Category: Reflections
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Oh, No…
I guess I still have more to learn about GRATITUDE – my special word for last year. As I checked into my timeshare condo at Christmas Mountain last week the last thing on my mind was gratitude. First came disappointment. Then anger. Then “what now?” But let me backtrack… I wasn’t even supposed to be…
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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
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 -
Consistency vs. Change
Five years, four months, and one week. That’s how long I’ve been writing weekly blog posts for the Whispering Winds Blog. As of today, that’s 279 posts. I’ve been fortunate enough to have had something to write about every single week without exception. Sometimes the ideas have come from Mim, or Pastor Jeff, or something…
Marian
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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
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 -
Two Thousand “Ducks in a Row”
Just imagine 2,000 ducks waddling around a big pond. Some wood ducks. Some mallards. Some plain white farmyard ducks. Some old. Some fluffy little yellow ducklings. And they’re all mixed up. Now imagine that it is your job to organize them by species and subspecies, and then line them up alphabetically by name – from…
Marian
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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
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 -
Do Something!
“You’re not dead yet. Do something!” That’s what Pastor Jeff preached about at Messiah last Sunday. He talked about how difficult the past week had been – with two black men being shot in our country, just a day apart, and then five police officers being killed and more injured in Dallas just days later. When…
Marian
Buenos Vecinos, Christmas baskets, coats for inmates, Dane County Jail, Ellen Finn, Good Neighbors, Good Samaritan, Honduras, jail ministry, Jeff Vanden Heuvel, killing black men, operating expenses, Pastor Jeff, racial injustice, shooting black men, The Good Samaritan, Who are my neighbors?, Who is my neighbor?, winter coats, You’re not dead yet -
Dot-to-Dot Life
Dot-to-Dot books were my absolute favorite activity books when I was a little girl – even better than coloring books – well, maybe my Red Ryder cowboy coloring book was the best of all – but other than that, dot-to-dot pages were my favorites. I could spend hours drawing lines from number to number…
Marian
50th high school class reunion, 50th reunion, activity books, career aspirations, career changes, career dreams, Catherine of Siena, class reunion, coloring books, David Viscott, destiny, different gifts, discovering our gifts, dot-to-dot, dot-to-dot books, early writings, Firstlight, God’s gift to us, high school reunion, Joan Chittister, Lee Kampstad, life calling, lifelong adventure, meaning of life, Merton, Monastic Way, Navy Parachute Rigger, one dot at a time, our gift to God, parachute jumping, purpose of life, Red Ryder, ripcord, selfhood, St. Catherine of Siena, Sue Monk Kidd, That First Step, The Monastic Way, vocation, work of life -
A Summertime Conversation with Floey and God and me
Floey and I had quite a conversation during our morning walk yesterday… Early in the walk, Floey trotted over to the biggest shade tree between the sidewalk and the street and rolled onto her back. Then she twisted and turned to rub every inch of her back on the cool, shady grass. Next she lay…
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God and I Planted a Garden. And it was Good.
God spoke: “Earth, green up! Grow all varieties of seed-bearing plants, Every sort of fruit-bearing tree.” And there it was. Earth produced green seed-bearing plants, all varieties, And fruit-bearing trees of all sorts. God saw that it was good. It was evening, it was morning – Day Three. [Genesis 1:11-13 The Message] One of the…
Marian
being present at creation, container gardening, creation, creation story, cut flowers, cutting flowers, digging new potatoes, experiment, garden quotes, gardening, gardening experiments, Genesis 1, Genesis 2, lettuce, Miracle Grow, Miracle Grow Potting Mix, planting a garden, pumpkins, radishes, The Message, tomato, vegetable garden, zinnias
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