Hearts in Service

Today is the day we decorate for Christmas and we woke up to beautiful white scenery. It's definitely a winter wonderland.  Thanksgiving was held at a local fire hall so it was a bit different in the sense that we didn't have any decorations (mostly because I forgot them), but the food was good and it was a nice day spent with family.  Speaking of food, the other day I made an egg, cheese and toast sandwich for breakfast and it was so good! For the past ten months I have not been able to taste or smell ever since I had Covid. Then it morphed into a constant smell of burned coffee and cigarette butts. Now it's settled into 90% of the time I can't taste or smell anything except for brief moments.  So, the first couple of bites of this sandwich were a taste explosion and then by the end I couldn't taste it at all. It's seriously depressing. I was unable to taste my Thanksgiving meal nor the potato pancakes I made this morning. Everything is blah and tasteless. Howe...

  Colossians 3:15-17  ~ Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other. None of this going off and doing your own thing. And cultivate thankfulness. Let the Word of Christ—the Message—have the run of the house. Give it plenty of room in your lives. Instruct and direct one another using good common sense. And sing, sing your hearts out to God! Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way. There is a trend on Facebook each year where people list something they are thankful for every day throughout the month of November. It's not a bad idea and I've been blessed doing this myself some years. But I also want to work on being thankful year around and not just during Thanksgiving. I don't want to list my blessings just one month out of the year. As believers we are to cultivate or develop thankfulness in our lives.  We are to be thankful not just...

I lay awake in bed for a few minutes this morning and reflected on a dream I had last night. It was the second this week where my mother was alive, but angry at me for some reason. It's not a pleasant dream and I know some of the reason for the dreams is that this is going to be a somewhat difficult week as she passed away on November 24th last year. So one of my favorite holidays is tinged with sadness.  I can have a tendency to focus on the negative and I work hard to not do that. When I have too much time on my hands, I get inside my own head and that's not always a good thing.  This morning, I opened up to Philippians 4 and read the following in verse 8, " Finally brothers, whatever is true,  whatever is honorable,  whatever is just,  whatever is pure,  whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence  and if there is any praise—dwell on these things." That's a good reminder not just for this week, but for all year ...

John 10:24-29 (NIV) ~ And the people gathered all around him. They said, “How long are you going to keep us guessing? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly!” Jesus answered: I have told you, and you refused to believe me. The things I do by my Father’s authority show who I am.  But since you are not my sheep, you don’t believe me.  My sheep know my voice, and I know them. They follow me,  and I give them eternal life, so that they will never be lost. No one can snatch them out of my hand.  My Father gave them to me, and he is greater than all others.   No one can snatch them from his hands,  and I am one with the Father. Years ago, Dan & I worked for an inner city ministry.  One of the programs in our ministry was an early learning center for eighty 2-5 year olds.  Often, we would take the children for walks.  When we came to a street and had to cross, we would take them by the hand.  I would...

Winter has officially come to Western, New York in the form of snow. It was a white and chilly weekend and I believe we are supposed to get a bit more today. It's not enough to cause any problems, but just enough to set a festive mood. The blanket of white brightens up the November gloom and makes me want to light a fire and curl up with a good book. But since we can no longer use our fireplace (structural safety issues), I'm resigning myself to lighting candles.  Mondays can be such difficult days to get through and yet, I don't mind them. Some of that is that I'm in charge of my own schedule and some of it is because this is the day I look back and give thanks. Today I'm thankful for so many things. 💖 A daughter who calls almost every day just to chat. Stephen calls us a few times a week as well. 💖 I've been helping at a friend's shop once a week and one Saturday a month. I was trying to figure out what it was that I love about being there. I finally rea...

It's November 11th and Christmas is just a few weeks away. These upcoming holidays and events are my favorite! Thanksgiving, Advent, Christmas, New Year's Eve and Day. It's time to get busy.....er, I mean, busier! 😁 'Tis the season for food! Looking forward to Thanksgiving with Dan's family at a local fire hall this year. No one has a big enough house to host 15 for dinner, so we opted for this. I'm bringing the turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and 2 pies. Everyone else is filling in with other dishes.  'Tis the season to fill orders. This week I've been busy making placemats, napkins, KitchenAid mixer covers, and toaster covers for a few different custom orders.  'Tis the season for Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. We had 5 children at 3D Kids last night and they enthusiastically packed 14 boxes.  'Tis the season for practicing Christmas songs. That was on last night's agenda at 3D Kids as well. Now if I could just get them ...

I've spent the past two days getting things done around my house. I'm so thankful for the flexibility I have in my schedule to be able to change things up every now and then and focus on home.  I focused on my kitchen area and did some rearranging of my furniture to make my sitting area seem less cluttered. I did some deep cleaning and generally just puttered around. I processed pumpkins that I had sitting on my countertop and as I put the new bags of pumpkin into my freezer, I pulled one out from last year and made some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. Dan took them to the college class he is teaching to share with his students. I did some reading in my shiny clean sitting area for the class I'm taking. I have a paper due this Friday and then another next week so that's been a focus this week. I know I have to get it done by Thursday night because Friday and Saturday I'll be helping a friend at her store.  I filled an order of 2 KitchenAid mixer covers, a set of pla...

There are days when it seems like no matter how hard I try, I cannot say or do the right thing. I put my foot in my mouth, am misunderstood, or stumble and fall. And when I am hearing the voices of critics, both real and imagined, I want to sit down and give up.  But that is right where the enemy would love me to stay, plunked down on the side of the road and not fulfilling the purpose the Lord has given me. The devil would love to keep me wallowing in self-defeat, but I refuse to do that. I know that the Lord has called me. I know He has a specific purpose for my life and has given me a job to do and I am not going to give in to those taunts that tell me. You messed up. You are not good enough. You have nothing to offer. No one really wants your ministry. I refuse to listen. I refuse to wallow. I refuse to waste one single, precious moment that the Lord has given me, feeling like I don't belong or getting sidetracked. Perhaps you are in that space of self-defeat and self-doubt. I ...

Red, yellow, orange and brown are the colors I see wherever I look. I love autumn and the trees are showing their brilliance this year. It's been a beautiful fall. We are entering into my favorite season and I'm looking forward to celebrating Thanksgiving, advent and Christmas. I bought my turkey the other day and since I'm cooking the turkey part of the meal for 15 people I got the biggest I could find.  As I enter into Thanksgiving season, I want to remember that being thankful isn't for just one month or one day, it's a year around requirement for being a Christian. However, so often we grumble and complain and are just downright unpleasant. We complain about minor inconveniences, the weather, politics, and our own aches and pains. Can you imagine what a witness it would be to just be full of joy and thankfulness? I'm working on doing a better job of that. I'm not always successful, but want to be a woman who is known for her joyful spirit and her smile. ...