Hearts in Service

Another month has come and gone.  Can you believe tomorrow will be November 1st?  The time has just flown by this fall.  I haven't taken a look at my yearly goals in a while and I thought the end of a month would be a good time to do this.  Here were the goals that I wrote out at the beginning of the year.  Underneath each category I've written my progress. 2013 Goals Spiritual Goals ► Set aside regular time reading my Bible and spending time in prayer. ► Keep a journal of how God is providing for us so I don't forget.  There is always room for improvement but I've been doing pretty well with having a regular time in God's word and prayer.   The hardest part for me right now is that everyone is up early when I used to have it and I cannot concentrate when someone is around.  So I think I'm going to have to just regroup and find a different time. Again, I find that my journal of blessings is done here as part of Multitude Monday....

Sweaty palms.  Panicked tightening of my chest.  Knots in my stomach.  All signs that I have procrastinated on something.  When I was in high school and college I always waited until the night before a paper was due or a major test was happening to actually start working on it.  Every time I wanted to kick myself for putting it off until the last minute. And yet, I still fall into that tendency at times.   It's not that I don't want to do the particular thing that is looming over me, but I get overwhelmed and have a difficult time getting started. And when I am feeling overwhelmed with an issue. or a to-do list a mile long or major project, I procrastinate.  However, the more I put it off, the worse I feel.  And still, I'll fritter away time on the computer or finding a million useless things to do so I don't have to face the task.  Dan doesn't get this at all.  He is so self-disciplined and gets things done way ahead of time....

Psalm 103:1-6 ~  Praise the Lord , my soul;      all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord , my soul,      and forget not all his benefits— who forgives all your sins      and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit      and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things      so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. The Lord works righteousness      and justice for all the oppressed. We have selective memory at times, don't we?  When going through a difficult time or struggle, it's so easy to begin to grumble and complain and feel like the Lord has abandoned us.  We whine and wail and whimper.    verses 7-12 ~  He made known his ways to Moses,      his deeds to the people of Israel: The Lord is compassionate and gracious, ...

Dan & I were talking the other day about how so many times in our lives God gives us signs and miraculous things to show His hand upon our lives.  So often we are looking for one major event or thing to point the way.  We want to see a huge miracle happen.  Personally, I'd love to hear a big voice coming out of heaven and telling me what I should do when I'm confused! Yet, more often than not, God's signs come in small ways that all add up to one big arrow. Hebrews 2:4 says, "And God confirmed the message by giving signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose."  If we stay quiet and alert we can often see His hand in a myriad of little ways. Yet, we miss those things because we keep looking for a huge sign post in the sky or writing in the sand!  Or we try to orchestrate things to go the way we want.  However, when we walk intimately with the Lord, we'll begin to see the little things.  But that requ...

I decided to combine my normal Thrifty Thursday post with a Crafty things post to make it a Fabulous Friday! lol  We have never done the whole Halloween thing around here.  Personally, it's one of those holidays that I think we should just skip over and with allergies and what not, it just seems pointless.  However, I do realize not everyone feels the same way and that's fine.  The youth group decided to have a party and let the kids dress up, as long as it was something not evil.  Emily wanted to be a cat.  We are very tight right now and I don't have money to go buy a costume nor would I want to for one night out of the entire year.  Fortunately, my daughter is starting to buy into my frugal ways and she said that all she needed was a tail and some ears. So I whipped them up for her.   She told me that all I had to do was cut some construction paper ears, but I thought her frugality deserved a superior set of them! :-) Here was the ...

Sometimes you just want to do a handstand!  I'd do one today if I could! (but no one wants to see what gravity would do if I did one) So I will content myself with doing cartwheels and handstands on the inside.  It's one of those "only God could do something like this" type of days! Have a terrific Thursday!

Matthew 7:7-11 (NLT) ~  Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.   For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. “You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead?   Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him. Emily missed her school bus yesterday.  She was absent on Friday and Monday and apparently, the bus driver just assumed and barely slowed at all on Tuesday.  When I called the bus company they told me she is supposed to wait at the end of the driveway, not on the porch.  The problem with that is that it's pitch black out at 6:30 in the morning and she is scared. ...

My children constantly amaze me at how in tune to God they are, even when I think they are drifting.  We'll be going on our merry way through life when they will say something off the cuff that shows some pretty deep thinking.  They've been like this since they were little. (Side note:  This photo makes me laugh.  He always gets into "firefighter" serious mode when I take his photo) When my children were small we worked in an inner city ministry in one of the most densely populated cities in the United States.  Our ministry rented space from the local YMCA and at that time, the boys were 5 and 4.  There were people who lived in the upstairs portion of the YMCA and many struggled with drug and alcohol abuse or mental issues. One night, after leaving the building, I had Stephen on one side of me and Nathan on the other and we rounded the corner of the building.  One of the residents was there, obviously under the influence of some narcotic and sc...

Sometimes you just need to get away!  That is the chance Dan & I had this weekend as we took a mini-road trip.  We brought Emily with us and it was a fun time connecting as a family. We enjoyed beautiful views. Gorgeous sunsets. A beautiful moon. Time together as a family. Enjoying creation. Thankful for these brief moments in life and I hope we get more of these moments this year!  .

Puttering.   I guess that's how you could describe my week.  I've been off facebook for the most part, except to update my craft page and Words of Encouragement page.  I've spent the week praying for various situations and people.  I've focused on my home. And I love it!  Things have gotten accomplished around here that normally don't.  I've spent time in God's Word every day.  I've been productive.  I've been peaceful. It makes me realize what a time-sucker the internet can be.  I have always tried to use it for ministry and for good, but it still eats up so much of my time.  So I've just stayed away, other than just a few minutes here or there. In the past 3 days... ♥ I've spent time with my family. ♥ I've baked things for sale and for my husband and children. ♥ I've done countless loads of laundry. ♥ I've prepared a talk for a luncheon on Monday. ♥ I've filled some sewing orders. ♥ My house is clean! ...

Psalm 19:14 (NLT) ~ May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. This is my prayer and longing for myself today.  I want to make sure that every word that comes out of my mouth is pleasing to the Lord.   So I ask myself the following questions.  Do my words honor Him?  Do they edify those around me?  Do they encourage?  Do they point people to Jesus? If not, then my prayer also is that not only will I keep my mouth closed but that my thought life would change.  Because my words truly are just a reflection of what is going on in my heart. I pray that I would truly be a changed woman inside and out.  I pray that for each of you today as well.

I feel like I've spent more time with my husband and children in the past few days than I have in a long time.  It's been wonderful! One of the things I love about where we live is that The Appalachian Trail runs right through here.  There are so many different places you can pick up the trail and the closest to us is about a mile down the road. Yesterday afternoon, Dan, Stephen, Emily and I decided to go hiking.  Nathan had to work and he hates hiking so it was just the four of us. It was a wonderful day for it.  Warm temperatures and bright sunshine set the scene for a hike. We saw lots of creatures along the way, though you had to look hard to see some of them.   I love how my children have developed my love for photography and nature.   Stephen made me laugh because I heard a noise up in a tree and discovered it was him!  Gorgeous views. Bright colors. It was a wonderful day both being able to get ou...

Lately, things have been discouraging here and I feel my head wrapped in a shroud of anxiety and depression.  When I feel like that I often just want to stay in the house and not do anything. The problem with that is it just increases those feelings. When I force myself outside, I actually feel my spirits lift.  The cares and concerns melt away, or at least, get into the proper perspective. Perhaps that is why the Psalmist states in Psalm 121:1-2, " I will lift up my eyes to the hills— From whence comes my help?  My help comes from the Lord , Who made heaven and earth. There is something about being outside in God's creation that reminds me of the One who has my past, present and future in His hands.   This weekend was a terrific weekend for getting out into nature and enjoying the sights, sounds and smells.  It was a great way to reconnect with my husband and children.  It was definitely something that was needed around here. Dan had Frid...

Yesterday was oppressively humid and unusually warm for October.  As I went for my morning walk, the wind began to kick up and it sprinkled on and off all day. All day long, my son's pager kept opening up with tornado warnings.   As the day wore on the wind speed increased.  By late afternoon, the sky got pitch black and then suddenly, there were torrential downpours. I really dislike stormy weather.  It makes me feel unsettled and nervous.  It mostly has to do with where we live.  We are in the middle of very tall, and very old trees.  I can't tell you how many times, I've watched branches fall when the wind starts.  So, you can imagine, how high winds and tornado warnings make me feel! Yet, after about 15 minutes the wind stopped and the rain died down to a drizzle.  It was a very fast moving storm.  It remained wet all evening but around 7 p.m. I happened to look out our back window and this sight met my eyes. What beauty!...

  (Photo taken from meandmymustardseed.wordpress.com ) Jesus disciples are a humorous group of men at times.  They seem to mess up on a regular basis and Jesus is pretty patient with them.  I love reading about them because they remind me of myself! One time his disciples try to cast out a demon and are unable to do it.  So they ask Jesus why and this is his response. Matthew 17:19-21 (The Message) ~  “Because you’re not yet taking God seriously,” said Jesus. “The simple truth is that if you had a mere kernel of faith, a poppy seed (most versions use mustard seed), say, you would tell this mountain, ‘Move!’ and it would move. There is nothing you wouldn’t be able to tackle.” Are we taking God at his word?  Do we believe he will do what he says?  Do we trust him? Most of us would say, "Yes!" and yet, our actions show otherwise.  I struggle with this on a regular basis and I'm sure you do too. We had a very small crowd in chu...