Category: God’s Love

• Happy Birthday!

  The earliest birthday party I remember was my brother Danny’s 7th birthday. I was 5. He had invited about a dozen of his classmates to come over after school on his birthday – September 11. Mom had organized lots of simple games to play, and all the games had prizes for the winners. Even though…

  Marian

  August 1, 2017

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

  birthday, booby prize, celebration, horseback riding, Norske Nook, the best birthday party ever

• PLAY – the Best Medicine

  A couple weeks ago Floey and I went for a long morning walk, and it really felt like summer for the first time this year. The sun had warmed the air to the mid 70s, a few white clouds floated in the bright blue sky, the birds were singing, and cornfields were showing off neat…

  Marian

  June 20, 2017

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

  Albert Einstein, Alexa, Amazon Echo, arthritis of the soul, best medicine, childhood memories, cowboys and Indians, Floey, importance of play, Joan Chittister, lazy hazy crazy days of summer, Monastic Way, morning walk, play, summer, treasure hunt, walks with Floey

• Floey and I Have a New Theme Song

  The first thing I do after I get dressed in the morning, before I go upstairs for breakfast, is light a few candles in the sitting area of my office, and do some devotional reading for maybe half an hour to an hour. It’s a good way to start my day. I sit in the…

  Marian

  June 13, 2017

  Book Recommendations, God’s Love, Music, Reflections

  devotions, Floey, Good Shepherd, herding sheep, Hymns for Personal Devotions, Jerry B. Jenkins, Jesus as a shepherd, Jesus’ sheepdog, lost sheep, Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us, theme song

• Remember Me?

  Eight months ago I stopped publishing my blog every week. Now I post an entry sporadically, averaging about one a month. The one thing I’ve been consistent about is always publishing on Tuesday morning. Today that tradition ends, too. It’s Friday. Specifically, it’s Good Friday, and there’s something on my mind that I want to…

  Marian

  April 14, 2017

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

  criminal request, Dane County Jail, Good Friday, Good Friday devotion, Holy Week, important in God’s eyes, important to God, jail ministry, Jesus remember me, Lenten Devotion, Lenten Devotional booklet, Messiah Church, Messiah Lutheran Church

• It’s Complicated, Floey. But Kindness is what matters.

  “Floey, you’re barking so loud I can’t think. What’s wrong?” “Don’t you see him, Mom? Look. Across the pond. A stranger is walking along our trail. What do you think he’s up to? He doesn’t belong here!” “Oh, I see him. That must be the trapper our neighbor Tom told me about.” “What??? A trapper!…

  Marian

  February 21, 2017

  God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Music, Nature, Reflections

  barking, complicated, Fill us with your love, fish, Floey, God will take care of you, goose family, Jesu, Jesu Jesu Fill Us with Your Love, neighbor, neighborhood, otter, pond, refugee, relocate, trapper

• Something I Started To Think about in Fifth Grade

  I was about ten years old when I first tried to understand what the terms “socialism” and “capitalism” meant. My fifth grade teacher was Mrs. Borgerud, and she very patiently tried to explain to the class the core beliefs of each political/economic system. Back in the ‘50s, we all knew that the United States was…

  Marian

  January 31, 2017

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

  America first, capitalism, do justice, early church, fifth grade, inconsistencies, justice, kindness, Love Kindness, Mary Borgerud, me-first, mercy, Mrs. Borgerud, role of government, selfishness, socialism, walk humbly, work hard

• This Year’s Lesson: KINDNESS

  What do an Italian psychotherapist, a Christian college president in California, and a hitchhiker across America have in common? They each wrote a book about kindness. And I read them all this year. As you may recall, “kindness” is my special word for 2016. Upon the suggestion of Debbie Macomber in her book, One Perfect…

  Marian

  December 20, 2016

  Book Recommendations, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, New Year, Reflections

  Barry Corey, Be ye kind, Biola University, BookBub, Christ in a dream, core virtue, crying baby, Dalai Lama, Debbie Macomber, Ephesians 4:32, Evangelical, firm center with soft edges, forgotten Christian virtue, fundamentally disagree wtih, hitchhiked penniless, hitchhiker, Italian, Kindle, kindness, kindness of strangers, Leo Tolstoy, Love Kindness, Mike McIntyre, newspaper columnist, One Perfect Word, Penniless across America, Piero Ferrucci, poor shoemaker, psychologist, psychotherapist, receivable, special word, storyteller, The Kindness of Strangers, The Power of Kindness, virtue

• Let’s Pray, Floey

  “Hey, Mom. We need to have a talk.” “OK, Floey. What’s on your mind?” “Ever since you stopped writing your blog every week, I feel that we don’t talk at all. Oh, I know we still talk about the birds and the bees and the gophers when we’re on our walks – how beautiful the…

  Marian

  September 13, 2016

  God’s Love, Jail Ministry, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  Amazing Grace, authentic prayer, balm in gilead, chaplain, communicating with God, conversation with Floey, conversation with God, Floey, glowing prayer, God’s healing, goldfinches, gophers, Joan Chittister, killing niece, Monastic Way, murdering niece, prayer, prayer circle, praying for each other, praying in jail, role of prayer, Teresa of Avila, The Monastic Way

• When Floey Scolded Me…

  I was sitting at my desk, clicking away on my computer. Floey came trotting up to me and sat down. “Hey, what are you doing, Mom?” she asked. “Oh, hi, Floey. I just bought two new kindle books on Amazon.” “You what???? You just organized 2,000 books on your bookcases throughout the house, and you…

  Marian

  August 2, 2016

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

  Barry Corey, book about kindness, book on kindness, built-in bookcase, Dalai Lama, Debbie Macomber, Evangelical, Evangelical authors, Floey, gratitude, Italian psychotherapist, joy, Kindle, kindle books, kindness, kindness theme, Love Kindness, Max Lucado, meow, my secret, Philip Yancey, Piero Ferrucci, psychotherapist, Religious Right, scolding, special word, The Power of Kindness

• God’s Garden – and Mine

  I think God laughed a little at my lazy approach to gardening on the deck this summer, but decided to bless it anyway. The lettuce did very well in its bed of Miracle-Gro® Potting Mix. We’ve had several salads, and the lettuce keeps coming back when I cut it. It’s not quite as sweet and…

  Marian

  July 19, 2016

  Assisted Living, Gardening, God’s Love, Nature, Reflections

  95-year-olds, abundance, butterflies, Charlie Chipmunk, cherry tomatoes, chipmunk, delight our senses, garden, Genesis, God’s Garden, goldfinch, Happy Summertime, hotdogs, Jones Dairy Farm, listening for God, milkweed, Miracle Grow, Miracle-Gro, potting mix, radishes, Sweet 100, tastes of summer, The Message, thistle seeds, thistles, whispering winds, wild canaries