Tag: hospitality
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An Endless Supply of Grandmas
Seven years ago, Mim and I were interviewed by a 12-year-old boy. We wanted to adopt his 3-year-old dog Abbey. He wasn’t able to keep her any more, and he put her up for adoption through the Humane Society. We saw Abbey’s picture on the Internet, and called the number listed to schedule a time…
Marian
Abbey, adopting a dog, adopting Abbey, Adventures in Hospitality, assisted living, bonus moms and dads, book about hospitality, Come Lord Jesus, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, end-of-life care, endless supply of grandmas, God’s love, grandma, grandmas, hospice, hospice care, hospitality, Humane Society, kindness, life calling, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, love your neighbor, middle generation, reflections, talking with God -
Angels Among Us
The past three weeks have been quite strenuous for all of us at Country Comforts Assisted Living. One of our residents was living through his last days in this life. Abbey is always a really big comfort to our residents as well as to their friends and family during this time of life transition, but…
Marian
Abbey, angels, assisted living, bear you up, cloud of love, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, end-of-life care, family portrait, friends, God’s love, God-given gifts, guardian angel, heavenly guests, hospitality, kindness, life calling, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, love your neighbor, Psalm 91, reflections, spirituality, talking with God -
The Magic of Books
Three years and three and a half months ago I started writing a book on hospitality. Last Wednesday, 1200 days after starting the project, I signed off on the book with the publisher. In a week or two I should hold the first copy of the published book in my hands. Why did I…
Marian
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A Peek at my Second Book
My goal for this week is to finish reviewing the proofs for my second book, Come, Lord Jesus, Be Our Guest: Adventures in Hospitality . (My real goal was to finish this task last week, but lots of other things happened instead, including accepting the opportunity to be hospitable to the newest assisted living resident in…
Marian
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Friends
“Good morning, Abbey. You’re up bright and early this morning.” “Yeah. Good morning, Mom. You moms sure got home late last night. I was waiting and waiting and waiting to talk with you, and when you finally came home, you went right to bed.” “I’m sorry, Abbey. I didn’t know you wanted to talk.…
Marian
Abbey, assisted living, Boston bombings, Cambridge, charming gardeners who make our souls blossom, Chicago, comfort dogs, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, dog cousins, friends, friendship, God’s love, Henry Nouwen, hospitality, kindness, Laughter is the best medicine, life calling, life changes, listening for God, love your neighbor, Marcel Proust, North Park University, Nursing Honor Society, reflections, Resurrection Lutheran Church, Sigma Theta Tau, spirituality, therapy dogs, WI, Wisconsin -
A Time to Change Plans
Yesterday afternoon I wrote a blurb for the back cover of my new book on hospitality, COME, LORD JESUS, BE OUR GUEST. I plan to submit my edited manuscript along with cover suggestions to my publisher, Inspiring Voices (a division of GUIDEPOSTS) this afternoon. I’m pretty excited. This is the book I’ve been working on…
Marian
Abbey, assisted living, be kind, blogging, busy, change in my life, change plans, Come Lord Jesus Be Our Guest, Corinne Chilstrom, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, friends, getting organized, God’s love, hospitality, kindness, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, reflections, spirituality, suicide, talking with God, to-do list, whispering winds -
Remembering the past and getting excited about the present
Saturday evening Mim and I went to a fancy Italian restaurant for dinner. We celebrated forty years of living together. As many of you know, Mim and I met forty years ago at a church Bible Study. I had just been offered a job in Chicago and was staying with a friend for a few…
Marian
40th anniversary, Abbey, anniversary, author website, blogging, books, Buffalo Ice Cream Parlor, change in my life, daily devotions, devotional book, friends, Gary Gopher, God’s love, Gregory Goose, hospitality, kindness, life calling, life changes, listening for God, love your neighbor, reflections, reflections on everyday life, remembering the past, spirituality, talking with God, WestBow Press, writing -
Making Progress
For thousands of years, from Abraham to Paul, God has been trying to teach us about hospitality – both by example and by instruction. From my mom to Mim, God has been teaching me to pay attention to all of these lessons. My second book, Come, Lord Jesus, Be Our Guest: Adventures in Hospitality, is…
Marian
accomplishments, Adventures in Hospitality, Christmas Mountain, Come Lord Jesus Be Our Guest, devotional book, God’s love, Greyhound Bus Station, hospitality, kindness, learning curve, life challenges, listening for God, love your neighbor, reflections, spirituality, strangers, talking with God, writing, writing retreat -
The Price of Kindness and Gas
About noon on Friday I left Christmas Mountain in Wisconsin Dells to drive home for the weekend. I’ll return today (Monday) for three more days of my 10-day writing retreat. I’d made the reservations for this writing retreat a couple months ago. Since then a few things have come up for the weekend that required…
Marian
beggar, begging for money, being kind, buy gas, Christmas Carols, christmas hymn, Christmas Mountain, Christmas Mountain Village, gas money, generosity, generous, God’s love, God-wink, hospitality, hymn sing, kindness, lessons from God, life challenges, listening for God, love your neighbor, Mary Had a Baby, panhandler, person in need, reflections, spirituality, whispering winds, Wisconsin Dells, writing retreat -
The Life of a Farmhouse
When I was a kid, I’d occasionally watch “Captain Kangaroo” on TV. One of the characters on the show was Grandfather Clock. He was a tall, normal-looking grandfather clock, except he had a cartoon-like face and he talked. He often talked about whatever was on his mind and how he felt about it. I thought…
Marian
assisted living, bed and breakfast, Captain Kangaroo, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, Country Comforts Bed and Breakfast, fairness, farmhouse, God’s love, Grandfather Clock, group retreats, guests, hospitality, house blessing, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, reflections, talking with God, whispering winds, Whispering Winds Retreat Haven
Whispering Winds Blog 