Hearts in Service

Some of the reason I love to go hiking and walking in the woods is that if you are observant and quiet, you never know what you'll see. There are so many things right under our nose that are easy to miss because we don't pay attention. If we are too noisy then we scare away some of the wildlife. If we aren't alert or paying attention we don't see the beauty that is tucked away and difficult to spot. And that is true in our lives as well. We barrel through life and hardly notice the little things that are there just waiting to be noticed. We can get so busy looking for the momentous events for which to be thankful that we don't pay attention to the little blessings we have. As I reflected back over the past week, there were some little things that happened that I could think are insignificant, or I could choose to thank God for them, recognizing that His hand is even in those small things.  ❤ I sat at a craft fair all day yesterday and ev...

I've been in full-time ministry for the past 30 years and I don't know why I'm always so surprised at God's faithfulness even though I've seen it happen time and time again.  I remember the time when Dan and I worked for an inner city ministry. We had to raise our own support and there was always a fluctuation from month to month in people's giving. One month we had an insurance payment coming up and didn't have the money for it, and weren't sure what we were going to do. It was due on Tuesday and by Sunday we still didn't have what we needed.  We spent some time in prayer that morning, decided we were going to just have to trust God, and then went off to church for the morning service. We hadn't said anything to anyone about our need. After the service someone came up to me and handed me an envelope and said, "I felt God leading me to give you this." It was a check for the exact amount we needed down to the penny! These ty...

The weather has been beautiful lately. Warm during the days with bright sunny skies and then it gets cool at night. My flowers are a bit confused as the tulips which normally only open in the spring have come back up and are flowering. It's the perfect weather for soups and comfort foods like macaroni & cheese. I recently bought a few more heads of cabbage at the local farmers market and have been pounding it down to make sauerkraut. It's amazing how nothing but cabbage and salt make this amazingly tasty condiment. This week I've been studying, preparing a message for next Monday, working on a Bible study which I'm writing for Wednesday morning and a devotional for Thursday night. So a lot of my time is in front of the computer. In between that I've also been getting ready for a craft show this Saturday. One thing I'm excited about is that I applied and was accepted into a huge holiday craft show and expo put on by the Junior L...

A thought came crashing in on me this morning and I was reminded of a truth found in scripture that I sometimes forget. It's easy to slip into a self-centered mode of thinking. I find that over time I've gotten into a poor me attitude about many things in my life, including ministry. As I was reading this morning, the following verses resounded within me. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 says, "For Christ's love compels us, since we have reached this conclusion: If One died for all, then all died. And He died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the One who died for them and was raised. My life is not about me. It's about Christ. When I get up each day, everything that I do and every decision I make should be in the light of this fact. Dan and I both received a definite call upon our lives to full-time ministry. It wasn't a whim and it wasn't our own desire. It was a calling. Dan was a student at Penn State University a...

This week has been one of those weeks that feels like it's never going to end. It's been a strange mix of ups and downs, studying and work, and sitting and doing absolutely nothing. Life always seems to be series of highs and lows and my life is no different than anyone else's life. This week's highs: I've been able to get out and walk quite a bit and I'm so very thankful that my knees are doing well. The weather has been beautiful and I'm enjoying it while it lasts. Twice a month we have a service at a local nursing home. It's not a great place and many of the residents are really out of it. But I'm thankful that more and more have been coming. The lady in the pink yells out, "Hallelujah" every five minutes! Love it! Sometimes I think, "Why am I doing this?" and God reminds me that whatever I do for the least of these I have done for Him. I took my written consecration exam on Wednesday and it took me a ...

I'm reading a book by John Maxwell called Intentional Living . It's a good book though much of what's in it I already knew and have implemented. But one of the things that he talks about in there is finding your one thing and the why behind what you do. I've struggled with staying focused for much of my life and I think a lot of that is because I always am going a thousand directions. In the book, he talks about people who are multi-gifted struggling with narrowing down their one thing. As I read that I laughed out loud, read the passage to Dan and he said, "That's exactly what your problem is!" You don't focus on one main thing. You have a hundred things going on. It was a good challenge for me as I sit, pray and keep to the direction God wants me to go. None of the things I do are bad things and they all bring me satisfaction and fulfillment. The problem is that nothing ever becomes my primary focus because I...

There is the cloyingly sweet scent of fermenting berries in the air. The temperatures are cooler, the leaves are just starting to turn, and acorns are dropping from the trees as we walk. The vibrant green that was everywhere during the summer is getting a yellowish hue to it and you can tell that autumn is just around the corner.  There is a different feel to the end of summer and I look forward with anticipation to the fall. It is my favorite time of the year and I look forward to pumpkins, cider, scented candles and apple-picking. Even though we get pounded with snow all winter long, I still enjoy everything about the fall.  I'm trying to take time each day to look up from my computer and get outside and walk a bit. I want to soak in every minute I can before the winter's arrival. If I blink it will be gone and so I'm trying to keep my eyes wide open, enjoying each moment of this season.

  I walked along the forest path and breathed deep the fresh scent of pine. The only sound was our footsteps and the occasional rustle of chipmunks and squirrels running around. Once in a great while there is a larger crashing as a deer runs across the path. The air was heavy with humidity and drops of water from the recent rainfall fell from the canopy above.   I love the woods because it's one of the few places I can get away where I can think without interruption. It's one of the places where I get ideas to write about and find some inspiration. Often as I see something a thought pops into my mind which gives a great writing idea. But the reality is that I  have felt very burdened and uninspired lately. There are times when I open up this page to write and absolutely nothing comes to me. Some of the inspiration in the past came from my children and since they are grown, there isn't as much material there. At least nothing that I have permission ...

We live in an age where information is right at our fingertips. You can Google any question you want and get instant answers. The question is "Are they the right answers?" There is a lot of false teaching out there about what God says. I'm amazed at how often Christians get their answers about something from the internet rather than God's word.  The only way you can be sure what the Bible teaches about something is to actually pick it up and read it for yourself. Don't rely on a Facebook meme. Don't get your information from a devotional. On a side note, there is nothing wrong with devotionals but again, it's someone's opinion of what the scripture is saying. Don't let that be your only exposure to God's Word. Read for yourself and wrestle with the passage to see what God is saying. It is trustworthy and accurate. I want to encourage you today to open it up, dig into it and find out what God says for yourself!

I spent labor day doing just that - laboring over different projects and activities throughout the day. I blanched corn on the cob and then cut the kernels off to put in the freezer. I went grocery shopping, did laundry, studied, made dinner, sewed, and finished a book that I've been reading. I started a new book last night, Intentional Living, by John Maxwell and so far it's good. There is nothing new in there but it's good to be reminded of the importance of living life intentionally. It's not something I'm always good at, but have certainly improved on the past few years. I'm working hard at studying for my consecration exams and the end is in sight. My 8-hour written exam is next Wednesday and then my oral exam is October 22nd. I have so much stuffed in my head and am praying that my memory does not fail me when the time comes. It certainly is a lot different studying and trying to memorize things at the age of 57 than it was at age 1...