Category: Reflections

• This Is the Day

  Last week I posted a blog entry called “Progress.” It was an update on the progress I’m making on my latest writing project, a devotional series based on my favorite hymns. The first part of the series will be a booklet of reflections based on 31 of my favorite Psalm-based hymns. My first draft of…

  Marian

  May 9, 2017

  Music, Reflections

  call and response, Christmas Mountain, favorite hymns, Jesus Always, Listening for God in Music, Psalm, Psalm 100, Psalm 118, Psalm-based hymn, sarah young, This is the day, writing project

• Progress

  Last week I was at our Christmas Mountain timeshare in Wisconsin Dells again for a 4-day, solitary getaway. I packed heavier than usual this time. It took me 9 trips to bring everything from the car into the condo. I had one small suitcase with a few clothes, 3 briefcases full of books and notebooks,…

  Marian

  May 2, 2017

  Music, Reflections

  All People that on Earth Do Dwell, Anglo-Genevan Psalter, Catherine Winkworth, Christmas Mountain, David the Psalmist, devotional book, Doxology, favorite hymns, getaway, gift of music, God’s gift of music, Halle Halle, Halle Halle Hallelujah, hymnbook, hymnbook of the Bible, hymns, Joachim Neander, King David, Listening for God in Music, Marty Haugen, Old Hundredth, Praise to the Lord the Almighty, Psalm 100, Psalmist, Psalms, retreat, Thomas Ken, timeshare, William Kethe, writing project, writing retreat

• 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

• Trying to Remember a Song

  Do you ever have one of those songs that keeps running through your mind, over and over and over again, but you can’t quite remember the whole song? That’s happening to me right now. Actually, the song has been going through my mind for over a week, and I just can’t remember the whole thing.…

  Marian

  March 14, 2017

  Life’s Challenges, Music, Reflections

  365 favorite hymns, Blessed is the Man, choir, choral anthem, church choir, conversation with God, devotional book, he who sings prays twice, hymnary.org, King James Bible, praying twice, Psalm 1, Psalm 23, remembering a song, shepherd, Sing to the Lord, St. Augustine, what’s special about music, whoever sings prays twice

• 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

• Special Words for 2017

  Floey came bounding down the stairs, ran over to my desk, and sat down on the floor right next to me. “Good morning, Floey,” I said. “Good morning, Mom. Is it time yet?” Floey asked. “Yes. I think the time has finally come, Floey. Are you ready to talk about our special words for next…

  Marian

  January 3, 2017

  Goals, Life’s Challenges, New Year, Reflections

  2017, Abbey, chance to be successful, Doris, economic harm, Floey, friend, hope, hopeful, Jesus Lives, kindness, meow, perfect word, physical harm, presidential election, sarah young, scared, special word, stubborn

• 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

• Jean: One of My Heroes

  I met Jean Gunnulson 17 years ago. I had just agreed to be a substitute organist at the Oakland-Cambridge Presbyterian Church, and we were having our first music planning meeting. Four of us gathered together at 9:00 one morning in the church office – Pastor Dave, Cathy, Jean and myself. The first thing I learned…

  Marian

  December 13, 2016

  Life’s Challenges, Music, Reflections

  Allen organ, Borning Cry, Children’s clothing, church organist, floppy disk, hymn selection, Indian Reservation, inspiring people, Jean Gunnulson, midi, music planning meeting, Oakland-Cambridge Presbyterian Church, organist, substitute organist

• Ghostly Tricks

  Over the past 14 years, Mim and I have cared for more than twenty elderly people who have lived with us in our home, usually one or two residents at a time. Almost all of them have lived out their last days with us. Some of them lived with us for just a few days,…

  Marian

  November 1, 2016

  Assisted Living, Celebrations, Music, Reflections, Reunions

  Abbey, All Saints Day, All Saints Wall, assisted living, Country Comforts Assisted Living, Doris, first grade teacher, For All the Saints, friendly ghost, funeral, ghost, Halloween, Helen, Konica Minolta printer, laser printer, O When the Saints, pipe organ, postlude, power strip, practical joke, printer/copier, saints, sense of humor, When the Saints Go Marching In