Category: Goals

• Reclaiming Sunday

  Do not let Sunday be taken from you. If your soul has no Sunday, it becomes an orphan. Albert Schweitzer When I was a little kid, Sundays had a very different rhythm from every other day of the week. The day started with a different breakfast. We had cold cereal with milk and bananas. Every…

  Marian

  August 19, 2013

  Blogs, Goals, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  Albert Schweitzer, blogging, day of rest, goals, life challenges, Maya Angelou, reflections, Sabbath, spirituality, Sunday, Sunday afternoon, Sunday dinner, working on Sunday

• 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

  August 5, 2013

  Assisted Living, Celebrations, Goals, Jail Ministry, Life’s Challenges, Music, Reflections

  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

• The Magic of Books

    Three years and three and a half months ago I started writing a book on hospitality. Last Wednesday, 1200 days after starting the project, I signed off on the book with the publisher. In a week or two I should hold the first copy of the published book in my hands. Why did I…

  Marian

  June 3, 2013

  Book Recommendations, Goals, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  1200 days, accomplishments, Angela Carter, Christmas Mountain, container of an idea, empty nest syndrome, exploring new ideas, getting organized, goals, God’s love, God-given gifts, hospitality, life challenges, listening for God, reflections, spirituality, writing a book, writing retreat

• 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

  February 25, 2013

  Assisted Living, Book Recommendations, Celebrations, Goals, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  Abbey, 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

• A Time to Change Plans

  Yesterday afternoon I wrote a blurb for the back cover of my new book on hospitality, COME, LORD JESUS, BE OUR GUEST. I plan to submit my edited manuscript along with cover suggestions to my publisher, Inspiring Voices (a division of GUIDEPOSTS) this afternoon. I’m pretty excited. This is the book I’ve been working on…

  Marian

  February 18, 2013

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

  Abbey, assisted living, be kind, blogging, busy, change in my life, change plans, Come Lord Jesus Be Our Guest, Corinne Chilstrom, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, friends, getting organized, God’s love, hospitality, kindness, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, reflections, spirituality, suicide, talking with God, to-do list, whispering winds

• Remembering the past and getting excited about the present

  Saturday evening Mim and I went to a fancy Italian restaurant for dinner. We celebrated forty years of living together. As many of you know, Mim and I met forty years ago at a church Bible Study. I had just been offered a job in Chicago and was staying with a friend for a few…

  Marian

  February 4, 2013

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

  40th anniversary, Abbey, anniversary, author website, blogging, books, Buffalo Ice Cream Parlor, change in my life, daily devotions, devotional book, friends, Gary Gopher, God’s love, Gregory Goose, hospitality, kindness, life calling, life changes, listening for God, love your neighbor, reflections, reflections on everyday life, remembering the past, spirituality, talking with God, WestBow Press, writing

• Learning to Count by 35

  Last week I did a lot of thinking. I was at our Christmas Mountain timeshare in Wisconsin Dells to focus on writing my book on hospitality. I’ve been working on this project for almost three years, and the end is finally in sight. My goal is to complete it by January 31. I think I…

  Marian

  November 19, 2012

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

  35, assisted living, change in my life, Christmas Mountain, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, getting organized, give thanks, give thanks in all circumstances, goals, God’s love, growing up, growing up on the farm, hospitality, life calling, life challenges, life changes, on the farm, reflections, selling eggs, spirituality, Thanksgiving, whispering winds, writing book

• Salty Cookies, Burnt Cereal, and Learning Curves

    My mom worked in Madison during most of my growing up years.  She compensated for not being around home to supervise me as much as she would like by suggesting projects for me to do by myself, especially during the summer. One project was learning to bake cookies. One of the first times I…

  Marian

  October 22, 2012

  Blogs, Goals, Life’s Challenges, Personal Retreats, Reflections

  accomplishments, baking cookies, blogging, chocolate chip cookies, Christian Book Market, devotional book, e-book, Guideposts, hospitality, independent publisher, learning curve, life challenges, listening for God, monday mornings, personal retreat, reflections, reflections on everyday life, self-publishing, spirituality, Thomas Nelson, whispering winds, writing a book, writing retreat

• To-Do Lists

  One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one’s work is terribly important. [Bertrand Russell] We all like to think our work is important – whether the work is what we do on our job or what we do at home. Many of us have so many important tasks to…

  Marian

  January 9, 2012

  Goals, Personal Retreats

  accomplishments, getting organized, goals, monday mornings, personal retreat, to-do lists, whispering winds

• New Year’s Resolutions

  Well, Abbey, it’s already January 2, 2012, and time to continue our conversation from last week about the changes in our lives in 2011, and New Year’s Resolutions for 2012. I’ve been thinking a lot about whether or not to make any New Year’s Resolutions this year, and I don’t think I will. I don’t…

  Marian

  January 2, 2012

  Book Recommendations, Goals, New Year, Personal Retreats

  change in my life, devotional book, getting organized, goals, New Year goals, New Year’s Resolution