Hearts in Service

Yesterday was one of the most peaceful Thanksgivings we've had in a long time.  Since it was just the 5 of us, I didn't have to concern myself with making sure the house was spotless on top of cooking.  As I got ready to take this picture I made a comment at how sloppy everyone looked.  I said something about we never dress up for holidays and it would be nice to have a picture where we are dressed up.  Here were the comments: "Mom, we are comfortable."  "Should we all wear suits ties and dresses and be stiff?"  and then Dan piped in with, "We are a wonderful family and this is how we are comfortable so who cares what the blogging world thinks!"  lol  Wise words from a wise man. The snow came gently down all day and just added to the quietness of the day. The food was good but once again I marveled at how I spend hours prepping and it's over in 20 minutes. We watched a couple of Christmas movies.  Rule here is that they are not...

All of my children are home with us, my refrigerator is full of food, I have a roof over my head, and friends that I love and whom love me. So many blessings.  And yet, so often I can look at the negative things in my life.  I obsess about the thorns and forget to smell the roses. Today, I want to simply say, "Thank You" to God.  Thank you for waking me up and letting me breathe today.  Thank you for my life, thorns and all.  Simply, "Thank you." Have a blessed Thanksgiving!  

I had this whole long, serious blog posted but then decided I needed some lightheartedness today.  Sometimes it's better to just look at the lighter side of life.  I've been going hog wild with things lately. * I got super motivated the other night and between Sunday night and yesterday, made 40 note cards.  Some are for a local inspirational gift shop that requested more, some are for a couple upcoming craft fairs.   * I looked out the window yesterday, in time to see this monstrosity trot by my back window.  All I was able to get was the back end of him and so sorry about the not nice view.  Someone in town is missing a pig!  lol  Another thing to add to my list: Things you See in a Rural Community.  :-) * I'm sitting in the midst of piles.  Piles of laundry.  Piles of papers.  Piles of craft items.  Piles of vendor things that need to go back to them.  I'm thinking if I could put the piles ...

I love my Mondays and mostly because this is the day that I look back over the previous week and count my blessings.  Thanksgiving is coming and I'm so glad we have this holiday as a reminder that our thanks should flow out 365 days a year and 24/7. I'm especially thankful this week for the many ways I've seen God's hand on us the past week. This week I'm thankful for blessings #2266 - 2285. 2266.  My husband has a job with some flexibility that allowed him to help out in a few situations this week where I was unable to do so. 2267.  I made it through a very stressful week with a smile on my face and no melt-downs. ;-) 2268.  Emily's ankle was sprained and not broken. 2269.  Dan made it home with Stephen safely through a snowstorm. 2270.  All my chicks are under one roof. 2271.  Worshiping as a family in church yesterday. 2272.  The sense of awe I got yesterday listening to a full house at church lifting their voices in wor...

I went through my old photo albums last night and got to reminiscing about my life.  I've been so blessed with great friends and wonderful memories. One of the few that stuck out to me was this photo. It mostly struck me at how happy and content I look.  And I was.  Holding that little one just brought such nurturing feelings out in me.  Her mother and father were close friends and I still keep in touch with them today via Facebook.  In fact, we were chatting about it last night and this tiny thing is now 27 and a gorgeous beauty.  I also babysat for her cousin whose parents are also good friends.  Their daughter is 28 and I feel old! I've played many roles in my life - public relations director of the year, administrative assistant, director of an adult literacy program, teacher, and shop owner.  However, the one that stands out to me and means the most is mother. I loved holding my children in my arms as babies while they nursed....

Dan left a few moments ago to pick up Stephen from his college dormitory.  He's coming home for Thanksgiving.  I'm excited!  A week with all my chicks in the nest.  The turkey is purchased as well as the majority of food for the Thanksgiving meal.  We also purchased items for a second meal for a Thanksgiving basket. The ingredients for Christmas cookies are purchased.  Epic fail this year.  I usually have a ton of different kinds in the freezer already.  Not one cookie has been made this year so that is on the agenda over the next few weeks. I brought home all my fabric in anticipation of the shop closing.  I actually will be closed after Saturday until the big Christmas event in town on December 6th.  The landlady is moving a lot of her stuff in to sell and needs time to set it up.  And that's fine.  More time with my family!     I will be participating in a craft fair next Saturday so I'll have ...

2 Corinthians 6:1-10 (NIV) ~ As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.   For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you,      and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.   We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.   Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses;   in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger;   in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;   in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;   through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors;   known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we liv...

I was straightening my pantry shelves yesterday when I started browsing through my cookbooks. Most of my recipes are from my head, magazines or the internet but I do have a few cookbooks that I've had for years.  It occurred to me that each of these books represent some part of my life. So for something different and fun today, I'd thought I'd share that on my blog. This one, More with Less , was written by a Mennonite community and was one that reminds me of my teen years.  For a time, my single mother and we three children lived with our pastor and family.  They ran a Christian training center and camp that my brother-in-law is actually the director of at this point.  This was one of the mainstays of the center.  There are so many wonderful recipes in it, using inexpensive ingredients.  The premise of this book is that we in the west use up so much of the world's resources even though we are fairly small in population compared to the rest of th...

  Last week was quite the rollercoaster of emotions.  We got hit with wave upon wave of trials and bad news.  A friend reminded me that we must be doing something right here that the devil doesn't like because it seemed as if we were under spiritual attack given the sheer magnitude of things going wrong all at once.   This morning as I read in Isaiah, the Lord reminded me that He is in control and that He is watching over us.   Isaiah 44:1-5 (NLT) ~   But now, listen to me, Jacob my servant,      Israel my chosen one. The Lord who made you and helps you says: Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant,      O dear Israel, my chosen one. For I will pour out water to quench your thirst      and to irrigate your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants,      and my blessing on your children. They will thrive like watered grass,   ...

It went from a high of 67 degrees and gorgeous on Tuesday.   To the mid-30s and snow yesterday. Snow has arrived and will probably stick around until April.  I'd love to say that my head is full of visions of this... But in reality, the picture is more like this...   And it's only November.  lol!!!

  Did you ever have one of those days when you want to go back to bed and pull the covers over your head?  The kind of day when everything seems to terrible and you feel sorry for yourself?  The kind of day when someone may ask you, "Do you want some cheese with that wine (or should I say, whine)?   That would describe my day yesterday.  I had one of those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days.  A day when I felt like a failure and like I was all alone in the midst of struggles. A day when I doubted every decision I've ever made, including putting up yesterday's blog post.  It ended pretty badly too with my son calling us from work, extremely upset because of the way others have been treating him there.  For him to call it had to be bad.   However, God is bigger than all of these issues.  He is in control.  The reality is that I'm not alone.  People may let me down, but He never will....

  We had our ladies "Let's Have Coffee" Bible study the other night and this year we are looking at the different names of Jesus.  We meet once a month and this month we looked at Jesus as bread.  I loved setting the table with fall decorations and having a display of homemade challah, grapes and cheese.  We partook of communion together at the end of the study, remembering that the bread of life, both invites us to fill up on Him but also gave up His life for us.   I do have to say that one of things I'm looking forward to with the shop closing is being able to focus on doing more of this type of thing.  I've missed it and do feel like I've gotten distracted a bit.   Many of the ways I want to minister to others just haven't happened because I've been busy.  When I opened the shop, I had the desire to reach out to our community but that hasn't happened either, mostly because people coming in are there to shop - period.   ...