Category: Goals

• I’m Getting Smarter Every Day

  “Congratulations, Floey. You did it. You graduated from Intermediate Class at Dog’s Best Friend Training in Madison. I was surprised your teacher decided to award you your certificate, even though you will have to miss your last class. Apparently you learned everything you needed to know in five classes instead of six. Wow! I guess…

  Marian

  July 27, 2015

  Goals, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  accomplishments, Dog’s Best Friend Training, Floey, getting smarter, Intermediate Class, Joan Chittister, learned everything, Monastic Way, open-minded, open-mindedness, right way, The Monastic Way

• Shhh. I’m Trying to Quiet My Mind.

  It’s hard to be quiet in today’s culture of constant stimulation. Worse yet, we take pride in being really busy, and we brag about our ability to multi-task. So how can we possibly shut out the noise and concentrate on just one thing for ten minutes, or half an hour, or even an hour? How…

  Marian

  July 21, 2015

  Goals, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Music, Personal Retreats, Reflections

  angels, Be still, call to worship, candles, church music, church organist, cloud of love, crystal angel, daily devotions, distractions, Holy Ground, holy place, Holy Spirit, introit, Jesus Calling, Lanny Wolfe, prelude, Quiet my mind, retreat center, sarah young, Surely the Presence of the Lord is in this place, This is holy ground, Whispering Winds Retreat Haven

• Shopping for a Tombstone

  So far this year I have had the privilege of playing the piano or organ for nine funerals. I typically play for between five and ten funerals a year – and it’s only July! In the 31 days from June 1 through July 1 of this year, I played for five of those funerals. Needless…

  Marian

  July 14, 2015

  Celebrations, Goals, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Music, Reflections

  “I know that my Redeemer lives”, “I love to tell the story”, Archie Monuments, Carl Korth, cemetery, comforting music, Elsie Korth, epitaph, funeral, funeral music, funerals, gravestone, Jimmy Carter, musical requests, praying hands, Through the Year with Jimmy Carter, tombstone, Wormeli

• Why Was I Created?

  Over the last few years I’ve had the practice of starting the day with reading from two or three devotional books by my favorite inspirational writers. This year I’m reading: The Monastic Way by Joan Chittister (a pamphlet that comes monthly, with the readings of each month based on a common theme), Bread for the…

  Marian

  March 10, 2015

  Book Recommendations, Goals, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  called by God, change in my life, daily devotions, devotional book, failure, God’s love, God-given gifts, Henri Nouwen, Jimmy Carter, Joan Chittister, Korth-Jacobson LLC, life calling, life challenges, life changes, life purpose, listening for God, meaningless work, Monastic Way, reflections, self-employed, spirituality, talking with God, The Purpose-Driven Life, USA TODAY poll, wasting my life

• 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

• The 3 Heroes in my Life

  The earliest hero in my life was Roy Rogers. I wanted to be just like him – ride a horse like Trigger, have a dog like Bullet, and wear a white cowboy hat on my head and two six-guns in a holster at my waist. I wanted to always stand up for what was right,…

  Marian

  October 21, 2014

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

  A Book of Wonders, best day of my childhood, Bullet, childhood, childhood hero, childhood heroes, cowboy hat, Dale Evans, Edward Hays, Elsie Korth, God’s love, God-given gifts, hero, heroes, life calling, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, mom, Nancy, Nancy Kornelsen, reflections, Roy Rogers, sister, spirituality, talking with God, Trigger, Wisconsin State Fair, Yiddish proverb

• I can’t put it off any longer

  It’s time. I added it to my to-do list on January 1, 2014. It’s well past time to pull out the 13 bulging folders from the file drawer, the folders labeled “January 2013” through “December 2013” and “Misc. Tax Info.” I haven’t clicked on the QuickBooks icon on my desktop since last February, when I…

  Marian

  January 28, 2014

  Goals, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  accounting, Chasing Joy, Edward Hays, getting organized, goals, ironing shirts, life challenges, Mark Twain, Pablo Picasso, Presbyterian Student Center, procrastinating, procrastination, put off until tomorrow, putting it off, QuickBooks, reflections, reward, the day after tomorrow, to-do list, University of Chicago

• Happiness Engineer – One of My Favorite Job Titles

  Last week I received an email from someone with the job title of “Happiness Engineer.” It made me smile. The email was from WordPress, the Internet service I use for hosting this blog. Earlier in the week I had contacted WordPress through their website to let them know that I had been charged twice on…

  Marian

  January 14, 2014

  Blogs, Goals, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  blogging, Dagmar Vasby, dysfunctional analyst, goals, God’s love, God-given gifts, happiness engineer, hospitality, Joan Chittister, job title, kindness, life calling, life changes, listening for God, love your neighbor, Mary Cassatt, Monastic Way, reflections, self portrait, spirituality, the Messiah, Who do you say that I am, WordPress

• Abbey, Mim & Me – Our Special Words for 2014

  January is a time every year that I start thinking about how I want this year to be different from previous years. Sometimes I make New Year resolutions. Some years I formulate specific goals. Every year I come up with an immediate to-do list. At a minimum I need to plan how I’m going to…

  Marian

  January 7, 2014

  Book Recommendations, Celebrations, Goals, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, New Year

  Abbey, change in my life, daily devotions, Debbie Macomber, enough, God’s love, joy, Let the year begin, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, New Year Resolutions, One Perfect Word, play, reflections, spirituality, talking with God, to-do lists

• Another Year-End Conversation with Abbey

  Abbey had been sitting on the floor next to the patio door, staring out at the pond for a long time. It was snowing again. Big flakes were drifting down, adding to the eight inches already on the ground. I wondered if she was as tired of the snow as I was. I called to…

  Marian

  December 31, 2013

  Celebrations, Goals, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  Abbey, friends, gay marriage, gift of love, God’s love, Happy New Year, kindness, life challenges, life changes, love your neighbor, loving each other, New Year, New Year’s Day, Piper, polarization, political polarization, politics, reflections, spirituality, Tucker, understanding each other