Hearts in Service

Mondays are my opportunity to look back and reflect on the previous week and find something to be thankful for as I also work on my list of items that I want to see happen in the new week. Last week was a busy week, but I also saw God's hand in so many of the details. I am thankful this morning. 💓 The temperatures are warmer and it was nice to have opportunities to soak in the sunshine. 💓 Tuesday was one of those crazy days where I had one meeting or event after the other. However, I was so thankful at the end of the day that I could look back with satisfaction that I got it all done. 💓 I lead a Bible study once a month at a local senior housing apartment complex. I was thankful for an opportunity to pray with one of the residents who is dealing with the heavy burden of mental illness that a family member struggles with. 💓 We have a group of women who meet once a week to craft together. But I'm thankful that I can always count on them to help with other tasks we may have at...

Each week is busy with the normal activity that needs to happen in my church ministry, district ministry and as well as my roles in our national and denomination's world fellowship position. This week however took on some added busyness with the sheer number of meetings and events I had to attend. Approximately 16 hours was spent just sitting in meetings. There was a point mid-week when I really wasn't sure if I would make it to the end of the week.  I generally always have many things I'm juggling with multiple items which must be accomplished. At the beginning of each week, I honestly am not sure I'll get them all done. And because I hold so many different roles it's always a plethora of projects. But I'm pleasantly surprised when I do manage to get it all done. Some of it is utilizing the phrase, "Just do the next thing." If I look at everything I get overwhelmed and then spin my wheels. If I just take it one thing at a time, I'm able to accompl...

My mother-in-law's graveside service was yesterday afternoon and as I reflected on it afterwards, it seemed to perfectly suit who she was. Her entire life centered around her family and each of the children, their spouses, and then any of the grandchildren who were comfortable doing so, got up and said a few words about how they impacted their life. Her youngest son and my son played songs they wrote. We sang one of her favorite hymns. It was a sweet time. The words used to describe her were joy-filled, patient, and kind. She brought art, music, books and beauty into her family's life. She loved them equally and unconditionally. She believed they could do anything. She instilled confidence in them. She loved and was loved, and that was expressed beautiful yesterday. Her family's love for her is her legacy. My nephew, who couldn't be there, wrote something and I thought it was a beautiful tribute and a fitting way to end this blog post as it expresses very eloquently wha...

  It's been a strange week with two out of the five days being spent with my father-in-law and just letting him process the loss of my mother-in-law. I took him to lunch one of the days and he is so wobbly and frail that I was afraid he was going to fall. I had to hold right on to him while we were walking. I think he is going to need a lot of attention in the coming weeks.  Other than that, I've spent it outside and enjoying the nicer weather, catching up on emails and correspondence, cooking and a bit of sewing. When I was at my conference I had some free time the morning of the event and hit up one of my favorite fabric stores which is owned by a Mennonite woman. She has a beautiful selection of fairly inexpensive quilting cotton fabric. Now that one of the fabric giants have gone out of business I have to find a different source of fabric. My oldest celebrated his 34th birthday yesterday and I made him one of his favorite meals. There is a woman who works with individuals ...