Hearts in Service

Dan and I were headed out to our district's family camp for a vacation/work time.  However, circumstances beyond our control happened so that we are not going to be able to stay there.  I could whine and carry on, or I can have a good attitude and look at the positive side (which I'm doing). I was pleased that my initial response was actually laughter at the humor of the situation.  The camp is exactly an hour away so we are still going to get to go a couple of days and enjoy the fellowship and speakers during the day.  I get to sleep in my nice cozy bed and not pack a ton of stuff (which I hate doing).  What does this have to do with being frugal? B eing frugal is more than just pinching pennies, making do or doing without.  It's also about your attitude while you do it.   I can do the best job of saving my money and yet, have a rotten attitude the whole time.  I can have the attitude, "Why do I always have to do without!"  "Why is this so hard?"

It's that time of the year again when my water bath canner is a permanent fixture on my stove, my fingers are stained with the color of whatever berry I'm processing and I'm in desperate search of jars and lids.  Yesterday was the first batch of the season - strawberry jam.   I made 9 1/2 jars of jam yesterday and I have another 4 quarts of strawberries to process today. Emily came into the kitchen yesterday and said, "I love that smell!"  "It reminds me of home."  That, my friends, is so worth the work!

Some weeks are harder than others to find blessings, but this wasn't one of them.  It was such a wonderful week of celebrations and appreciating every moment.  This week I'm thankful for blessings #3031 - 3040 . 3031.  A wonderful Baccalaureate service.  This is the first year they ever had the seniors involved and I was assigned the task of meeting with them and organizing the event.  I wasn't sure how it would go but every parent that was there came up afterwards and talked about how meaningful it was. It was still a small turnout - only 15 seniors out of 200+ but it certainly was more than the past few years.  I'm hoping that it'll improve in future years. 3032.  I'm thankful for the small things that make me smile. 3033.  I'm thankful for productive days. 3034.  Finding new walking paths with Dan. 3035.  Being able to get wonderful photos at Emily's graduation.  I found a great spot and was able to get her both sitt

Last night was Emily's graduation from high school.  It was a wonderful evening and though there had been an 80% chance of thunderstorms, the weather actually held off long enough to have the ceremony outdoors where it had been originally planned.  There were a few rumbles of thunder, but the rain didn't start until about 15 minutes after the end of graduation. Of course, there were the normal speeches about dreaming big and going far.  Emily's yearbook is full of sentiments about being successful and all the rest of platitudes that we always say at these type of events.  But I've been reading in 2 Chronicles the past week and was struck by statements about two different men - Jehoram, the king of Judah, and a priest, Jehoaida.  Both were alive during the same time frame but their ends were very different and what is recorded about their lives are polar opposites.  One did evil in the sight of the Lord and the other, Johoaida, lived his life to do God's wi

  Summer has officially begun!  I love the longer days of these months.  I took a stroll around the yard after dinner last night and just enjoyed the warm breeze, sweet scents and beautiful sounds.  Our blackberry bushes are loaded with berries so it's going to be a good season for them.  I'm going to have to trim them way back at the end of the summer though because they have taken over another 5-6 feet of our yard.  I've been weeding out, but hurt my other knee so I'm still trying to get them up but moving very slowly.  I may finish by the end of the summer. ;-)  I want to appreciate these days because here in Central New York they go by quickly.  The winters are long, so I try to be outside as much as possible during the summer and fall. I tend to get involved in my work and forget to look up from the computer screen and enjoy things. It'll be back to winter before I know it, so I'm trying to enjoy each moment.    

Every time I turn around there seems to be some new technology happening.  The message I hear is that I need to upgrade, purchase more or download this new app.  Just when I get one piece of technology mastered, they come along with something new that makes what I have obsolete. The world is constantly changing, shifting and molding some new concept or ideology into today's culture.  It's enough to make your head spin. So I'm very thankful for this truth today. Hebrews 13:8 (HCSB) ~ Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Jesus is the one constant.  He will never let you down, let you go, shift or change.  He is the anchor that holds us secure when all around us is tossing and turning.  Do you know that today?  If you are feeling lost and tossed and in upheaval, perhaps you've lost Christ as the center of your life.  Or maybe you've never believed that He existed, or just view Him as a nice ideology.  Cast your anchor onto Him.  He wil

It's a dreary, rainy day and I had dreams riddled with anxiety last night.  I woke up with a headache and to be honest, quite grouchy. But I spent some time reading and in prayer and began to feel those anxieties seep away and my Manic Monday has turned into one a Multitude Monday, where God reminded me of the many good things in my life.  And even those things that are not so good, become that way when I remember that He is walking ahead of me and fighting these battles for me.  Psalm 143:8 (HCSB) ~ Let me experience Your faithful love    in the morning, for I trust in You. Reveal to me the way    I should go because I long for You. This week I'm thankful for blessings #3020 - 3030. 3020.  Laundry drying in the breeze 3021.  I made good progress on those weeds I mentioned until I did something to my good knee!  But it looks so much better.  Progress! 3022.  Dan got to go climb another high peak in the Adirondacks (there are 46) with the boys.  T

For the past 3 months, I've been going non-stop with retreat/event planning.  I still have a couple more to go, but there is some space in between, so I  have some time to get to odds and ends around my house.  Apparently, weeds sprung up overnight in the flower beds around my house and barn and it's a jungle out there!  Totally overwhelming.  And my house feels the same way.  There are piles of papers and "stuff" sitting everywhere.  So I'm weeding out both inside and out.  It kind of reminds me of my life.  If I'm not attentive weeds begin to spring up - bad habits and attitudes.  If I don't pull them immediately, a jungle of them begin to take over my life and I end up with a giant mess. I decided the outdoor weeds are too much to tackle all at once so I'm trying to spend about 20-30 minutes a day out there, pulling them up.  Just doing it the past few days has made a difference in some spots.  Obviously, behind the barn is going to ne

One of the things we did when we were in OH at our national conference was take an afternoon off to go to the Columbus Zoo.  I wasn't sure what to expect but was pleasantly surprised at the amount of animals to see.   Stephen's friend from college lived about 45 minutes from where we were staying so he joined us for the day.  The sun was out and the weather was warm and we spent about 4 hours there and still didn't get to see all there was as we ran out of time.  If you are in Columbus, it's definitely worth the visit!

Two milestones are happening today.  My husband turns 54 and my youngest, Emily, went to her last day of high school.  There are Regents exams the next two weeks and she doesn't have any this year so she is finished until graduation on June 23rd.  My heart is full and I am thankful. One of the reasons I blog is to journal some of these milestones.  I love looking back through the posts here and seeing bits and pieces of our life that I have forgotten about.  Time flies by so quickly and I am thankful to have something to remember it by. This week I'm thankful for blessings #3011-3019. 3011.  It was not a restful week at all.  I had multiple things to do and a retreat to get ready for this past weekend.  I am thankful that I accomplished all I set out to do.  3012.  I'm thankful for a wonderful leadership training retreat on Friday and Saturday.  It was a good time together with my leadership team and we got much accomplished.  I'm thankful for this group

I've been away for a week at our denomination's General Council meetings in Columbus, OH.  It was truly a mountaintop experience for me.  Wonderful worship, hearing from the Lord through all the speakers, and fellowshipping with 3,000 people from all around the U.S. and the world. But as always happens with the mountaintop experience, I have to come back down and into the valley.  And that is always a deflating type of experience.  A messy house, a car that needs repair, unexpected expenses and a host of other issues await me. I woke up this morning and as I lay in that state between sleep and being alert, I felt the knots return to my stomach and the worries buzzing around my head like flies.  As I got up and made my way to my chair with my Bible, the following verse jumped off the page at me. Psalm 28:7 (HCSB) ~ The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. Therefore my heart rejoices, and I praise Him with my song. I felt pe