Hearts in Service

  Emily turns 15 today.  It's hard to believe that my baby girl has turned into a beautiful young lady. She is compassionate and kind.  She is full of joy.  She is beautiful inside and out.  She is talented and sweet.   We are so thankful for her each and every day.  God blessed us with her and she brings us so much joy!   Happy Birthday, Emily.  We love you!

I love this guy. He is quirky and has a goofy sense of humor and makes everyone laugh. He is disciplined.  He sets goals and achieves them because he gets up and does what he is supposed to do every, single day.  It doesn't matter how he feels or how much sleep he got or the circumstances.  He does what he needs to in order to accomplish those goals. He is easy going.  Things roll off his back.  He doesn't hold grudges.  He gets along with everyone.  There are no hidden meanings behind the things he says.  You can take him at face value. He loves the Lord.  His desire is to grow spiritually and to help his congregation grow spiritually.  He takes his job seriously.  He prays for the people in our church all the time. He loves people.  He could be around people 24 hours a day and be perfectly content.   Even though he sometimes has a hard time saying all the right things, he loves those the Lord brings und...

Psalm 118:24 ~ "This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." I had such a busy weekend and a few nights of interrupted sleep and I've been really dragging the past few days.   This morning I truly wanted to turn over and go back to sleep for another hour or so.  It’s easy to grumble and complain about the day, especially when I feel cranky, tired and lethargic.   However, the Lord made this wonderful day to praise Him.  There is a cool breeze blowing and no matter how I feel I should be thanking Him for another new day. Dan and I worked, lived, and worshipped with a local body of believers in the inner city of Paterson, NJ for 10 years.  One thing we noticed in our primarily the African-American church we attended was many of the prayers started out with, "Thank you Lord for allowing us to wake up this morning." What a wonderful perspective!    I...

  We moved here right before Christmas and about the middle of March when it was still snowing every single day and I hadn't seen anyone other than at church, I was beginning to think we made a terrible mistake moving here!     But the snow finally ended and the sun began shining on a consistent basis and people came out of the woodwork.  In fact, this is a huge camping area and it seems as if everyone spends almost every waking moment outdoors, given the fact that the winters are so long.   Memorial Day seems to be the kick-off for everything around here.  And what a great weekend it was!     There is a local antique shop that opens seasonally.  They invite local vendors to come and participate.  You pay a fee and then you also have to work two times a month.  Since it was their grand opening weekend, I spent a lot of my time there.  I really enjoyed getting to know new people.     We had an...

A number of years ago I purchased a little book called The American Frugal Housewife by Lydia Maria Childs.  I love one of the things she had to say in the book.  "The true economy of housekeeping is simply the art of the gathering up all the fragments, so that nothing be lost. I mean fragments of time, as well as materials."   I find that true in my own life - gathering up the fragments.  I had such a productive week and a lot of it was because not only did I use up, make do and do without but because I worked hard at not frittering away my time on the computer.  I took a few moments here or there to check emails and different sites but the majority of my time was busy at work.  When I think of all the absolutely wasted moments that I cannot get back because I was sitting in front of a screen, it makes me cringe.   When I look back on my life, I want to feel useful and productive.  I want to know that I squeezed every last second out of...

James 1:19-26 ~ "My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do. Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure an...

"What activity do you have in your life that helps you feel closer to the Lord?"   This was a question that was asked in our Bible study last night.  As I reflected on all the many things I do from teaching children at church to leading a Bible study to writing books, I realized that the time I feel the closest to the Lord and the times when I'm communing with Him the most is when I work at my job as a homemaker. There is something about supporting my husband and children and helping things to run smoothly at home that gives me a contentment that nothing else does.  In fact, I find I spend more time in prayer doing the every day ordinary things than I did when I worked outside the home in full-time ministry. As I work at preparing meals or doing laundry or vacuuming, I spend time in prayer for my family and my church family or other needs that come to mind.  As I pack a nutritious lunch for my sons as they go off to work, I pray for their day...

Psalm 7:17 ~ I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness;      I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High. I love looking for the blessings in my life, both big and small.  Some are huge.  Some are so small that they could be overlooked if I didn't exercise awareness.  When I'm tempted to whine and complain, I love to take the blessings out of my pocket and look them over and remember... Remember that the Lord loves me. Remember that He is faithful. Remember that He is looking out for me in many ways. Remember to be appreciate God's hand on my life. This week I'm thankful for blessings #2 041-2060. 2041. Warm days and cool nights. 2042. The giggling of teen girls. 2043. Wise words from my husband who knows me best. 2044. The kindness of a neighbor with the offer off a rototiller to use. 2045. Oils, lye, water and scent all mixed together to make beautiful bars of soap. 2046. Meeting new f...

I Timothy 6:6-10 (NLT) ~ Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.  After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it.   So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.   But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.   For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. One of the hardest things for us to learn is to be content.  Content with what we have.  Content with who we are.  Content with our lives.  It seems as if so many look over the proverbial fence and think life would be so much better on the other side.  And it's that lack of contentment that gets most into financial disasters. Want some new gadget?...

Hooray for May!   Mornings on the deck with the sun, cool breeze, coffee, Bible and journal.   The smell of flowers wafting through the air. Digging in the dirt. Walking with a friend. Brilliant colors. Warm breezes blowing through open windows. Bare feet. Hooray for May!

I decided to just let God's word and some of my photographs speak today! :-) Psalm 121 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—      where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord ,      the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—      he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel      will neither slumber nor sleep.     The Lord watches over you—      the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day,      nor the moon by night.   The Lord will keep you from all harm —      he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going      both now and forevermore.

" You can give up the need to compete in the world — when you accept being complete in Christ." ~ Ann Voskamp I can so relate to this today.  I've had times of floundering and flopping around like a fish out of water the past few months.  Today has been a day of doing what I should do all the time.  It's been a day of prayer.  A day of keeping quiet.  Of contemplation.  Of just focusing on my home.  So often, I look for others to affirm me and yet, I have ones right here in front of me that need my attention.  I'm so busy looking around that I forget to keep focused on the ministry the Lord has given me right within these four walls.  So today, I've been making a comfortable living space for my son who is home from college.  I've been taking care of a very sick young lady who is having a flare-up of asthma.  I've been making meals for my husband and children.  I've been working on things my husband has asked me rep...

Cha-ching! I sat down and went through our checkbook and entered the amounts into appropriate categories on a spreadsheet and ugh! What a lot of wasted spending.  On stupid stuff.  I truly am frugal in so many ways.  I don't buy clothes.  I make everything from scratch.  We rent movies from the library.  We don't buy books, magazines, etc.  But I still find our money trickling out in stupid little ways; mostly food related.  It is trickling out in $3-$10 increments.  $3 for coffee.  $10 for snacks.  $5 for this and $4 for that. And when I get busy I tend to say to Dan, "Let's order a pizza."  "Let's pick-up McDonalds."  For example, I've had a few speaking engagements the past couple of weeks and instead of planning ahead and putting something in the crockpot, I'll not plan anything.  Then by the time I get home, I'm wiped out and that's when the trickling of our money starts. Dan usua...

Isaiah 2:22 ~ “Stop trusting in man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?" Years ago as I was going through a crisis, I felt as if I had been punched in the stomach.  Not just because of the circumstances surrounding the problem, but because people that I thought I could count on turned their back on me. It was so hard for me to fathom that people would be unkind and callous and cruel.  It was difficult to understand how people I had counted as my closest friends dropped out of my life.  It hurt tremendously. Yet, I was reminded that I struggle with putting my faith in the wrong place.  Instead of trusting solely on the Lord, I kept looking to people to fill my needs.  And people, being frail and human, will let us down.  I know I've let others down myself at times. What are you trusting in today? When things are hard or you are struggling what is your inclination? Do you turn to other people? Do you grab the p...

Today has been a wonderful day.    It's been a day of productivity and a day of busyness.  But it's also been a day of appreciating the beauty around me.   A backyard visitor.   Outdoor blooms. Indoor blooms. A day of digging into God's word and preparing a message for Saturday's mother-daughter luncheon. A day of craftiness. A day in the kitchen - soap making and cookie baking. A family dinner around the table. And now sitting on the deck with my husband. A day when I can sit and know it's been a job well done.  This is the day that Lord has made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it.

It's been a long winter and spring has been late coming to Central New York.  But despite the rain and cool temperatures, flowers are poking their way out of the ground.  Birds are every where and there are signs that spring is, in fact, here to stay. So often when we go through hard times, we can feel as if the sun will never shine.  Spring will never come.  Things will never get better. And yet, as believers, there is hope.  Hope that the Lord will walk beside us to help us through the rough patches.  That He will work in us to change those issues that need to be redeemed.  That He will work through us to shine His light to those around us. The winter will end.  Spring does come.  The sun will shine.  Hope is renewed.  This week I'm thankful for blessings #2 026-2040. 2026. A week of productivity. 2027.  A wonderful time, sharing with the women of a local church on the importance of prayer. 2028. A...

Being frugal means you do have to be willing to be adventurous and try new things from time to time.  If you don't try, how do you know you can't do something for yourself?  Sometimes it may result in a flop, but more often than not you will find that you've learned a new skill and another way to work on cutting costs.   Because my husband is a pastor and I very much work alongside him in ministry, I've tried as much as possible to find ways to make some money from home so I'm still available to minister with him, along with being available for my family.  Trying new things has actually been the very thing that has also led me into my own business.    And it's just plain fun! :-)   Being adventurous has led me to trying my hand at soap making, which will be available at the two local farmer's markets, a local store that's carrying my things and my Etsy shop.   Lemon Verbena on the top and Chai Tea on the bottom.    S...