Category: Reflections

• A Word for the New Year

  Almost every day for at least the last ten years, I’ve started my morning in the comfortable sitting area of my downstairs office. I light the seasonal arrangement of candles on the coffee table, and settle into my Lazy Boy recliner. I spend from ten minutes to an hour quietly beginning the day. Before I…

  Marian

  January 13, 2020

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

  candles, gratitude, Happy New Word, Happy New Year, hope, joy, kindness, love, mentally sing, peace, quiet time, special word, wisdom

• Ready or not, it’s here!

  HYMNS OF PEACE AND COMFORT is published! This is the first full-length book in the series of books I’m writing about selected hymns and how they help us talk with God – Talking with God through Music. This book includes reflections on 51 hymns based on the theme of peace and comfort. For each hymn,…

  Marian

  December 10, 2019

  Book Recommendations, Christmas, Goals, Music, Reflections

  favorite hymns, hymn stories, Hymns of Peace and Comfort, new book, peace, talking with God, Talking with God through Music

• My Sister Nancy

  Today, November 14, would have been my sister Nancy’s 82nd birthday. She died eleven years ago, just a few days after her 71st birthday. (My age now.) I was alone at our Christmas Mountain timeshare when she died unexpectedly. Mim called me with the shocking and sad news. I spent the rest of my retreat…

  Marian

  November 14, 2019

  God’s Love, Music, Personal Retreats, Reflections

  big sister, birthday, Christmas Mountain, Hymns of Peace and Comfort, Nancy, Nancy Kornelsen, retreat, role model, sister, Talking with God through Music

• A Vacation Filled with Kind Strangers

  Last week Mim and I returned home from our third vacation of the year. We’re making up for the past 16 years of almost no vacations while we were doing assisted living in our home. This vacation had lessons for us to learn just as our earlier two vacations this year had. Our July vacation…

  Marian

  November 8, 2019

  Book Recommendations, bucket list, Nature, Reflections, Vacations

  Cape Cod, Cape Cod National Seashore, Cleveland, fall colors, fall foliage, Finger Lakes, Indiana Dunes National Park, kind people, kind strangers, kindness, kindness of strangers, Lebanese restaurant, make someone’s day, Mike McIntyre, National Women’s Rights Historical Park, October vacation, paid for dinner, Penniless across America, Plainfield CT, random act of kindness, school security guard, Seneca Falls, Sturbridge Village, The Kindness of Strangers, timeshare, vacation, women’s movement

• Getting Serious about a Bucket List

  The term “bucket list” came into widespread use after the 2007 movie Bucket List was released, starring Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. The movie was about two old men who each had a terminal cancer diagnosis. Together they decided to do everything they could on their lists of “things to do before I kick the…

  Marian

  September 11, 2019

  Book Recommendations, bucket list, Goals, God’s Love, Group Retreats, Reflections

  Bible Camp, bucket list, Church of the Brethren, common good, conference, Drew Hart, Joan Chittister, Ken Medema, Lake Junaluska, National Older Adults Conference, NOAC, North Carolina, spontaneous, Ted Swartz

• Vacation Needed!

  “Hey, Mom, we need to talk. These last few weeks have been very different. You and Mim went away on vacation and you didn’t take me along. Instead you sent me away to stay with a couple different friends. Why did you do that? I don’t understand. Why did you go on vacation?” Floey looked…

  Marian

  August 7, 2019

  Celebrations, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  conversation with Floey, country church, family friends, getting stuck, God’s protection, Golden Valley Church, Hettinger, Howe Hereford Ranch, Howe Herefords, North Dakota, picnic, road trip, South Dakota, stuck in the mud, Teddy Roosevelt National Park, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Tip Top Motel, vacation, wedding

• Moving on to the Next Phase of Our Lives

  Monday of this week seemed really strange. It was the first day of the next phase in our lives. The day before, Anna, our last long-term assisted living resident, moved on to her next life. She had lived with us for eight years, and had just celebrated her 98th birthday a couple weeks ago. She…

  Marian

  March 20, 2019

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

  “Christ in Our Home”, Anna, assisted living, assisted living phase, bed and breakfast phase, Country Comforts Assisted Living, Country Comforts Bed & Breakfast, Country Comforts Bed and Breakfast, moving on, next phase, Nightingale Suite, rainbow, Rainbow Hospice Care, retired, retiring

• The Love of a Dog

  On February 23 we celebrated Anna’s 98th birthday. Anna has been living with us as an assisted living resident for eight years now. Some of her family members came for a little party, and everyone, especially Anna, had a really good time. One week later, Anna had a stroke. It was about noon on Friday.…

  Marian

  March 4, 2019

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

  98, Anna, birthday, birthday party, Floey, God’s love, stroke

• A Glimpse of God’s Love

  Last Saturday, Mim and I tried to drive to Chicago, normally about a two and a half hour drive, for a memorial service. Unfortunately, we got only as far as the distant northwest suburbs before we decided to turn around and go home. Although the weather forecast for Chicago was to get only 1 to…

  Marian

  January 16, 2019

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

  Austin, Bumping into God, CCHC, Chicago, Circle Christian Health Center, Circle Church, Circle Urban Ministries, Dominic Grassi, funeral, God’s love, Jon Beran, Love of God, memorial service, mom, Mom’s faith, neighborhood, Nita Beran, trusting God

• A Long Talk with My Dog – the best way to begin the New Year.

  Floey jumped down from the couch, stretched her whole body, and sauntered over to me. I was sitting at my desk. She plopped herself down right next to me. But instead of resuming her nap, she looked up at me and asked, “What are you doing, Mom? You look like you’re just staring off into…

  Marian

  January 10, 2019

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

  Floey, God’s love, groomer, haircut, inspiration, Listen, Love of God, New Year’s Resolution, patience, peace, reflections, small talk, special word