Hearts in Service

I'm so thankful for the ways that God works in our lives and as today is the last day in August I wanted to remember to list my blessings. This week I'm thankful for blessings #2551 - 2560. 2551. God provided for two months of Stephen's school bill through an unexpected gift.  What a blessing! 2552.  I was able to get much accomplished around the house and rearranged, cleaned and decluttered my living room. 2553.  Emily got a workable school schedule that she is very happy about receiving. 2554.  Nathan's work hours got changed to 2:00-11:00 p.m.  No more driving home at 1:00 in the morning.  Still not great hours but definitely better than 4-1 a.m. 2555. Seeing people in our church getting excited about ministry. 2556.  Getting some clarity on what needs to stay and go in the activity area. 2557.  Praying with a friend. 2558.  A wonderfully fun day yesterday with friends who also are fellow pastors and pastor's wiv...

  Jonathan Lockwood Huie ~   Your greatest gift to your family and friends is yourself - your relaxed, happy, and full-present self.   I love this quote and I do have to say that this past week I've lived it and it's been wonderful.    So often I get so wrapped up in activity to the detriment of all else.  This week I had an intentional plan for my activities and I was productive but I was also far more relaxed than I normally am.  I was able to clean my house, prepare meals, work on some ministry things, sew and craft and yet, still had time to chat with my family and spend time with them.  I took an afternoon off and went school shopping with Emily and we enjoyed each other's company so much.   It's been a great week!  And my plan is to remind myself of this quote each day.  Relax.  Be happy.  Be present.   This week was also a wonderful week in the frugal living department!...

Acts 2:42 ~ And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers. One of the first things we see that the early Christians did as a new church was to pour themselves into each other's lives.  They studied together.  They spent time in fellowship which included meals.  They prayed together. The modern church has wandered so far from this.  Most churches seem to have people content to come once a week and engage in small talk with each other, leave, and then have no contact again until the following week.  When anyone tries to share what they are struggling with, they are shut down because "Christians should never show weakness."  Or a familiar Bible verse is plucked out of the air, thrown at them so we can feel like we've ministered without going deeper.  Most believers never fellowship outside of the four walls of the church. It frustrates me.  My desire is to ...

Each year our denomination's Great Commission Women's leadership team comes up with a theme for the year.  This year our theme is G od's P ositioning S ystem: Placed for a Purpose.  I thought I would focus on one aspect of GPS here for my Wednesday Words of Encouragement. This week I'm going to look at being on the mountaintop and the following is from a devotional I did from our district's leadership retreat a couple of weeks ago. G od's P ositioning S ystem: On the Mountaintop   I grew up on top of a mountain in the Catskill Park area of New York.   I recently had the pleasure of returning for vacation and experienced a time of refreshment and relaxation.   Every morning, I opened the window and could see a different mountain across the valley.   The smell of wild thyme permeated the air.   There was always a cool, refreshing breeze.      At night I drifted off to the sound of coyotes yipping and yapping in the distance....

When our children were babies, we stood before our congregation and dedicated each of them to the Lord.  We took a vow, saying we would do our best as parents to raise children in a Godly environment and teach them about the Lord. There have been days when they were growing up that caused me to pause and wonder if I was doing a good job at all.  Even now, I'll have days of exasperation, doubt and worry.  But overall, I think my children are on the right track and are growing in their own faith. Nathan recently joined our church of his own volition.  I've seen a desire come over him to learn God's word and grow spiritually.  He has been pretty motivated, despite having multiple learning disabilities and reads at a low level.  They changed his schedule at work and he has been happy, mainly because it meant he could come to church.  Stephen is on fire for the Lord right now.  One of the things that I've always prayed is that at ...

The past week or so, I've been like a child who takes each one of her toys off a shelf and looks each one over and then has the painstaking decision of whether to keep it or give it away.  As I pull each activity off the shelf and lovingly look at it, I find some reason that I should keep it and put it back up there.  Each one provides a special memory or invokes an emotion and it's difficult.  And yet, I know that I need to let go of some things.  What stays and what goes?  What is good, but not the best?  Which activity or talent do I keep doing and what needs to be cut out?  This one or that one?  AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!  The problem is I love doing it all.  Through my sewing and soap business, I've met wonderful people.  I've gotten involved in our community.  I've made contacts.  As a woman in ministry, that is the goal.  So I don't want to give it all up yet, but obviously, need to streamline ...

I heard a new one yesterday.  Someone said I reminded them of women in olden days who made their own bread, jams, soaps and other products.  I know I feel pretty old at times. She meant it as a compliment and I took it that way. :-)             As I looked through some of my photos, I realized that she may be right! I am old-fashioned in the sense that I make just about everything from scratch.  I stood in the store one night and decided I was going to purchase tortillas since I'm not a fan of rolling them out.  I stood in front of the display of tortillas for about 10 minutes and ended up walking out without them.  I couldn't bring myself to pay that much for cardboard tasting circles!  What started out as a way to save some money and deal with my daughter's food allergies has turned into a lifestyle. Yep, I'm old-fashioned and I like it! :-) P.S.  I know over the past few weeks many of ...

Romans 8:28-39 (NIV) ~ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.   For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.   And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?   He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?     Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.     Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died —more than that, who was raised to life —is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.     Who shall separate us from the...

Haggai 2:3-5 (HCSB) ~   Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How does it look to you now? Doesn’t it seem like nothing to you?Even so, be strong, Zerubbabel”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Be strong, Joshua son of Jehozadak, high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Work! For I am with you”—the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. “This is the promise I made to you when you came out of Egypt, and My Spirit is present among you; don’t be afraid.” The task was daunting. The temple was in ruin. Yet, the Lord told Zerubbabel and Joshua to get to work, rebuilding it. He didn't want them standing there, wringing their hands. I'm sure to them the job looked impossible.  He reassured them that He was with them as they moved forward in faith. Many times we face impossible tasks, overwhelming obstacles, and towering circumstances that look like they will crush us.  However, just as the Lord t...

I had such a wonderful weekend away.  I was at a retreat from Friday morning through Saturday night and it was a time of refreshment and refocus.  I came back with a renewed vision for our ministry here.  I returned with a fresh reminder of the calling the Lord placed on my life as a teenager.  It feels like the sun is peeking out behind rain clouds and it has re-energized me. I've gotten a bit sidetracked with business and sewing.  While I enjoy it and it does bring in a few extra dollars, that is not what I was called to so many years ago.  As a young woman, I clearly heard the Lord speak to me and call me into full-time ministry.  So I'm going to be spending some time evaluating what needs to go and what can stay.  I'm praying that the Lord would show me what specific things I should focus on here and what other things, while are all good activities, are not the best for me to be doing.  So I'm feeling excited to see what God will...

Jonathan Lockwood Huie ~ Know that the essence of life is not in the great victories and grand failures, but in the simple joys. It has been a week full of simple joys.     It's been a quiet week.  It's been a simple week.  It's been a good week.  It's been a joyful week. :-)

It seems that my home has turned into a science laboratory.  I have soap curing above my kitchen cupboards, herbs being infused into oils, different herbs drying on screens, and many variations of oils and butters in my cupboards.   And it's fun.    Yesterday, I was so happy to find plantain throughout my yard and who knew that silly weed actually has medicinal uses and you can also eat it!  I remember playing with plantain leaves as a child, trying to pull the leaf off the little veins that run through it. This morning my neighbor cut a bag full of comfrey for me and that joined the other herbs drying in my sunroom.  I'm starting to think I need a room just to myself because my experiments and projects are taking over every area of the house.  Or maybe Dan and the kids would be willing to live in one room? ;-)

I  can get quite frustrated with all I have to do and feeling like there is not enough time in a day.  Often, I'll spend hours working on a project and then other things get neglected.  To be honest, I'm frustrated with myself at some level almost every day. I know in the next year there are a few things happening that will add even more to my plate and I was feeling like I had to let a few things I love fall by the wayside.  Dan helped me a bit yesterday as I was expressing that frustration to him. He suggested that I come up with a daily schedule with a beginning and end time for each project.  So rather than get so engrossed in jam-making or sewing or writing to the detriment of all else in my life, I should settle on a time each day to work on these projects.  Then when the time is up, put down my pen, sewing machine or whatever tool I'm using and move on to the next thing.  By working on it each day, it will still get done but so wi...

 (Bee Balm)   Sometimes your wounds go deep.  Those wounds are down where no one can see them and though you continue to laugh and smile and continue on, the wound still hurts.  It throbs and aches.  When no one is looking a glimmer of that internal pain makes you wince.  Those who truly have the ability to look outside themselves may see a glimpse of the pain, but most people pass by unaware and unconcerned.   The only thing that will help is a healing balm.  I'm so thankful that the Lord is that healing balm in our lives.  He understands.  He has compassion.  He wants to heal those wounds.  He can heal them if we allow Him to do so.  But that takes opening up those places we keep hidden.  It means we have to let go of the constant pain.  We have to forgive the one who wounded us.   And that is hard for some to do.  Many of us have become so used to our wounds and pain is...

    We spent a fun couple of days with my family, celebrating my mother's 73rd birthday and my stepfather's 83rd birthday.  It was a special time.  My parents haven't seen Dan or the kids in two years so they got to catch up.  My grandmother was there.  My uncle and aunt came and we haven't seen them in years.  In fact, the last time they saw my children was when Nathan was a toddler.  I got to spend a bit of time with some of my 6 nieces and nephews. My brother-in-law is the director of a retreat center and because it's hard for my grandmother to get around and do stairs, we all ate together up in the dining hall of the center. I spent the past two days in an industrial kitchen with my sister, cooking and baking for about 20 people.  Even though it was tiring and I think I got out of the kitchen for about two hours yesterday, it was still enjoyable working together.  We laughed.  We cried....