Hearts in Service

In an attempt to make today less crazy I started making bread yesterday for this afternoon's market. As I was standing in the kitchen and kneading the dough, Emily was watching me for a few minutes. She said, "I like when you do these things because you are so cute." "Cute?," was my response. "Yes, it's old-fashioned!" lol She went on to say, "This is never going to be 'my thing!'" My response to her was that it wasn't my thing either when I was her age. It was only after I got married and had children that I developed an interest in any of these domestic pursuits. This conversation got my mind wandering down a line of thought about passing things on to our children. I think so much of what they learn comes through watching us throughout the years more than what we intentionally try to teach them. My hope is that my children have learned some good character traits by seeing us live them out year after year. On t...

It was so windy that I had to anchor almost everything down. Estonian Kringle Cinnamon Bread My farmers market haul - $35 bought me all this. A new recipe - tomato, feta and swiss chard quiche Flowers from my husband We went out to dinner and then for a walk by the lake for our anniversary. I like this runner with the burlap though burlap is a pain in the neck to work with. It has variations in color, doesn't always lie flat and doesn't iron out easily. But I like the end result. It's been a busy and productive week. Can you believe another month has flown by? The weather has warmed up and summer has arrived. The temperatures are cooler than normal and we've had so much rain. Along the Lake Ontario shoreline there is much flooding and unfortunately, many properties are being damaged. I'm gearing up today and tomorrow for the next farmers market which is tomorrow from 3-8 p.m. It seems like the weather will be decen...

James 3:7-12 ~ All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. As I was reading this morning, it occurred to me how sad I must make the Lord sometimes. I'm in full-time ministry and have been a believer for 45 years and yet, my mouth can still be a stumbling block for me.  These verses in James, chapter 3, should convict us all. How can we really say we love God and yet turn around and criticize and grumble against those He has cr...

Thirty-one years ago we said, "I do," not knowing what that really meant. We've been through good times, bad times, and in between times.  We are currently going through the valley and some days it's just hard. And it's easy to lash out at each other even though neither one of us is the cause of the valley.  But as we celebrate our 31st wedding anniversary today, I am so thankful for this man that I'm walking through life with. This week has been a particularly trying week and yesterday I was not the nicest woman to live with. But my husband is unendingly patient and forgives me. I married a gem and didn't even realize it at the time.  Unfortunately, today is one of those days where "life" is getting in the way and I'm not even sure we are going to be able to do anything to celebrate it. But I'm thankful for the man I'm married to and am so thankful that God brought us together all those years ago. Happy Anniversary to my roc...

I read an article recently in Psychology Today about the characteristics of Highly Sensitive People. They say that about 15-20% of the population are wired differently this way and these emotionally intense adults have a specific kind of sensitivity, intensity and giftedness.   There were five components to people with this particular personality - Emotional depth, velocity and complexity, deep empathy and sensitivity, highly acute perceptivity, a rich inner world with sensual, imaginary, and intellectual excitability, and finally, creative potential and existential angst. There were a number of characteristics under each component and I found it interesting that of the 36 characteristics mentioned, I identified with all thirty-six of them. The article then went on to mention how people who are categorized as highly sensitive have spent most of their lives feeling lonely, or as if there were was something wrong with them. I was so thankful to read this article because it...

It's 7 a.m. and I'm sitting on my deck where I've been for the past hour. There is a cool breeze blowing, the skies are blue and it's going to be a beautiful day. I've finished up my quiet time and my coffee and am just sitting here and enjoying the sound of birds while I type. Normally, because we are next to the road there is a constant sound of traffic going by. But because it's Sunday and early morning, only the occasional car drives by. When I first sat down with my Bible to read this morning, my thoughts were chaotic and I felt stressed. It's hard for me to sit still for any length of time. But this daily exercise is good for my soul. I always find it amazing that after time in God's word and prayer I gain clarity and sense His peace washing over me. Perhaps you are feeling a bit frazzled today? Or maybe you are feeling down and depressed? It's easy to just get on with our day because we have things to do and places to go. But I want to ...

My week summed up in pictures, minus the hundreds of emails and texts as I work on district details, as well as the meetings and ministry! My neighbor feeds everything that walks or flies which is why we have a fox hanging around now. I also think the fact that our new neighbors on the other side of the church have chickens may be another reason. I'm getting lots of photo opportunities. Because we've had so much rain I think my blackberry crop is going to be wonderful this year. The bushes are loaded with blossoms. I made my first pie for my husband's "pie-of-the-month" gift. It was a labor of love. :-) Emily requested her favorite meal which is eggplant parmesan so we had that the other night. I've been labeling jars, sewing and labeling items, and this afternoon and tomorrow morning I'll be baking up a storm. This afternoon will be spent making challah bread and cinnamon braided bread. Both are a soft bread t...

I find that I often get fixated on the wrong things. As I look around our worship service on Sunday mornings I often see small numbers. Sometimes the mood of the room is depressed and many times it seems like people would rather be somewhere else. Those are the days when I feel very discouraged and ready to quit. "If no one else cares then why are we trying so hard?" And therein lies the problem. Because I keep trying to do things in my own strength. I keep fixating on the wrong thing and I'm taking on the responsibility of other's spiritual walk. I recently gave a message on the Parable of the Sower in Matthew 13 where Jesus talks about the farmer who sowed his seed on 4 different types of soil. Nowhere in this passage does Jesus say that the farmer was responsible for the soil; he was responsible to sow the seed.  That was a lightbulb moment for me. I'm not responsible for others acceptance or rejection of God's message. I'm not responsible for th...

I've been spending some time each day making jam and jelly for an upcoming farmers market that begins this Friday. So far I have grape jelly, dandelion jelly, blueberry and strawberry jams. The plan today is to make some raspberry with the berries I have in my freezer from last summer. I think that'll be enough to get me started.  On a side note, the word "jammin'" always makes me think of a story from when the children were little. My husband loves heavy metal music and my children grew up listening to it. One day, Dan and the kids were sitting in the car waiting for me and when I came out, Emily who was about 19 months old shouted over the music, "Mommy, we're JAMMIN'!" lol I have a couple of table runners to make today, as well as some soup bowl cozies. But other than that, I have a large stash of home décor items in storage that I'll be pulling out. Then Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon I'll be on to bread making. ...

Mondays can be difficult so I'm glad that I started doing Multitude Mondays years ago. It's a better way to start my week and trust me, there are days when I'm not feeling particularly thankful about anything. As I started typing this post, I realized that it was descending into gloominess so I decided to hit the delete button and start over. I'm thankful - period. Thankful for so many things in my life and I choose to focus on those things this morning and not the hard things. So on this Monday I'm going to just make my thankful list because as I do that, it always helps my mood to turn around and for me to realize how many things I have in my life that are a blessing. Today I'm thankful for blessings #3,646 -3,655 3646. I'm thankful that I was able to get quite a bit accomplished this past week in preparation for an upcoming farmers market starting this Friday. I made 2 batches of jelly and jam and 9 clothespin holder...

  We are beginning the summer season which means our already tight belts will need to be cinched even tighter. Dan tutors during the school year to help supplement our income and that is ending this week. So between now and around October things are stretched pretty thin. Because I'm entering into a quieter ministry season, I've decided to try and do a farmer's market or two to make some extra money. My business checkbook is down to bare bones because I haven't been selling anything as I focus on other things. So in order to do the market, I'm going to have to temporarily make due with what I have in my fabric stash and in my pantry for the breads and jam. Fun times! ;-)  And I'm actually being serious about that because I always like a challenge so finding creative ways to make ends meet isn't as hard as it seems.  Here are some ways I've saved this week: $ We didn't get to go grocery shopping until yesterday and...