Category: Assisted Living

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
“Music . . . controls our thoughts, minds, hearts, and spirits”

Now is the time to start singing and playing the big, powerful hymns of the church. It all started last Sunday – Reformation Sunday. Our opening hymn at Messiah Lutheran Church was A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. I tried to set the mood for it with a much louder than usual prelude – a simple…

Marian

October 27, 2015

Assisted Living, Celebrations, God’s Love, Music, Reflections

A Mighty FOrtress Is Our God, bold, boldness, church music, Holy Week, I have decided to follow Jesus, maple leaf, Martin Luther, noble art of music, Reformation, Sin boldly, Thanksgiving, Then Sings My Soul, tracing
My Musical Destiny

Seventeen years ago, Mim and I created a new business called Korth-Jacobson, LLC. Within that business structure we have done lots of different things – from being a bed and breakfast to selling real estate; from doing strategic planning and project management for small businesses to providing music in churches and a pub and other…

Marian

June 16, 2015

Assisted Living, Celebrations, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Music, Reflections

All Shook Up, assisted living, Aunt Edith, bed and breakfast, Beer Barrel Polka, childhood memories, church music, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, Eleanor Jarlsberg, Elvis Presley, Fireside Theater, funeral, funeral music, gospel music, gospel organist, Gospel pianist, Greatest Hits, Jesus loves me, Korth-Jacobson LLC, Love Me Tender, Lowery electronic organ, Lowery organ, memorial service, musical destiny, Nancy Koplin, Ward Brodt
Dinnertime

I guess today is a good day to talk about dinnertime. It’s Mardi Gras – Fat Tuesday – a time of feasting the day before beginning a forty-day fast for Lent. Mim and I are planning to go out for a musical feast tonight – an organ recital by Thomas Trotter (a fantastic organist from…

Marian

February 17, 2015

Assisted Living, Book Recommendations, Celebrations, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

Abbey, Adventures in Hospitality, assisted living, Bread for the Journey, Buffalo Ice Cream Parlor, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, Country Comforts Bed & Breakfast, Country Comforts family, daily devotions, devotional book, dinner time, dinnertime, eating meals together, family, Fat Tuesday, feasting, friends, God’s love, Henri J. M. Nouwen, Henri Nouwen, kindness, Lent, listening for God, love your neighbor, Mardi Gras, meal time, Mim, musical feast, Nouwen, reflections, spirituality, Sunday dinner, talking with God
New Words for 2015

After one year’s experience, I’ve decided that I really like the idea of having one special word to focus on for a whole year, as an alternative to making New Year’s resolutions. Last year’s word for me was JOY. Knowing that JOY was what I would concentrate on every day from January 1, 2014 through…

Marian

January 6, 2015

Assisted Living, Goals, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

assisted living, beginner class, Corrie ten Boom, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, four-legged caregiver, God’s love, God-given gifts, gratitude, Holly Whitcomb, joy, learn, life challenges, listening for God, new words, New Year’s Resolution, Pablo Picasso, puppy class, reflections, selfie, Seven Spiritual Gifts of Waiting, special word, spirituality, talking with God, wait, waiting, words for 2015
JOY – My Special Word for 2014

“Abbey, Mim & Me – Our Special Words for 2014” was the first blog post I wrote this year. I explained that rather than coming up with any New Year’s resolutions for 2014, I would spend the year focusing on JOY. The idea of choosing one special word to focus on for a whole year…

Marian

December 30, 2014

Assisted Living, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, New Year

92-year-olds, 93-year-olds, Abbey, assisted living, blogging, Christmas Mountain, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, Debbie Macomber, enough, Floey, friends, God’s love, gratitude, joy, life challenges, listening for God, mini-vacations, nonagenarian, One Perfect Word, perfect word, play, reflections, special word, spirituality, talking with God, the joy of the Lord, The Theory of Everything
Abbey Still Has More to Say

In my imagination, Abbey has been talking to me over the last couple weeks. Her spirit is still very much alive. “Mom,” she said, “I was really sad to leave you, and I still think about you a lot. But I’ve also been really busy exploring heaven. You can’t imagine all the smells there are…

Marian

November 25, 2014

Assisted Living, Celebrations, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

Abbey, Animal Rescue and Vet Support Services, ARVSS, assisted living, blogging, caregiver, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, dog adoption, dogification of love, Floey, Florence Nightingale, God’s love, Help Wanted, imagination, kindness, life changes, love your neighbor, loving companion, personification of love, reflections, spirituality, talking with God, thankful, Thanksgiving, working dog
HELP WANTED: Canine Companion and Caregiver

We took a vote – Mim and me and our three 93-year-olds. We want to get another dog as soon as we can. We don’t want to wait till spring, which was our original plan. Every time Anna comes home from one of her outside activities, she says, “I miss Abbey so much.” When we…

Marian

November 18, 2014

Assisted Living, God’s Love, Reflections

Abbey, assisted living, assisted living family, canine, canine caregiver, canine companion, caregiver, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, dog adoption, friends, God’s love, Help Wanted, hospitality, Job Description, kindness, life calling, life-long position, Megabyte, mixed breed, reflections, spirituality, unlimited love
The Dogs in My Life

God so loved the world that she gave us dogs. The first dog in my life was Teddy. He was a big brown and white collie mix that lived in the barn. He only came into the house occasionally to warm up, when it was really cold outside. My dad had trained him to be…

Marian

November 11, 2014

Assisted Living, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

Abbey, Anti-Cruelty Society, Bullet, collie mix, cousin dogs, gentleness, german shepherd, God spelled backwards, God’s love, God-given gifts, golden retriever, herding instincts, kindness, life calling, life challenges, listening for God, love your neighbor, Maia, mass in her brain, Megabyte, Mollie, my dogs, people friends, purpose on earth, reflections, Rin Tin Tin, Rinny, slow-growing mass, spirituality, talking with God, Tammy, Teddy, Tippy, wisdom
Discovering God’s Guest List for My Life

I read another one of Debbie Macomber’s books when I was on vacation the week before last. The book was God’s Guest List: Welcoming Those Who Influence Our Lives. The other two books of Macomber’s that I’ve read recently are One Perfect Word (about the idea of having one special word for the year rather…

Marian

September 30, 2014

Assisted Living, Book Recommendations, God’s Love, Music, Reflections

assisted living, Awful August, Country Comforts, Debbie Macomber, Earl Ellickson, friends, Glee Ellickson, God will take care of you, God’s Guest List, God’s love, God-given gifts, Guest List, Guest Lists, kindness, life challenges, listening for God, love your neighbor, reflections, spirituality, talking with God