Hearts in Service

  When I started my website a few years ago I was trying to come up with a name that would encompass what I wanted to do. However, every name that I researched was already taken. At the time, my blog was called Hearts in Service but that domain was already taken. So after thinking about it I settled on "Words of Encouragement for a Discouraged World" which was part of one of my book titles. However, the problem with that particular name is that it was a mouthful to say and hard for people to remember when trying to search for it. It also sounded a bit grandiose to me!  The past few weeks I've been thinking, praying and evaluating things and have given my site a "tweak." When I reflected on what my desire in ministry really is, my heart is to see people put down roots in the truth of God's word and grow spiritually. And that's my desire for myself as well.  I'm thankful for this past month because as I've worked on staying focused and honing in on...

Today is my sixty-second birthday and it's hard to believe I've achieved that....um....seasoned age! My first thought this morning was one of not being sure that I like it. However,  as I thought I about it, I decided to take joy in the fact that I've reached an older age. Because age comes with benefits. Benefit #1 - I'm a bit wiser.   When I look back at some of the decisions I made when I was younger, I cringe. With age has come the ability to slow down and think things through before I make major upheavals in my life. I've also discovered that getting worked up about certain things is just an absolute waste of emotional energy. Benefit #2 - I'm enjoying my life.   As I've aged I've learned all kinds of skills and hobbies and can honestly say that I'm never, ever bored. I love all the different things I'm able to do and it's fun! Benefit #3 - I've learned to appreciate my relationships. With age I've learned to work on developing a...

I was reading a book last night and saw this poem in it and it struck a chord with me. All we really have is today to live out our values. It was a challenge to me to make today a good one. Hopefully, you will find it encouraging as well.    The Lifebuilder’s Creed By Dale Witherington Today is the most important day of my life. Yesterday with its successes and victories, struggles and failures is gone forever. The past is past. Done. Finished. I cannot relive it. I cannot go back and change it. But I will learn from it and improve my TODAY. TODAY. This moment. NOW. It is God’s gift to me and it is all that I have. Tomorrow with all its joys and sorrows, triumphs and troubles isn’t here yet. Indeed, tomorrow may never come. Therefore, I will not worry about tomorrow. Today is what God has entrusted to me. It is all that I have. I will do my best in it. I will demonstrate the best of me in it — my character, giftedness, and abilities — to my family and friends, cl...

This was the scene outside my window the entire week. While it is beautiful, it is not my favorite scenery. It was snowy and frigid and I stayed hunkered down in my house for most of the week. I ventured outside to take dinner to my in-laws on Monday for my father-in-law's 89th birthday and I worked at a friend's shop on Thursday, and went grocery shopping, but other than those things, I stayed home and worked from here.  I'm starting to understand why some people move south when they get older. But despite the weather, I enjoyed my week. That is mostly because I was working on a fun project - a cookbook. I'm in the process of writing a plant-based cookbook and so did a bunch of recipe testing this past week. I also did a lot of sampling which was not good! The needle on the scale jumped up a couple of pounds which helped me realize that I need to watch it, even when eating good things. I also will be starting a new website for all things frugal and nutritious. A friend...

  Since I started this blog in 2008, I have tried to encourage others as I share bits of my life. I've been fairly transparent because I don't have it altogether and yet, I do know God is working through the struggles I have. Perhaps, you find yourself in similar situations and you will find encouragement in my words.  My posts are a mixture of all kinds of things. Today, I'm going to share the good, the bad and the ugly from yesterday.  The Good After months of waiting, we finally were able to meet with a financial broker to get our son's, services started and to implement what is in his life plan.  For those who are new to this blog, our eldest is on the autism spectrum and has been approved for services through the state. He has been assigned a care coordinator, has a job coach and a life plan has been developed for him, along with input from him and my husband and I. But we couldn't do anything with it until we met with the financial broker who would come up...

Philippians 1:3-6 ~   I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. I woke up at 3 a.m. and was unable to get back to sleep. Things were weighing heavy on my mind and I finally made my way downstairs, picked up my Bible and started to read. When I stumble and mess up either with my actions or my attitude, I have a hard time letting it go. And when I express my bad attitude to others then I start to beat myself up, spiral downward, and feel like a failure in my walk with the Lord. This morning I started reading in the second chapter of Philippians to remind myself of what humility looks like and something made me go back and start at the beginning. I'm thankful I did because I was reminded once again that God continually uses my weak...

One of the items on my vision board that I made was a painting I did a few years back. It says, "Bloom where you are planted." That's a saying we've heard multiple times but don't always implement.  If you are anything like me, when you find yourself in a new situation, you lament and whine and wish things could be as they were. You regret that the change happened and spend most of the time looking backward. Time is wasted on "should haves," "would haves," and "could haves." It's an exercise in futility and gets you nowhere.  The reason I put this on my board is to remind myself that whenever I follow where God leads, even to those hard places where it seems like I have no fruit, He is always glorified. So this year I want to bloom right where I am - even when the land is parched. I want to blossom with the gifts He has given me even if water is scarce. I want to thrive even in the middle of a desert. How about you? Are you trusti...

This is the first time I think I've ever had a clear idea of what needs to happen in order for me to move forward with a plan for the new year. In the past, I've come up with some goals and have worked on them, but kind of worked them into whatever else was going on in my life.  This year, I knew that I needed to let go of some things, make a change in my environment and focus, in order to move forward. My word for the year is "connect" and as I stay connected to the Lord I find it difficult to hear what He has when I have so much clutter in my life. I don't just mean physical clutter, but clutter in my mind as I try to juggle so many different things. I started out last week by working on letting go of my sewing business. For whatever reason, that has always been a hard thing for me to do. So many times throughout the years I have decided to let it go and then I turn around and pick it right back up again. This time I felt the familiar pangs of loss, but I knew t...

Ephesians 3:20-21 ~ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,   to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Throughout my life, God has shown up in the most unexpected ways. Often, when I'm in a situation where there seems to be no way out or around it, He works in ways I never could have imagined and does more than I ever could have expected.  I love that about the Lord. We are so limited in our view of life and yet, He loves to work in amazing ways. I've seen this so often throughout the years that I'm starting to expect the unexpected from Him. In 2024 I'm anticipating more of the same. I am looking forward to seeing how He will work in some of those hard places in my life and ministry.  But even if it doesn't seem as if things are changing, I know the following: I can expect Him to change my heart and attitude. I ...

As I was thinking and praying about my goals for the new year, I knew that I needed to release some things in order to focus on the direction I felt God leading me.  One of those things I wanted to let go of was my sewing business. Letting go is difficult for so many of us. And if an activity or habit has been part of our life for a long time it is hard to put it down and leave it there. However, my weight-loss journey has helped me in more ways than I realized. It has helped me to see that I do have the ability to be highly disciplined. So I am attempting to apply that discipline to this other area of my life.  Yesterday, I spent the afternoon cleaning, organizing and purging my sewing room. It was a mess because I've been so busy and it has become the dumping ground for just about everything. I dusted, vacuumed and wiped down all surfaces. I purged all kinds of things and made a pile for the thrift shop and a pile that needed to be tossed into the trash. God is very kind to ...

As I look forward to 2024, I have set some goals for myself that I think are measurable and achievable. I want to keep in mind the word, "Connected" that I talked about yesterday so these three objectives have to do with staying connected to the vine. 1. Take one day each month for a personal retreat day where I disconnect for either an entire morning or afternoon to read, pray, and listen to the Lord as I work on the following. I will continue to spend time each day in God's word and prayer. Because I'm in a leadership role in both our church and our district I want to spend this year reading through the Bible again and seeing what God has to say about leadership. Sometimes my idea of leadership and God's view of it do not line up. Look at the struggles in my life and evaluate them in light of perhaps being pruned, then pray and listen to what He has to say to me. I often view unpleasantness or uncomfortableness as a negative thing and do everything I can to chan...