshua looked back over his life he was able to say, “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed." Joshua 23:14 (NIV).  God kept every single one of the promises He made to Israel.  Not one was broken.  We serve a God who does what H…

It's been a very quiet New Year's eve and now day. The turkey is ready to go into the oven, laundry is in, and a trailer has been delivered to our house to start the process of dejunkifying (yes, I made the word up) our shed and household items.

Today we will be enjoying some things like a turkey dinner, board game, and football, but the final days before moving are upon us. It's weird to start the new year by packing up our life.

This whole process has been a neat way to see how God has met every single need we had from big ones to silly little ones:

 Stephen found a roommate and a place to live that is only 3 miles from his job. Roommate turned out to be the son of a friend. God provided financially for all the unexpected expenses that happened between preparing for a move and helping our son move. We saw an advertisement on the news one night about a once a year electronic disposal event taking place and were able to get our things there just in time. (saw it two days before …

Each year I try and set some goals for the coming year. I don't always meet them all, but I do like to have something for which to aim. I'm happy to say that I did very well in 2019 and stayed on task. 

I've been sitting here and reflecting this morning about what I'd like to see happen in 2020. It's hard to get a clear picture because everything is going to be new - new home, new church family, new city, new ministry. But I want to at least get something down and I can go back and tweak it if need be.

Personal Goals
☙ Work on my weight. Move more, eat less. It's simple and I'm not going to complicate it by trying fancy diets or anything. I know what I need to do. Make healthier eating choices, eat less food and make sure I'm exercising. I've gained quite a bit of weight over the past few years and some of that is because of injuries but much of it is just bad habits have been developed.

☙ Get the new house in shape. It's going to take a number of m…