Hearts in Service

Ephesians 4:22-24 (NIV) ~ You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires;   to be made new in the attitude of your minds;   and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. Exercise more.  Get in shape.  Lose 5, 10, or 50 lbs. Most people make goals or resolutions for the upcoming year and often these physical goals are on the list.  I know that I usually have some sort of exercise goal on my list of things as well.  I do believe it's important to take care of our bodies and be in the best shape and health possible. Besides the physical goals, I usually have a few others too.  In fact, I love looking forward and starting out the new year with new direction. This passage in Ephesians is a reminder that we are to also work on setting new goals for our spiritual life as well.  So often, this gets overlooked.  I'm not just talking about reading t

This has been a week of both family and focusing on the things that matter most to me and it's been good.  The past few days have been spent away from the computer and it's made me realize how much wasted time there can be.  Instead of filling my life with fluff I want to make each moment count.  Sometimes you need to get rid of the distractions to hear what God is saying!    This week I'm thankful for blessings 2331 through 2340. 2331.  A wonderful Christmas Eve service and Christmas Day. 2332.  The smell of fresh baked bread. 2333.  A relaxing afternoon in the fresh air. 2334.  Warmer weather and no snow! 2335.  Taking a road trip together to visit family. 2336.  Board games and lots of laughter. 2337.  Great conversation. 2338.  Time away from technology and focusing on God's word. 2339.  A mother-in-law who loves caring for her family. And finally, 2340.  Get

  It's funny how I can just want to throw in the towel, give up and not do one more thing and then, I'll get a second wind, renewed energy and all the things I thought were impossible to get done, happen. That is exactly what has happened to me since Monday.  I thought, "This is it, no more baking."  Then I took a couple days off.  Yesterday, I spent the afternoon at the mall with Dan & Emily so she could get her shopping done.  It was fun and relaxing.  There was no pressure.  It was just a laid back kind of day. And bam!  My energy is back.  So I decided to spend most of today baking our favorites.  So far this season I have made: Cinnamon pinwheels Peppermint chocolate crunch cookies Swedish ginger thins Andes mint cookies Chocolate candy cane kiss cookies Today will be spent making the following: Bizcochitos Brandy snaps Spritz Christmas meringues and a variety of sweet breads to give as gifts.  Of course, I may get in the midst of

I overslept this morning and I woke up feeling like a truck has hit me.  My head is aching, my arm hurts and every muscle is sore.  I don't even know why I feel this way as I'm not sick.  I had multiple, intense dreams all night so I have a feeling that I really didn't get the solid, deep sleep I need.  Whatever the reason, it certainly leads to a very sour attitude in me.  I feel like a grouch.  I want to snap at everyone who even walks into the room.  But then I was reminded of the verses found in Luke's gospel. Luke 2:8-11 ~ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. The shepherds were up in the

Isaiah 49:14-16 ~ "But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.' Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me." It is hard to find true love in this world.   We long for someone to say, “I love you.”   We desire for someone to love us unconditionally.   Yet, for most of us, there are so many lies ringing through our heads saying, “You are not good enough.”   “You are not smart enough.”   “You are worthless.”   “You are not wanted.”   “You are not loved.”   Do you ever feel this way?   Alone?   Unimportant?   Unaccepted and unloved?   Are you, as the song says, “Looking for love in all the wrong places?”   “Looking for love in too many faces?   No one person will fulfill this need for love in our lives.   People are sinful.   They fail.   They let us down

I put all the names in a basket and drew one out this morning.  And the winner of the package of Christmas goodies is..... Kathi D Congratulations, Kathi!  Your package will be mailed out on Monday morning. Of course, because I have such a hard time not feeling bad for everyone who didn't win and I'm in the Christmas spirit, I decided to choose two more names.  They'll get something as well.  Those two are... Elizabeth D and Sandy Just email me your addresses at Groh5ofus@aol.com and I'll get these in the mail to you. Have a Merry Christmas!

  This is the 5th night in a row that I've been wide awake in the middle of the night and I feel so very frustrated.  I wake up every night with a constant throbbing pain in my right shoulder.  I tore my rotator cuff a few months ago and after a steroid shot in that shoulder, I felt a better for a few weeks.  It's been progressively getting bad again, and last night I wrenched it which aggravated it even more.  Once I'm awake I can't get back to sleep until a few hours later which then causes me to oversleep in the morning.  Then I'm feeling behind all day. It's frustrating because there are so many things I want to do.   Things such as..... Sewing.   I'm almost out of tea totes which a local café carries.  My Etsy shop is depleted of them.  I have a craft fair coming up in January.  But sewing aggravates the arm. Baking.  I've only made 4 kinds of cookies this entire season, when normally I make 10 or more.      Giving.  Our finances are ve

  My friend, Jody Gates, is a fellow pastor's wife in our district.  We both homeschooled our children, love to write, and have other similar interests.  Of course, because we lived about 4 hours apart we only got to see each other a couple of times a year at our district women's retreats.  So most of our interaction was online.  Since Dan & I have moved last year Jody and I are now less than an hour a way and get together every couple of months for coffee and catching up.   Jody was such an encouragement to me when I wrote my books and now I get to reciprocate.   That is because she just released her first book, Confessions of a Farmer's Daughter .  In Confessions Jody shares how the perfect life she envisioned as a wife and mother doesn't match up to her reality.  It is an honest look at the struggles many women face as their real life doesn't live up to the fairy tale world they thought they would find.  She also gives us a look into the emotions su

Psalm 46:10 (NIV) ~ He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;      I will be exalted among the nations,      I will be exalted in the earth.” Christmas shopping.  Wrapping gifts.  Baking cookies.  Running from one holiday party to the next.   These are all the signs of the holiday season.  We race from one moment to the next with scarcely a breath in between.  Christmas is the time we celebrate the coming of the Messiah.  As believers we say we want to keep the true meaning of Christmas as our focus.  We express our desire to keep Christ in Christmas and yet, we continue to do all the things that pull our focus away from that.  We don't stop long enough to actually do what we say we want to do. And yet, as this Psalm states, God wants us to be still.  To stop and listen to Him.  To get off the spinning merry-go-round long enough to recognize who He is.  What was the response of those who witnessed the birth of Christ?  The magi fell to their knees and worshiped.  The she

I love to cook and if you've read my blog for any length of time, you'll understand what I mean.  To me a meal without creativity is just not a meal.  I'm also trying to manage our very tight budget and I decided to get back to my old habit of making out a menu each week.  I spend a lot of time in the kitchen because I make everything from scratch.  It's cheaper and also because I deal with so many health issues in our family, it's a way to manage what's going into their body. I always plan my meals around what I have in my pantry and have the same basic things there.  It ends up costing less than trying to plan a menu and then go out and purchase specific items. Here is the plan for the next week.  I'm not putting the word homemade in front of everything, but it's all from scratch from cereals to breads to desserts. Monday B - Granola, juice L - Hot pockets with ground beef, mozzarella and sauce (I'm making a double batch for the freez

Do you remember the movie, A Christmas Story?   There is a line in the story when Ralphie is talking about wanting the Red Ryder BB Gun and says he felt the Christmas noose tightening itself around his neck.  Well, I kind of feel that way myself lately.  This year I don't seem to have my act together.  A lot of it was because I was so distracted and busy with the shop.  And I'm kicking myself for not making my list, planning ahead and getting things done in advance of December 11! That is something I want to rectify in the coming year.  If I start planning for Christmas in January then it won't be such a crunch to come up with something nor will it be a financial issue.  However, yesterday I remembered I have a shed full of gift items that were left over from my shop so I'm going shopping there today and getting things in the mail to our extended family.  My mother sent money for Christmas as she always does so I can use that to buy for the kids.  She always send

The schools were dismissed early yesterday because of snow and it seemed like a good day to bake.  In years past, I've made dozens upon dozens of Christmas cookies starting in November for the freezer.  It really is hard to get motivated in that area any more because I'm trying to get everyone eating healthier, myself included and I also don't have as much room in my freezer. Because we don't have any parties or anything going on this year, I decided to just make a few batches here or there.  This recipe was on the back of the Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips and they were so good. I did tweak it a bit and am sharing my recipe here.  You never can go wrong with chocolate and peppermint. Chocolate Peppermint Crunch Cookies 1 cup salted butter 2 tablespoons brewed coffee 2 cups plus two tablespoons all-purpose flour 3/4 cup baking cocoa                              1/2 tsp. baking soda                              1/2 tsp. salt 1

Psalm 116:15 ~ The Lord cares deeply      when his loved ones die. Revelation 21:1-4 (NLT) ~ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone.  And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.   He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” I had a terrible night of sleep as I tossed and turned most of the night.  My heart is broken for a friend who tragically lost her husband in a car accident yesterday afternoon.  He was a fellow pastor in our district and one of the nicest people you could ever meet.  I also learned yesterday that an older man who was a fixture a