Hearts in Service

"Deciding what NOT to do is as important as deciding what TO do" ~ Charles Spurgeon February has been a forced slow-down and reflect kind of month. I've been sick ever since Valentine's Day and my life has come to a screeching halt. And that isn't necessarily a bad thing! I've had time to rest. Time to reflect. Time to do some of the things I enjoy doing. Time to take a hard look at all of my activities and see what I truly enjoy and feel led to do and where I need to make a change. I'm taking a class this year which is dealing with spiritual formation. This month I had to watch from home as i was too sick to travel. I am finding it challenging and inspiring and it's been good for my soul.  One of the things I've been challenged about is stepping up my prayer life, and letting go. More specifically, only doing those ministry activities that I truly feel a burden and passion for, and letting go of those that I have taken on because of guilt or other...

  Proverbs 25:11 ~ "A word fitly spoken and in due season is like apples of gold in settings of silver." I love setting a table with china, cloth napkins, goblets, candles and everything to make it attractive.  Sometimes I will do this even if we don't have company.  There is something about a beautifully set table that makes the meal even more special. So this verse in Proverbs appeals to me.  I love the mental picture I get of beautiful, golden apples and elegant silver all gleaming together on a lovingly set table.  And this is exactly like a word that is carefully and thoughtfully given. It brings beauty and produces something good in the person to whom it is spoken. The assumption here is that our words are carefully thought out.  Before we offer advice or input, we think and pray over the words. We are wise in what we say and also in how we deliver them.  Yet, how often do we simply open our mouths, and let careless words and ...

There are a couple of YouTube channels that I enjoy and watch regularly. All of them have to do with simple living and getting back to basics. I watched one the other day that had to do with how to make your own butter. In this day of modern conveniences it's fairly simple. You whip heavy cream in a stand mixer so that it gets past the point of whipped cream and the buttermilk begins to separate from the butter. You strain off the buttermilk and squeeze the butter to get all the liquid out. But then you have to rinse the butter in cold water and keep rinsing and squeezing to get every last bit of the sour buttermilk out. Otherwise your butter will go rancid pretty quickly. When you are finished, you have creamy delicious butter in just a few minutes. I've been sick at home all weekend and too sick to do much of anything. In between dozing off I've been coughing and blowing my nose and feeling generally miserable. I've been too sick to do any activity, but have spent a l...

It has been an eventful weekend. Stephen's 29th birthday, church, the Super Bowl and today is Valentine's Day. It was a weekend of celebration. It was a weekend of love. Love for my family as I spent most of it in the kitchen, baking and cooking. Love for my inlaws as I sent some Valentine's goodies to them on Saturday. Love for my church family as I put together a platter of goodies for them yesterday. Love for my husband as sports were on the television for most of the weekend. Love for my daughter as I commiserated with her after a slip and fall on the ice ended up with a hairline fracture in her shoulder. Love for myself as I did things that I enjoyed. I'm thankful for these February events as they help to make the long winter go by a bit more quickly. They are a bright spot in an otherwise dreary month. It's been fun making centerpieces, putting together Valentine's and heart-themed children's lessons, baking different kinds of cookies and candies and c...

So often I get very discouraged by ME.  I see my glaring weaknesses and when I mess up, especially in front of others, it sends me into a tailspin.  I feel inadequate, unprepared and unworthy of any sort of ministry. At times, that causes me to feel defeated and depressed. I've read through the Bible a number of times and as I have read and reflected on the lives of those in both the Old and New Testament, it continuously amazes me how God takes very frail and flawed people and uses them.  As I read of the sinful behaviors of people being used by God, and see how the Lord still blesses them, I'm in awe of His forgiveness.   It gives me hope.  If God can use people who seem to have issues far greater than my own, then perhaps He can use me in my weakness.  God looks at our heart and our desire to serve Him and takes the little that we bring Him, transforms it and magnifies it to accomplish His purposes.  Yes, we are all flawed, but know that G...

I'm probably one of the few weird people in the world that actually likes Mondays. Much of the reason I like it is because it always feels like a fresh new "do-over" that happens each week.  The other reason is that it's an opportunity for me to look back and see how the Lord has worked in the previous week and find things to be thankful about. There is plenty that goes wrong in any given week, but there is also many ways God is at work in all of our lives and those are the things I want to focus on.  It's easy enough to dwell on the negative so this exercise is a great way to flip it around and see the many good things in my life. This week I'm thankful for the following: 🎜The beauty of newly fallen snow. I truly am getting tired of it, but it certainly is beautiful to look at. 🎜A new kitchen faucet that no longer leaks. 🎜Trying my hand at new recipes and having them turn out perfectly. 🎜My knee is healing and doing so much better. I'm still doing the...

January and now, February, have been very snowy months here in New York State. Every now and then the sun peeps out for a bit, but for the most part, it's been dreary and gray. One of my goals this year is to declutter and get rid of things that I don't use. It's amazing to me that no matter how often I do this, things creep back into the house and before I know it, I have to go through the decluttering cycle once again. Each day I've been filling up a small box of items and carting it to the local thrift shop. This plant was sitting in a small basket that made it difficult to water without spilling. I donated the basket and replaced it with this bowl my sister-in-law gave me for my birthday. Now if water leaks out the bottom of the plant I don't have to worry about it going all over the countertop. While decluttering, I found this little pitcher that I had forgotten about. I was going to donate it, but it's so cute which is why I got it in the first place. I de...

"That won't work."  "That's not the way we do it."  "This really stinks!"  "Why are things so difficult?" There are always naysayers in every group.  They are people who always see the glass as half empty, they are negative and  they love to complain.  No matter what you do, they will see something wrong with the plan.  And unfortunately, this seems to be the majority of people in this world, even among believers.  The Israelites were like this as well.  After wandering in the desert for years, they finally arrived at the edge of the land God had promised them.  Twelve scouts were sent in and returned with fruit from the land, as well as a great report of the possibilities there.  However, they also returned with a report about the people living there.  In order to settle in the land that God was giving them they would have to defeat some very strong and well-fortified people.  The passage in Numbers 13...