Hearts in Service

It's Monday again and this is going to be a very busy week. I want to start it out on the right foot by taking a moment to look back and remember all the ways I saw God's hand at work last week. 💓 We had an early Thanksgiving and I'm thankful that we were able to spend it with Dan's parents.  💓 We had safe travels on Thursday to spend Thanksgiving Day with Emily, her boyfriend and his family.  💓 We got a tour of their dairy farm. They have a huge operation with 1,500 cows. The thing that warmed my heart is that no matter how old my daughter gets, she still can't keep her hands off animals, even with allergies. 😀 💓 I was able to start on our Christmas decorations. I got as far as putting the tree, lights and garland on before I stopped. But I'm thankful it's up and I'm taking my time this year.  💓 A wonderful Church service yesterday.  💓 Science experiments that work. My apple scrap vinegar turned out beautifully. The jar on the left is a new bat...

  I blinked and suddenly, the holidays are upon us. Thanksgiving is this week and we will be traveling on Thanksgiving Day so will be celebrating with our family on Wednesday. I have much to do before then and it feels like there is not enough time. We were also hit with snow this weekend. We ended up with about 10" altogether over the course of a few days which is just enough to be beautiful, but not enough to keep us at home.  My daughter did not fair so well. She's a few miles south of Buffalo and they got hit with 81” of snow over a 2 day period. The thruway was closed and life has come to a standstill for them as they try to dig out from under 6 plus feet of snow.  Somewhere under this is her car. We had a pie social after church yesterday along with our annual meeting. It was one of the more enjoyable meetings I've been to and I'm sure all the pies helped. ;-) I got some pie crusts done the other day to be pulled out of the freezer for the holiday pies. I'm t...

I took a personal retreat day yesterday and it was a good time of tuning out the distractions, staying off social media, not doing any work and just focusing on what the Lord had to say to me.  So often I focus on my brokenness and my flaws. I have an extremely heightened sense of my own weaknesses. Many times, I feel lacking and feel as if I'm not doing enough or that God is somehow disappointed in me.  I know where that comes from and it's not a place of health, but from a place of wounding. But it's so pervasive within me, that I tend to walk around with a sense of lacking. As I was spending time in prayer, worship and God's word yesterday, I could feel Him speaking His truth into me.  He loves me. He says I am enough. He thinks I am precious. I bring Him joy. He is pleased with me.  I have been made whole and no longer have to operate out of that place of brokenness.  He has won the victory over all these areas in my life and I need to stop dwelling on my pe...

“I'm thankful for my struggle because without it I wouldn't have stumbled across my strength.”  ~ Alexandria Elle I came across this quote this morning and it struck a chord with me. It's coming up on the two year anniversary of my mother's death and I've been doing a lot of reflecting on both her life and my own.  I have found that the greatest trials and struggles in my life have also shaped the biggest strengths I have. The most painful areas of my life have been used by God to mold me into a woman that can be used to minister to others. The strengths I had wouldn't be there if I hadn't walked through the fire of trial. Because as I've had to wrestle with difficult circumstances that I had no control over, it caused me to learn to rely on the Lord. It created an understanding that no matter what I go through, He is with me in the trial. It made me realize that I am stronger than I think. I've learned to do things that I never thought I would be ab...

  I often find myself lying awake in the middle of the night. I'm not sure if it's age, anxiety, or indigestion, but something I've begun doing the past couple of years is to use that time to pray. Over the years, I've experienced the Lord's conviction, encouragement, comfort and instruction during these times. Rather than get irritated with the fact that I can't sleep, I've started using this time to listen to what God is trying to say to me. What is neat about it is that rather than tossing and turning and counting the hours, as I pray about a situation I begin to feel His comfort and peace and am able to drift back off to sleep. I wake feeling more refreshed than I would have if I just lay there fretting. He provides just the right counsel for my circumstances. I'm so thankful that we can take all our burdens and concerns to the Lord. He is always there even in the middle of the night!

I've always loved entertaining and even as a young girl I would plan little tea parties for my dolls. I couldn't wait for the day when I would have my own home and be able to have people over. I remember our tiny two bedroom upstairs apartment when we lived in the inner city and having about 30 people squeezed in there for a Christmas party. It was tight, but it was fun. We moved here in January 2020 and two months later covid happened. That definitely got me out of the swing of entertaining and I've gotten out of the habit of doing it regularly. When I do I have a great time and think, "Why don't I do this more often.  I had a group of ladies over last night and we had a wonderful time. We filled out some Christmas cards for our district missionaries. But other than that, there was no program or agenda. Just a time of coffee or cocoa, cookies and chatting.  I had a few more than I expected, but we made room and it was a good time of fellowship. Probably the best p...

I love a good story. As a child I would always have my head buried in a book and my absolute favorite stories were the ones that had happy endings. The protagonist of the story would experience some sort of crisis or crossroads in their life, learn the lesson and then all would turn out well. My own home life was quite unhappy and tense and books were a way to escape from the chaos going on around me.  I would imagine myself walking in the shoes of the heroine of the story and for a brief time would leave me with a happy feeling. As an adult, I often want to take the pen away from God and try to rewrite the story of my life. I think if I was writing it everything would be perfect. I would have the perfect house, perfect family and perfect life. I would do something that would be wildly successful or inspirational. Or it would be extremely adventurous. I don't like the frightening and stressful parts of my story. And I'm not a fan of the mediocre parts of it. But to be honest, t...

At the end of each day I fall into bed and reflect back over the day. Some nights I wish I had done things differently and other nights, I feel satisfied at the fruit of my labor. But I always ask myself the following questions.  Did I show love and care to my loved ones? Did I offer a listening ear to those who needed it? Did I take pleasure in the simple things in life? Did I show my family that I loved them by caring for their needs and making ordinary things special? Did I work hard?   Did I serve God faithfully? Did I appreciate the gifts I received from the Lord today? Did I show kindness, patience, love, joy, peace, faithfulness and gentleness to those around me even when they didn't show it to me? If I can answer yes to a few of these then I believe it was a good day. I'm learning to realize that I may not do all of those things perfectly, but tomorrow is a new beginning and an opportunity to start over again.  A successful life is measured by what you do in each ...

I am a fixer by nature. If I see a problem, I want to get it resolved. If something needs action, then I'm the first one to step up and take care of it. My motto has always been, "Let's get the problem solved and let's move on." But, there are some things that I can't fix and for someone who is a doer that is frustrating.I can't fix a broken heart. I can't fix negativity in others. I can't fix anxieties. I can't fix anyone else's spiritual life. I can only work on me. But the one tool I do have is the ability to pray.  And I'm praying hard for different ones in my life. Praying that they would be set free to live the life that God wants them to have. I want them to experience the freedom that we have in Christ. It's not a freedom to live self-centered and selfish lives, but a freedom that brings joy only He can give. I can't fix this in others, but I know the One is the ultimate fixer of all problems. And He has the ri...