Category: Assisted Living
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Thoughts on Gratitude
Gratitude is the single most important ingredient to living a successful and fulfilled life. (Jack Canfield, creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books) Anna, the 92-year-old woman who lives with Mim and me, knows that very well. She is so appreciative of everything anyone does for her. “Thank you” is probably…
Marian
assisted living, Aztec Prayer, Aztec Prayer to God, blessings, congratulations, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, Edward Hays, farmhouse, friends, fulfilled life, gratitude, hospitality, Jack Canfield, kind wishes, kindness, life calling, life challenges, listening for God, love your neighbor, Old World Wisconsin, onion farm, Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim, reflections, root vegetables, spirituality, thankfulness, warm wishes -
Working Together – Joy or Drudgery?
Last night Mim and I went to a fundraising concert for the jail ministry of Dane County. Chance Allies, a Madison group of three musicians – a female vocalist, a pianist, and a bass player, performed lots of jazz classics, mostly from the era of Cole Porter and George Gershwin. It was a wonderful evening.…
Marian
accomplishments, assisted living, blogging, Chance Allies, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, David Allen, fundraising concert, goals, God-given gifts, jail ministry, jail ministry fundraiser, jazz classics, jazz combo, jazz musicians, life calling, life challenges, listening for God, Lucas Koehler, Madison jazz musicians, reflections, spirituality, Tisha Brown, UCC pastor, working together -
An Endless Supply of Grandmas
Seven years ago, Mim and I were interviewed by a 12-year-old boy. We wanted to adopt his 3-year-old dog Abbey. He wasn’t able to keep her any more, and he put her up for adoption through the Humane Society. We saw Abbey’s picture on the Internet, and called the number listed to schedule a time…
Marian
Abbey, adopting a dog, adopting Abbey, Adventures in Hospitality, assisted living, bonus moms and dads, book about hospitality, Come Lord Jesus, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, end-of-life care, endless supply of grandmas, God’s love, grandma, grandmas, hospice, hospice care, hospitality, Humane Society, kindness, life calling, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, love your neighbor, middle generation, reflections, talking with God -
Angels Among Us
The past three weeks have been quite strenuous for all of us at Country Comforts Assisted Living. One of our residents was living through his last days in this life. Abbey is always a really big comfort to our residents as well as to their friends and family during this time of life transition, but…
Marian
Abbey, angels, assisted living, bear you up, cloud of love, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, end-of-life care, family portrait, friends, God’s love, God-given gifts, guardian angel, heavenly guests, hospitality, kindness, life calling, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, love your neighbor, Psalm 91, reflections, spirituality, talking with God -
Remembering
On Memorial Day, patriotic concert planners and parade organizers try to get us to remember the wars our country has fought and the veterans who have made personal sacrifices for the benefit of all of us. That’s a good thing. We need to remember our history and we need to be thankful for the people…
Marian
assisted living, assisted living resident, blessings, cemetery, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, flowers on grave, God’s love, God-given gifts, grave stones, last days, Memorial Day, memory wall, reflections, remembering, rich personal heritage, spirituality, thank God for our blessings, tombstone -
A Peek at my Second Book
My goal for this week is to finish reviewing the proofs for my second book, Come, Lord Jesus, Be Our Guest: Adventures in Hospitality . (My real goal was to finish this task last week, but lots of other things happened instead, including accepting the opportunity to be hospitable to the newest assisted living resident in…
Marian
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I Found a Treasure on Saturday!
I found a treasure last Saturday afternoon – a little, black, hard-cover “Memorandum Book.” From the inscription on the inside cover, it appears that Stella Lillesand, an elderly woman that I clearly remember from my childhood, had given the blank book to my mom in 1921. I remember my mom telling me that Stella had…
Marian
assisted living, Bible memorization, Elsie Kenseth, Elsie Korth, Gems from the Bible, God’s love, joy cometh in the morning, kindness, life challenges, listening for God, little black book, memorandum book, memorizing Bible verses, reflections, spirituality, Stella Lillesand, Sunday School teacher, talking with God, treasure -
Friends
“Good morning, Abbey. You’re up bright and early this morning.” “Yeah. Good morning, Mom. You moms sure got home late last night. I was waiting and waiting and waiting to talk with you, and when you finally came home, you went right to bed.” “I’m sorry, Abbey. I didn’t know you wanted to talk.…
Marian
Abbey, assisted living, Boston bombings, Cambridge, charming gardeners who make our souls blossom, Chicago, comfort dogs, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, dog cousins, friends, friendship, God’s love, Henry Nouwen, hospitality, kindness, Laughter is the best medicine, life calling, life changes, listening for God, love your neighbor, Marcel Proust, North Park University, Nursing Honor Society, reflections, Resurrection Lutheran Church, Sigma Theta Tau, spirituality, therapy dogs, WI, Wisconsin -
The Three Big Questions in Life
What a walk! Sunday afternoon was a time for spring fever. Bright blue sky. Snow-covered fields. Temperatures in the upper 30’s. And no wind. Mim, Abbey, and I walked down country roads for well over an hour. The highlight of a weekend of highlights! After that refreshing walk, Abbey and I were ready for the…
Marian
Assisted Living, Book Recommendations, Celebrations, Goals, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, ReflectionsAbbey, adopted, Andrew you died too soon, assisted living, big questions, big questions in life, birthday, birthday party, Corinne Chilstrom, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, Edward Hays, family, family roots, friends, God’s love, kindness, life calling, life challenges, life questions, listening for God, long walks, Pastor Jeff, Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim, reflections, spirituality, spring fever, talking with God, walks -
Attitude
In today’s reading of “The Monastic Way” Joan Chittister, OSB, said, “The attitude we bring to every day will determine the character and quality of that day.” For me, that’s a timely statement to read on a Monday morning. That’s when I look ahead to everything on my calendar for the week and everything on…
Marian
assisted living, Country Comforts Assisted Living, daily devotions, getting organized, God’s love, hymn sing, Joan Chittister, Lent, lenten hymns, Lenten Music, lenten season, life challenges, listening for God, love letter, Monastic Way, monday mornings, Mother Teresa, Oscar Wilde, pencil, play day, reflections, seasons, spirituality, Valentine, Valentine candy, Valentine card, Valentine’s Day, writing God
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