Hearts in Service Blog

“A quiet and modest life brings more joy than a pursuit of success bound with constant unrest.”  ~Albert Einstein It's been a slow paced summer here and as I look back over the month of July, I'm finding it hard to remember how the month seemed to have slipped by without me doing much of anything. I'm not really hating that though. I have a tendency to plunge in to one thing after another and the pace does bring about a certain amount of anxiety. I've been trying to live in the moment and just enjoy what's in front of me. I still have meetings and work to do, but I've also been enjoying puttering around my house and getting it in order. Besides cleaning and organizing, I've also been able to do some of the things I enjoy. I prepped some cucumbers and veggies for relish. The plan this afternoon is to can this. I've made the shift to mostly homemade cleaners since most of the commercial cleaners bother my skin. I've been experimenting with different sc...

Snickerdoodles A friend gave me these little jars and I've used them to store my spices in. Herb-infused kosher salt Lavender Sun tea with lemon and fresh peppermint from the garden Making curtains Whole wheat crackers (next time I'll roll them thinner) Love when a meal plan comes together in less than 20 minutes. This summer has been beautiful - bright sunshine, low humidity and warm temperatures in the 70s or low 80s Fahrenheit. The downside is we are also in a drought. So I am thankful that it rained yesterday and it is supposed to continue through today. The grass is brown so it needs a long drink of water.  I've been thinking about the whole homemaking subject and how things have shifted throughout the years. Years ago, we made the decision for me to stay home and take care of the children. And while I now have adult children, I'm still working at home.  B ecause we are in ministry, I enjoy the freedom that I have to come alongside my husband and work with him. I e...

I've just spent the past 4 days at our district's family camp in my role as district women's ministry director. It was a great time of fellowship, ministry and praying and chatting with different women. I had a good conversation with a friend about my ministry, writing and blogging and what I could do to bring in some extra money.  I love blogging and the blog posts that seem to get the biggest response are the ones on simple living, frugality and how to make our dollars stretch. The idea that she put in my head is to start a website on those things where I can monetize some of the information in the form of training, cooking and canning classes or downloadable pdfs of tips or recipes, YouTube videos or podcasts.  As I mulled that over, I didn't want to give up the blogs I do where I give words of encouragement or some lessons that the Lord is teaching me because I know that people find those helpful as well.  So I think the place where I've landed is to keep this b...

They say time flies when you are having fun and while things haven't felt fun lately, time has definitely flown. It's hard to believe that it's already January 18th. This month sped by and has been a full one. A trip to North Carolina to clean out a house. Meals, ministry, business, and family. Two friends from our previous church passed away and Dan will be officiating at the funeral of one of them this week. We've had weekends full of football (ugh) as well as celebrating my father-in-law's birthday with him. There have been meetings and housework and coffee with a friend. I've had good days and bad days. The depression and anxiety struggle is a challenge and there have been days when I want to stay in bed all day long. And yet, there are things that need to get done so I don't give in to feelings. I'm thoroughly sick and tired of Covid, politics, and opinions. I'm thoroughly delighted with some books I'm reading and podcasts I've listened ...