Month: December 2015

• Amen, Papa, Amen.

  

  My mom used to tell the story about one of her best childhood friends, Ruth Eckblad. Ruth’s father was pastor of the Willerup Methodist Church in Cambridge, Wisconsin for a few years in the early 1900s. One day when Ruth was a little girl, she got tired of sitting in church and being quiet for […]

  Marian

  December 29, 2015

  Blogs, Book Recommendations, God’s Love, Music, Reflections

  Amen, Amen Papa, benediction, blessing, family expression, Jeff VandenHeuvel, May God go before you, Meditations on 366 best loved hymns, Messiah Church, Messiah Lutheran Church, Near to the Heart of God, New Year’s blessing, Papa, Pastor Jeff, Robert J Morgan, Ruth Eckblad, special words for 2016, The Lord bless you and keep you, Willerup Methodist Church

• Christmas in Jail

  

  “This is the first time I’ll be in jail over Christmas. I’ve been in jail a couple times before, but never over Christmas. I feel so bad for my family. Being in jail hurts my family more than it hurts me. I feel so bad for my kids. I’m really hurting my family by not […]

  Marian

  December 22, 2015

  Celebrations, Christmas, God’s Love, Jail Ministry, Life’s Challenges, Music, Reflections

  angels, caroling, christmas, Christmas Carols, Gloria in Excelsis Deo, God’s love, in jail over Christmas, jail, miracle in jail, mom in jail, shepherds, wise men

• Christmas brings out the Poet in me

  

  I am not a poet – but every once in a while, especially around Christmas, I like to play with song lyrics. Several years ago I was a real estate broker, and I rewrote six Christmas songs with a real estate theme. The new titles were: O Real Estate, O Real Estate   O Little Town […]

  Marian

  December 15, 2015

  Assisted Living, Christmas, Music, Reflections

  assisted living, christmas, cowbells, ELCA, ELCA Good Gifts Catalog, God’s Global Barnyard, God-given gifts, Good Gifts catalog, Jingle Bells, Mrs. Neupert, National Library Week, O Christmas Tree, O Real Estate, O Susanna, old proverb, onomatopoeic, play, poet, real estate, song lyrics, Stephen Foster, time to play, Twas the Night before Christmas, write a poem

• Why in the World do I keep writing blog posts?

  

  When I sat down at my computer to draft this blog post, my dog Floey came up to me, sat down, looked up and asked, “Hey, Mom. Why in the world do you keep writing blog posts? Just think about how much time we would have for walks if you didn’t do all this writing.” […]

  Marian

  December 8, 2015

  Blogs, God’s Love, Reflections

  blog posts, Floey, God’s love, God-given gifts, going for a walk, Joan Chittister, life calling, Monastic Way, passion for writing, reflections, spiritual beings, Teilhard de Chardin, term paper, whispering winds, Whispering Winds Blog, writing