Hearts in Service

We seem to have turned a corner as the past couple of days have seen the sun peeking out. After about two months of cloudy skies, I was so thrilled to see this sight outside my kitchen window. It's also staying lighter out a bit longer each day. We have a lot of winter left, but it feels like we've turned a corner. Monday is my day to reflect and given thanks for all the ways I saw God at work the previous week. Some weeks the list is longer than others, short or long, I'm glad I go through this exercise. Since I missed a week, my list is longer.  💓 I'm thankful for a very productive week. One of the things that I was able to get done was putting together all the registration materials for our district's spring conference. That's always a huge job so I'm thankful it's done. 💓 I've enjoyed continuing to come up with some new plant-based recipes. These are chocolate chia energy bites and chocolate pudding made with avocado and banana.  💓 We were abl...

I turn 63 today and am realizing that I have more of my life behind me than I have left to live. That's a bit sobering and  I want to make the most of the time I have left. As I get older I know my body is going to slow down, but I want to live my life in a way that is meaningful. I want to follow God's leading. I don't want to spend my remaining days looking back and wishing I could do it over. I don't want to spend my remaining days wishing they would hurry up and end. I want to look forward and keep being useful as long as I have breath. I want to wake up each day and expect God to be at work in my life. I want to continue to learn, to grow and to encourage others. Even when there comes a time when I cannot physically do what I'm doing now, I want to still be used by the Lord. I'm 63 but God willing, I have quite a few years left. My prayer is that I will use them up in a meaningful way. Erma Bombeck ~   “When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would...

I've had a very unsettled few days as I've watched a change in administration in our country, and have seen decisions being made that affect friends. I have also felt soul-sick as I see posts on social media where people are either elated or devastated. In both cases, the ones posting are ignoring how their words are affecting others. There seems to be posts either ignoring hurt people or hurling insults at the other side. And to be honest, it makes me really angry.  For someone like me, who hates any sort of confrontation - passive or aggressive - it stirs up a whole lot of anxiety and I can begin to give way to discouragement. My spiritual gift of mercy is also agitated as I know how these decisions will affect lives of people already in turmoil. Some of us in our church work with refugees in our city. These sweeping decisions could potentially affect not only the people in these ministries, but also the jobs of people working with them.  So it's understandable many of us...

Moss grows slowly and often in challenging environments, and yet, it has the ability to cling to almost any surface. When you try to remove it from whatever it is clinging to, it is surprisingly difficult, because it is stuck fast to it. A friend recently said to me that she appreciated Dan and my resilience and perseverance in ministry, despite sometimes difficult circumstances. I was thankful to hear that because sometimes it seems as if we haven't done so well. Yet, when I look back over our decades of ministry I realize how much of an accomplishment that is. There have been times when we wanted to give up, and yet, we have kept trusting God and moving forward.  2 Kings 18:5-7a says, "Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whate...

I've been silent on this blog the past week or so for various reasons. Some of it comes from just not having much to say. Some of it was because I've been away at a conference all week. The conference was for missions leaders in our denomination and from around the country. There were also a number of our international workers from all over the globe. As the time to leave for the conference approached, I began to feel like I really didn't want to go. There is much to do here. We are in the middle of a deep freeze and snow. I was just coming off being sick for a week. And on and on the excuses went. But since I was traveling with someone else and she was relying on me to get her there, I went. And I'm so glad I did. My traveling companion was young - 24 and I was able to pour into her life all week as she is seeking God's will in her life and whether she should go overseas or not. I was able to receive clarity about my own role and received affirmation from the Lord ...

Epiphany is the manifestation of God in human flesh; God with us. And it is God's manifestation not just to the Jewish people, but to the Gentiles. Today is Epiphany Day and Orthodox Christians around the world celebrate it.  The message that was communicated to me when I was growing up was, "Make something of yourself." "Don't settle." "You are better than this." and "Be somebody." That same message is prevalent in our society. It's as if there is a collective fear of being mediocre or insignificant. And yet, the God of the Universe, humbled himself and made himself less, and willingly took on this frail human form. He allowed himself to experience emotions, pain and exhaustion. He came under the care of two human parents. He was betrayed by friends who were fickle. And ultimately he was tortured by arrogant men and died on a wooden cross which was a symbol of humiliation. Why would He do that? We go out of our way to avoid those neg...

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" ~ Philippians 4:4 Really, Lord? In these circumstances? Surely, this is an impossibility.  A mountain of concern and anxieties buzzing daily and at times, feeling like they will overwhelm me. Rejoice not just in the good, but the bad? Always??? How can one do that? Paul, the author of this letter, certainly must have been superhuman. This is not possible for us regular people. "Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near." ~ Philippians 4:5 How can I be gracious or gentle when I am overwhelmed on a daily basis by my own  issues? And there is the some of the problem. Focusing on my  problems prevents me from extending a hand of grace or mercy to others. When I'm consumed with me  there is no room for others. And there is that little sentence, "The Lord is near."   A reminder. It tells me that God is waiting for me to hand off those anxieties to Him. He has my back and is never ...