Hearts in Service Blog

For those of you who have ever watched the television show, Monk, there is a humorous saying that he always repeats when someone comments on his obsessive-compulsive tendencies.  Monk will comment, "It's a blessing and a curse." I often feel like Monk.  Not because I have OCD but because of having a sensitive spirit.  Ever since I was a child, I had such a soft heart.  I cried at the drop of a hat.  I felt things deeply.  I empathized with others.  I felt old in my soul. I'm not sure why I'm like that.  Perhaps God was preparing me for a life of a particular kind of ministry or what it may be but it is just the way it is.  I feel things deep down in my soul and they affect me deeply and for days on end.  Even though I was a psychology major in college, I would probably make a terrible counselor because it's almost as if I absorb the feelings of another person.  I feel like a blank canvas and the moods or attitudes of a...

This was the view from my back door the other day.  So I've obviously had plenty of time to evaluate my goals for 2015.  :-)    I want to be intentional about carrying out my goals for the year so I'm going to do my best to come back at the end of each month and see how I'm doing and what I'm accomplishing. I'll relist the goals and at the end of each category, evaluate how I'm progressing. Spiritual * Consistent quiet times with the Lord each week. * Go on a retreat this year to write, meditate and connect with the Lord. (by myself). I've done very well with being consistent.  I was having such a dry spell there for a while so it's nice to hear the Lord speaking to me in new ways.  No retreat yet. Marriage * Build up my husband with my words, and not tear him down. * Take over a couple tasks to take the burden off him. * Continue date nights Obviously, the first one will be an ongoing work in progress.  I'm working...

Lamentations 3:21-26 ~ "Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him." The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord." There have been many events in my life that have been very hard to face.  They were circumstances that brought despair and hopelessness and fear.  Situations that would have caused me to give up if I didn't have the Lord in my life.  But I was able to get through them because of the hope I have in Him.  These verses in Lamentations don't seem to fit in with the rest of the book.  Lamentations is an eyewitness account from Jeremiah of the destruction that came upon Jerusalem when invaded by the Babylonians. Yet in the very mids...

I arrived back home last night after an uneventful flight.  I was treated like a queen by my family which was unexpected and nice.  Nathan was working but Dan and Emily took me out to eat.  I came home to birthday gifts, flowers and a cake made by Emily and the house was clean.  What more could I want? After a solid night of sleep I'm up and ready to plunge back into my life. I have a craft fair coming up on February 7th.  I need to get a package together for Stephen's birthday on the 11th.  Valentine's Day is right around the corner and I have an idea for that.  We are having an open house for our church family on the 22nd.  I need to make a few things for the local coffee shop and also begin making centerpieces for a ladies retreat in April. I also have a few home projects that I want to do.  I need to work on Emily's room and finish a paint job that I never completed.  I want to make curtains for our living room.  I...

Today is my 53rd birthday and I'm finding myself at a place where I'm happy and content with the life the Lord has given me. It's a good life.  I have a loving, Godly husband.  I have three children who love the Lord and are kind and compassionate to others. I enjoy caring for my family and working alongside Dan in ministry.  And it's enough.  I no longer have the constant struggle that what I do isn't important or successful.  I am content. This birthday finds me visiting my mother, stepfather and grandmother.  We've had a wonderful time together and I'll be sad to leave tomorrow.  My grandmother has diabetes, dementia and Alzheimer's so she's definitely different than the last time I saw her.  But she looks good.  She looks healthy.  My mother has done a wonderful job caring for her.  I'm so blessed to be able to come back in May and care for her for 7 days so my parents can get a way for a bit. This morning I have...

This morning I get on a plane and fly to North Carolina to visit my mom, stepdad and grandmother.  I'm looking forward to it because it's been almost two years since I last visited with them.  It's hard when your parents get older and they can't travel like they used to.  It's hard being in ministry with little money which makes it difficult to not only find the time to get away, but to find the money to do so.  So the solution was to have me go by myself. I'm going to miss Dan and the kids but this is such a necessary trip.  One of my reasons for going is to help my mother out a bit if I can convince her to let me do so. (Picture me wrestling a vacuum away from her).  You see my 73 year old mother and 82 year old stepfather have been caring for my 90 year old grandmother for the past year and a half.  And that is tiring.  My mother not only moved my grandmother into their small home but nursed her back to health. I love my mother with all my...

"My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only He will release my feet from the snare." Psalm 25:15 When an animal stumbles across a snare, it gets entangled and the more it struggles, the tighter the noose gets.  The more they fight to get free, the tighter the rope will become until it is impossible for the animal to get free.  Often they end up collapsing in exhaustion. As we face obstacles, struggles with sin, or problems in our own lives, we can often be like an animal who gets caught in a snare.  We run around trying to break a habit or find a solution to the problem, using own strength. We try to think of every possible way to get out of whatever situation we are in.  Yet, the more we struggle and fight against the issue with our own resources, the more tightly trapped we become. And the more exhausted we get. In this verse, the psalmist tells us that only the Lord can release our feet from the snare. Only He can solve whatever problem ...