Tag: Adventures in Hospitality

• When a Stranger Comes to My Door

  Some of the biggest news stories the last few weeks have been about innocent strangers being shot by someone who felt threatened by the stranger. A teenager was shot when he rang the doorbell at the wrong address where he had driven to pick up his younger twin brothers. A young woman was shot and…

  Marian

  April 25, 2023

  God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  Adventures in Hospitality, call 911, Chicago two-flat, college student, Come Lord Jesus, dog Megabyte, fear of strangers, gun, headlines, homeless man, kindness, news, news stories, shooting a stranger, stranger, Wisconsin farmhouse

• God winked at me again!

  Author Squire D. Rushnell defined the term Godwink as ”An event or personal experience, often identified as coincidence, so astonishing that it could only have come from divine origin.” Rushnell has written several books where he tells the stories of amazing Godwinks that either he has experienced personally, or that other people have experienced and…

  Marian

  June 24, 2022

  Blogs, Book Recommendations, God’s Love, Reflections

  Adventures in Hospitality, background music, bed and breakfast, breakfast conversation, coincidence, Come Lord Jesus Be Our Guest, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Bed and Breakfast, Godwinks, people we admire, silent prayer, Squire Rushnell, substitute organist, Thank you Lord

• Mom’s Big Adventure: A Road Trip to California in 1934

  On August 19, 1934, in the heart of the Great Depression, three girlfriends started out on a road trip to California – Elsie Kenseth (my mom), Clarice Jarlsberg, and Eleanor Gilberts – three single young women in their mid-twenties who had grown up together in Cambridge. Within a couple years they would all be married…

  Marian

  June 23, 2015

  God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  1934, adventurer, Adventures in Hospitality, adventurous, big adventure, California, California Adventure, car trouble, Carl Korth, Clarice Jarlsberg, Clarice Vasby, Eleanor Gilberts, Eleanor Jarlsberg, Elsie Kenseth, Elsie Korth, General Delivery, Great Depression, Hilda Kenseth, Madison General Hospital, Model A Coupe, Model A Ford, new tire, road trip, Road Trip to California, summer adventure

• Henry’s Story

  Henry is one of my heroes. I knew Henry for a total of about twelve years, starting in 2000. He wasn’t a perfect person. He had one significant flaw that I knew of – not being punctual. He lived by his internal clock, not his watch. But he taught me more about forgiveness, kindness, and…

  Marian

  April 14, 2015

  God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  absolute commitment to serving God, accomplishments, Adventures in Hospitality, auction, auctioneer, clown, clown ministry, clowning, Country Comforts, forgiveness, friends, God’s love, God-given gifts, guardian, guardianship, heart transplant, Henry, Henry and Bob, Henry Hall, hospitality, kindness, legal guardian, life calling, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, love your neighbor, ministry, organ transplant, parsonage, Peter Rooster, reflections, rooster, serving God, spirituality, Willerup, Willerup United Methodist Church

• Dinnertime

  I guess today is a good day to talk about dinnertime. It’s Mardi Gras – Fat Tuesday – a time of feasting the day before beginning a forty-day fast for Lent. Mim and I are planning to go out for a musical feast tonight – an organ recital by Thomas Trotter (a fantastic organist from…

  Marian

  February 17, 2015

  Assisted Living, Book Recommendations, Celebrations, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  Abbey, Adventures in Hospitality, assisted living, Bread for the Journey, Buffalo Ice Cream Parlor, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, Country Comforts Bed & Breakfast, Country Comforts family, daily devotions, devotional book, dinner time, dinnertime, eating meals together, family, Fat Tuesday, feasting, friends, God’s love, Henri J. M. Nouwen, Henri Nouwen, kindness, Lent, listening for God, love your neighbor, Mardi Gras, meal time, Mim, musical feast, Nouwen, reflections, spirituality, Sunday dinner, talking with God

• What Do I Really Do?

  Last week I heard from some voices in my past thanks to social media. A couple colleagues from the late 1970s-early 1980s when I worked for Northwest Industries in Chicago emailed me through LinkedIn, the professional networking site. Then I heard from a coworker at TDS in Madison where I worked in the mid-1990s, and…

  Marian

  September 16, 2014

  God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  Adventures in Hospitality, career, career path, Come Lord Jesus, consulting practice, daily devotions, devotional book, Disaster Recovery, Edward Hays, Experience Timeline, friends, God’s love, God-given gifts, homeward path, job, jobs, kindness, life calling, Linked In, LinkedIn, listening for God, love your neighbor, Northwest Industries, occupation, pilgrimage, pilgrimhood, Prayers for a Planetary Pilgrim, reflections, Sears Tower, self-employed author, social media, spirituality, talking with God, The Virus Handbook, Virus Handbook, vocation

• A Pat on the Back

  This morning I looked at my beautiful old dog Abbey and said, “Hey, Abbey. Come over here a minute. I want to give you a pat on the back – not just a few pats on the head, a real pat on the back.” “Okay, Mom. Just a minute while I coax my legs to…

  Marian

  September 9, 2014

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

  93-year-olds, Abbey, Adventures in Hospitality, assisted living, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, daily devotions, Edward Hays, endless grandmas, endless supply of grandmas, God’s love, God-given gifts, grandmas, hospitality, kindness, life calling, life challenges, life changes, love, love your neighbor, old dog, reflections, spirituality, talking with God

• Lobster Fest Wisconsin Style

  Forty-three years ago I ate my first lobster. I had just completed my first year as a high school English teacher in Plainfield, Connecticut. The kids were done with school, but the teachers were required to show up one more day to grade final exams and turn in semester grades. None of us teachers really…

  Marian

  August 19, 2014

  Assisted Living, Celebrations, Music, Reflections

  Adventures in Hospitality, blueberry buckle, Connecticut, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, English teacher, friends, God’s love, God-given gifts, Home Ec teacher, hospitality, how to eat lobster, joy, kindness, lobster, lobster boil, lobster feast, Lobster Fest, Lobster Fest Wisconsin Style, love your neighbor, Margaret and Don, mussels, ocean song, Plainfield, Puff the Magic Dragon, reflections, spirituality, steamed lobster

• The Three Nonagenarians

  Three 92-year-old women walk into a bar – an artist, a nun, and a state legislator. The bartender asks what he can get them. The artist wants a cup of herbal tea; the nun wants half a glass of milk; and the legislator asks for one glass of red wine – specifically, Menage a Trois.…

  Marian

  February 11, 2014

  Assisted Living

  92-year-olds, Adventures in Hospitality, assisted living, companions, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, friends, God’s love, hospitality, joy, kindness, life calling, life challenges, life changes, life stages, listening for God, love your neighbor, nonagenarian, reflections, spirituality, stage in life, talking with God, three nonagenarians

• Another Anniversary. Another Time of Joy.

  This week, 25 years ago – 1989, was a pretty spectacular week. It was a week of beautiful weather, a January thaw. Mim and I were living in Chicago, on the second floor of a two-flat. Mim was teaching nursing at North Park College, and I was self-employed as a business systems consultant. But neither…

  Marian

  January 21, 2014

  Celebrations, God’s Love, Reflections

  Adventures in Hospitality, anniversary, Blessing Ceremony, champagne, Commitment Ceremony, friends, God’s love, hospitality, joy, life calling, life changes, Moet and Chandon, perfect word, reflections, spirituality, wedding, wedding anniversary