Hearts in Service Blog

Back at the beginning of the month, I told you that I would be doing a review of my friend Lisa M. Buske's book, Where's Heidi? One Sister's Journey . This is one of those books that is difficult to put down once you pick it up.  It chronicles Lisa's journey from discovering that her 18 year old sister, Heidi Allen, had been kidnapped from a local convenience store where she was working in 1994.  One man is in prison for the kidnapping and presumed death, and his accomplice was acquitted. This poignant story shares the journey that Lisa has taken from disbelief, fear, pain, anger, and despair and finally, to acceptance and peace.  She shares how God used this unbelievable tragedy to draw her to Himself. At the end of the book, there is a section on reflection and questions that correspond with each chapter.  I really enjoyed some of the questions she posed, and they challenged me and made me think! One of the first things that struck me about Lisa when I m...

First of all, I woke this morning at 4:45 and saw an eerie glow in the room.  This gorgeous sight was hovering over our back yard.  Thank you God for giving some beauty to start my day and thank you for zoom lenses that allow me to share it with you! I have a problem.  I get so hyper-focused on things sometimes to the detriment of all other things needing my attention.  This entire weekend was spent focusing on editing the book.  I woke up at 12:30 a.m. on Monday morning and stayed up until 4:30 a.m., working on it.  Then I was back at it all day yesterday in between checking Emily's work. Unfortunately, there were pesky things like meals and a doctor's appointment that tore me away too. However, last night I looked around at the piles of laundry sitting in baskets.  The stack of papers on my table.  The layer of grime and dust in the bathrooms (yuck)!  Life goes on and I must focus on other things.  It would be wonderful if I c...

I am giving birth again!  That got your attention, didn't it?  LOL!!!!  This time, it's not a baby, it's a book. I have been working on a book for the past few years.  I really struggle so much with insecurity.  I've had great affirmation from people that I write well, that I have something important to share, and that I should go for it.  But I am afraid.  Afraid that someone will rip it to shreds.  Afraid that it's all in my head.  Afraid to fail. But I decided finally to just ignore those fears and go ahead and self-publish.  I know there are so many who feel like that is not the way to go. That you'll be taken more seriously or reach a wider audience by going through a publisher.  Those fears keep bouncing around my head too. But I decided to go this way because I know if I don't do it now, it'll never happen. Besides, I'm not setting out to be famous.  I'm content with reaching a smaller circle of people.  This ...

I realize my post yesterday ended on sort of a negative note.  I do struggle with feeling overwhelmed and discouraged about these things from time to time.  But generally, I find the humorous and positive side of things.  So, lest you think I'm sitting here weeping in my cornflakes, I thought I'd post some of those things today. ♫ Remember our roosters?  We lost 2 of them this winter.  One of them got eaten by a fox or something.  The other just keeled over in the coop one day.  The remaining three have settled down and are pretty docile.  Of course, they know instinctively that I'm nervous and follow me around like I'm their mother! Our property butts up against the local gun club.  One day I looked out the window and a pheasant was out there.   However, over the course of a week, the word has gotten out that 1) there is free food here and 2) there is no shooting over here.  So now, all day long I have a flock of these p...

I have to say that this has been the longest "feeling" winter I have ever experienced.  I'm not sure why, but I'm not liking it at all!  Some of it is that I don't have access to a car during the day, plus given our financial situation there is nothing I could do anyway. :-) Here are some meanderings... First of all, when did my daughter get so grown-up looking?  Amazing!  She'll be 14 in May so I guess it was bound to happen. :-) I'm still watching birds.  They never cease to provide entertainment. I organized a Chilefest at our church to raise money for a mission's trip to La Pintara, Chile.  We always have a few people from our church go each year to continue work on a girl's orphanage there.    Made granola, using the following recipe. 5 cups, rolled oats pinch of salt 1/4 cup brown sugar 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 cup canola oil 1/2 cup sweetener - honey or maple syrup 1/2 cup seeds or nuts or both 1 cup flaked coconut ...

Today I'm continuing my journey of giving thanks in all things.  It is not always easy but something I think is necessary in order to keep my attitude where it should be.  I haven't done it in the past few weeks and yep, my attitude went right back to that stinking thinking that I'm so susceptible to get!   So in an effort to take every thought captive that II Corinthians 10:5 talks about, I'm blessed with the following things today: #14 65-1480 ~  ♥ Electricity. ♥ Special dinners. ♥ Raising money for a great cause. ♥ Friends who are like sisters.   ♥ Finding a bit of clarity in some confusing things. ♥ Early morning silence. ♥ Talking my son through a hard decision.   ♥ The stillness of snow falling. ♥ Chatting with old friends. ♥ Encouraging words. ♥ Great-Grandmas. ♥ Being encouraged by the enthusiasm of a young man in our church who is leaving for Chile for 3 months of missions work. ♥ Good smells from my kitche...

Despite the fact that I woke up with a nasty head cold which has progressively gotten worse as the day wore on, it was a very nice Valentine's Day.  We decided to stick with what we started last year and make it a day to not only celebrate our love for each other, but for our children as well.  We included them in the festivities. I made a special dinner.  ♥ Menu ♥ Butternut Squash Soup Garlic-rosemary Crusted Pork Loin Homemade Dinner Rolls Twice Baked Creamy Stuffed Potatoes Steamed Broccoli Jello Salad Citrus Cooler Black Forest Cheesecake   I decorated the table and the kids enjoyed looking at photos from our wedding. We gave the kids some candy and a card.  I made Dan a tie and some homemade candy and he gave me some tea from my favorite company and a candle. It was a simple way to celebrate but still very nice and something that everyone looked forward to all day.