Hearts in Service

Back in July, my daughter's maid-of-honor and I hosted the bridal shower for her. We had a toast for her and different people offered words of advice for her marriage. I shared the following and thought I'd share it here today. We are down to 5 days before the wedding - yikes! Skating Through Life Together Some say marriage is a 50/50 arrangement where both parties give 50% to the marriage. Then I’ve heard others say it’s a 100% arrangement, where you both bring 100% to the marriage. However, I think marriage is more like figure-skating. It has always been one of my favorite sports at the Olympics. I love the gracefulness and beauty of the skaters and could watch it for hours. When a marriage is good, it is like those skaters gliding over the ice. I came up with 5 reasons that marriage is like figure-skating. 1. The couples who skate at this level have chosen their partners wisely. They didn’t just pick the first person that came along. Figure skaters often take the advice of t

  There are exactly 11 days left until my daughter's wedding and while my to-do list has dwindled, there are still plenty of items that I still need to accomplish. We are on vacation for the next two weeks and while we want to do some fun things, we also know that the main focus is wedding tasks. I made over 600 cookies in the space of a week which includes lavender shortbreads (pictured above) and lemon tea tots. I truly could have made many more as I love to bake, but I made myself stop. Ryan's mom is making about 12 dozen as well so we will have plenty for the wedding. Neither the bride nor groom are a fan of cake so they opted for cookies. I think that's the neat thing about weddings nowadays. The bride and groom can incorporate what they want and don't necessarily have to do something just because it's "traditional". The point of the wedding is to celebrate the love between two people and not what is and isn't being served! I also put together 125

Dan and I have lived a faith-based model of ministry for most of our married life. What I mean by that is we have trusted God to provide what we need so that we can do the ministry He has given to us. For much of our lives that model has also meant that we live a fairly simple life. No fancy vacations, no newest gadget, no extravagant expenditures.  It has worked for us. We tithe, we pay our bills, we have food to eat, and we are able to bless others from time to time.  Then the wedding came along, and all the expenses that come with that. We were in a grocery store yesterday so I could price things out in order to make the appetizers and I felt that little knot start in the middle of my stomach again. As we were driving home I said to Dan that our expenses feel so out of control at the moment.  When I feel that panicky out-of-control feeling, I often start looking for ways to solve it in my own strength. I start thinking I need to fix this and begin to hastily think, "Should I re

Joshua 1:6-11 Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. Be strong and very courageous.  Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do. Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.  This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua then commanded the officers of Israel, “Go through the camp and tell the people to get their provisions ready. In three days you will cross the Jordan River and take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving you.” I've been awake since 3 a.m. and am struggling a bit this morning. I woke up with what fe

I spent the weekend on the mountaintop where I grew up. I spent time at a family funeral and then went on to spend the night with my sister. I got up on Sunday morning and headed to a speaking engagement and then the 5 hours back home again. But something happened that I wasn't expecting. As I drove through three of the towns and right past four of the different houses I lived in while I was growing up, I felt grief rising up in me. By the time I got past the fourth house, I had to pull over. I put my head down on the steering wheel and I just started sobbing. It was so unexpected and so uncontrollable. As unpleasant memories washed over me from my growing up years, the tears just kept coming.  The reason for that is that the majority of my memories growing up were not of happy family times, but of fear and harshness and control. Without getting into all the details, there are very few good memories of my childhood and teenage years.  The overwhelming thought that rose up as I crie

  Joshua 14:6-13 (NIV) ~  Now the people of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him,  “You know what the  Lord  said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh Barnea about you and me.   I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the  Lord  sent me from Kadesh Barnea to explore the land. And I brought him back a report according to my convictions,   but my fellow Israelites who went up with me made the hearts of the people melt in fear. I, however, followed the  Lord  my God wholeheartedly.     So on that day Moses swore to me, ‘The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance and that of your children forever, because you have followed the  Lord  my God wholeheartedly.’     “Now then, just as the  Lord  promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the wilderness. So here I am today, eighty-five years old!   I am still as strong today as the day Moses sen