Hearts in Service

  This past week was full of ministry, family, friends, nature and business. It was a good week on all accounts.  The week included getting a major mailing out to our district churches, going for some walks, preparing for the farmer's market and having great sales there, as well as on my Etsy shop. It included blueberry picking with a friend and then making jam from the bounty. There were multiple delicious meals made. The weekend included spending a day with my daughter, her boyfriend and his family. Yesterday was spent in worship and having some time with extended-family. It was full of small moments, but when added up it was a full, busy, and blessed week. 

Have you ever gone through a difficult time of life when you have experienced suffering? When one is going through a long periods of hardship it can cause us to struggle day after day, week after week, and month after month, and we can begin to feel alone. We often wonder, 'Does God even care about me?" The Israelites who were enslaved in Egypt may have felt that way as well under the rule of Pharaoh. Day after day they suffered abuse at the hand of their captors. Perhaps at night, the tears flowed on their beds and they wondered, "Where is our God?" Exodus 2:23-25 says, " After a long time, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned because of their difficult labor, they cried out, and their cry for help because of the difficult labor ascended to God.  God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.  God saw the Israelites, and God knew." That last sentence, God saw  and God knew , reminds us that God...

This morning, I sat on my back patio for my quiet time. The birds were singing, it's not raining for a change, and there was a cool breeze. It was a beautiful setting to read and pray. And then the neighborhood crows started. They were calling to one another and I counted about 5 of them making a "caw, caw" sound back and forth for about an hour. They are loud and noisy birds and I was distracted and it was definitely difficult to concentrate.  However, after a while I finally was able to tune them out and I had a wonderful quiet time. As I settled in to pray, God brought those crows back to mind. I realized that my inability to focus on my blessings and hyper-focus on whatever trial or even inconvenience in my life is a lot like those noisy birds.  There are so many good things in my life, and yet, the problem is the thing that distracts me and what I focus on. It will pull me away from being thankful, joyful and even away from God. It becomes my focus and it consumes me...

Day after day, we watched my mother waste away while the tumors in her body grew. The tumor on her neck seemed to be some sort of monster, feeding off her and as she grew thinner, the monster grew more pronounced. In the end, all that was left was a skeletal shell of the mother I loved and this large thriving monster jutting out of her neck and abdomen. Why? Why does God allow suffering? My mother had been abused as a child and teen, married an alcoholic man to escape the life she had, only to be thrust into a different type of nightmare. She raised three children by herself and often recreating the same dysfunction she was raised with.  Even after my mother came to know Christ, she struggled for all of her life, trying to fight against the inner voices that told her she was worthless and not enough. Unfortunately, that was passed on to me and my two siblings.  And sometimes I ask why? Couldn't God have miraculously healed my mother of not just her physical cancer, but the inn...

Ephesians 6:19 ~  Pray also for me. Pray that when I open my mouth, the right words will be given to me. Then I can be bold as I tell the mystery of the good news . My personality has always been such that I love trying new things. I enjoy being active and I can honestly say that I am never bored. Unfortunately, I do get distracted very easily.  I work hard to stay focused and yet, sometimes find myself veering off course. I've come to the conclusion that I will always have numerous things going on in my life because that's how I'm wired, but I do know that I need to keep the bunny trails to a minimum. My husband and I met at seminary and we both had a very clear and discernible call  upon our lives to go into full-time ministry. Mine happened in high school and Dan during his later years at college. We both have the gift of teaching, and a strong desire to teach God's word to others. In 2019 I completed the heavy coursework in order to become consecrated in our denomin...

With our economy in complete shambles nowadays, frugal living has become a cheaper way of life for many people and families throughout the entire world.  ~ Ricky Gomez, Frugal Living Frugal Friday posts are a way to help me look back and see some ways I've cut corners and saved. I hope it's a way to help inspire others to see ways that they can also cut back on some of their expenses.  One of the biggest ways to cut back is to eat at home. We are not always great at it, especially now that there is just the three of us at home, but I'm trying to get back into a rhythm of cooking. Yesterday, I made a big bowl of tabbouleh which I can keep in the refrigerator and we can eat as we want. Tabbouleh is a middle eastern salad made with bulgur, vegetables, parsley and equal parts of lemon juice and olive oil. I threw in a handful of pecans just to give it some added protein.  Homemade pizza made with a bit of leftover dough from another meal. Last night's dinner.  Again...

I could feel my feathers being ruffled as I spoke with the person. I'm old enough now and fairly in touch with what is going on inside of me to recognize why I was feeling hurt and defensive.  I'm learning to hold onto my expectations with a very loose hand. People are not going to meet my emotional needs. They can be unkind, thoughtless and at times deliberately mean. Often they are lost in their own problems and concerns and don't have the awareness of what I need at that moment. When I keep looking to people to fill what only God can fill, then my feathers get ruffled. When I expect others to intuitively understand what is going on within me, I am going to be disappointed every time. And when I put expectations on others I set myself up for failure. Neither money, success, friends, a relationship, nor family will fill that empty spot inside of you. The world is full of people looking to people and things to satisfy a longing that can only be met by the Lord. Don't ke...