Hearts in Service

A woman in our district makes beautiful art out of books. My sweet friends from church bought this one for me as it was our theme for the year.   Change is always difficult for people and I know that I personally do not like it. And yet, change is a necessary part of life. Seasons change. People change. Circumstances change. Organizations change. And that is as it should be. Without change things begin to stagnant and eventually, die out or become obsolete. So this weekend as I had to introduce change in a variety of ways it wasn't necessarily an easy weekend for me, but it was one in which I saw God move. My desire is always to bring God glory and promote Him and I think that happened this weekend.  The women who descended upon the hotel were challenged, stretched, and hopefully, some left changed for the better. God was lifted up in the music, through the speakers and in many conversations that took place. I came home exhausted, but at...

I get so frustrated with myself at times because I'm such a flawed person.  I have a standard in my head that I want to attain to, but it seems as if I fall far short so often.  I whine, complain, grumble, get stressed, anxious and to be honest, am just plain sinful at times.  And when I fail I get so discouraged with myself. Yet, as I read the book of Romans, I'm reminding of the following... Romans 8:8-13 (NLT) ~ That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)   And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God.   The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the ...

  Flowers, Easter eggs, goody bags, crowds of people, inspiring worship, cookies, dinner with a friend, and board games. It was a great weekend! All week long I had watched the weather in anticipation of our Community Easter Egg hunt on Saturday. The forecast called for thunderstorms and steady rain. Our building is tiny and we didn't have a feasible alternative if it was pouring rain. Many prayers went up all week and I was so happy when Saturday rolled around. It was overcast and cool but the rain held off all day long until about 45 minutes after everything was cleaned up. Then the skies opened up and the rain fell. We had 70 children and their families attend and it was a great afternoon. We had filled 2,500 eggs which took many hours. And yet, in the space of 10-15 minutes they were picked clean! It kind of reminded me of Thanksgiving dinner which takes all day to prepare and 20 minutes to eat. :-) We had Ea...

My husband, Dan, definitely has the gift of encouragement. He never has an unkind word to say to anyone, and in our 30 years of marriage I think he's only gotten really angry about 2-3 times. I provoked it big time! He is steady, faithful and a rock. I'm leaving on Friday to go to our old church for a speaking engagement on Saturday. I really wasn't looking forward to the long ride by myself but he volunteered to come along with me so I wouldn't have to drive. It's the type of person he is. He is always looking out for other people's interests. I've seen God open up doors for him and for him to find favor with people in ways that wouldn't happen for others. I spoke yesterday morning at a local nursing home where I run a worship service. Dan has been coming with me because his tutoring schedule has changed. So he plays the cajon (a little drum box) for the singing time and leads them in a time of prayer. I asked him a few weeks ago if he would like...

Spring has finally sprung here in the North Country though all that means is that it's raining and muddy. But it's such a nice change from snow. A week ago we had 6" of snow on the ground and this week it's all gone. There are robins everywhere I look. My crocuses are up as well as other shoots. It's finally here! Dan and I were able to go out for a walk yesterday on the trails we enjoy and the smell of pine was heavenly. Other than distant peepers, it was silent.  It felt so good to get some fresh air and actually move. It's pouring rain and I'm having a hard time getting started. I'm off this morning to lead a service at a local nursing home so need to get moving, b ut on this Multitude Monday, the main thing I'm thankful for is spring! Spring means new life, new activities, new weather and best of all Easter! I love the celebration that centers around the best gift ever given - Christ's life, death and resurrectio...

I often stress about things and one of the things that causes me the most anxiety is my children. I know I shouldn't do it, and work hard to let go of those concerns and give them to God, but I have spent many a sleepless night being anxious. And yet, there are those moments of clarity when the very thing I worry about has been turned around and used by the Lord for good in my child's life.  Stephen graduated last May and spent the spring and summer working first as an intern in a church, and then went on to work in our district's camp for the rest of the summer. He came home after Labor Day and spent 5 months looking for work. It was a hard time for him, and to be honest, me! He was depressed and angry and let's just say there were some rough patches. I worried that he'd never find anything. There aren't a lot of opportunities around here. He also has generalized anxiety disorder and sometimes that causes difficulties. The other things that I stress a...

We took Emily back to college yesterday after she spent a week at home for spring break. After taking her grocery shopping, we went to her dorm to unload. The first thing that hit us as we walked into the building was the smell of marijuana. It's an unpleasant acrid scent that permeates the air every time we go. As a mom, I always feel a bit depressed when we leave her there because it's not the best environment. She has 3 suite mates and when we went into the suite yesterday, it was a mess. Emily started stressing almost immediately because whoever had cooked last left food all over the stove and counter tops.  As I put her groceries away, she immediately started wiping down surfaces and emptying the overflowing trash. I know college kids can be messy, and she isn't always the neatest,  but this was really disgusting.  It's so different than the college experience I had, however, I am thankful that as a mother, my daughter has a good head on her shou...