Tag: joy
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Better Than Counting Sheep
One night last week I couldn’t sleep. I’d taken a Sudafed for some head congestion, and my body just wouldn’t let me drift off to sleep. So, I tried to heed the advice I’d received from a friend and shared on Facebook a week or two ago – use the time to talk with God.…
Marian
Christmas Mountain, counting sheep, Country Comforts Assisted Living, Dad, daily devotions, Dan Korth, Danny Korth, Debbie Macomber, fighting with my brother, first grade teacher, friends, God’s Guest List, God’s love, God-given gifts, Helen Knoblauch, heroes in my life, joy, kindness, life calling, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, love your neighbor, Mim, mom, Mrs. Knoblauch, my heroes, Nancy Kornelsen, reflections, sibling rivalry, sleepless, spirituality, talking to God, talking with God, tractor -
New Words for 2015
After one year’s experience, I’ve decided that I really like the idea of having one special word to focus on for a whole year, as an alternative to making New Year’s resolutions. Last year’s word for me was JOY. Knowing that JOY was what I would concentrate on every day from January 1, 2014 through…
Marian
assisted living, beginner class, Corrie ten Boom, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, four-legged caregiver, God’s love, God-given gifts, gratitude, Holly Whitcomb, joy, learn, life challenges, listening for God, new words, New Year’s Resolution, Pablo Picasso, puppy class, reflections, selfie, Seven Spiritual Gifts of Waiting, special word, spirituality, talking with God, wait, waiting, words for 2015 -
JOY – My Special Word for 2014
“Abbey, Mim & Me – Our Special Words for 2014” was the first blog post I wrote this year. I explained that rather than coming up with any New Year’s resolutions for 2014, I would spend the year focusing on JOY. The idea of choosing one special word to focus on for a whole year…
Marian
92-year-olds, 93-year-olds, Abbey, assisted living, blogging, Christmas Mountain, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, Debbie Macomber, enough, Floey, friends, God’s love, gratitude, joy, life challenges, listening for God, mini-vacations, nonagenarian, One Perfect Word, perfect word, play, reflections, special word, spirituality, talking with God, the joy of the Lord, The Theory of Everything -
De-Adult Me, Please
Remake me as an awe-fascinated primitive, de-adult me so as to wonder like a child … [from Edward Hays, A BOOK OF WONDERS, p. 336] The picture above is my great niece, Katie. I snapped the picture at our family Christmas celebration in 2001. Katie is in high school now. I hope she keeps her sense of awe and wonder forever.…
Marian
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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
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 -
A Roundabout Path to Joy
Last week I read the book One Simple Act: Discovering the Power of Generosity by Debbie Macomber. It’s a wonderful little book with dozens of stories of people being generous in some way, and the consequences of that single act of generosity – to the recipient, to the giver, and to the observer. The book…
Marian
assisted living, Debbie Macomber, Discovering the Power of Generosity, feeding of the 5000, generosity, generous, God’s love, God-given gifts, joy, kindness, listening for God, loaves and fishes, love your neighbor, Mardelle Kornelsen, Mardelle Kornelsen Westley Burrowes, One Simple Act, path to joy, reflections, roundabout, spirituality, talking with God -
A 50-cent Thrill
I learned a new word last week – “mirabilary.” Well, it’s not exactly a new word – just new to me. The dictionary (if you can even find it in your dictionary) says it’s obsolete. The 101-year-old 1913 edition of Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary defined it as, “One who, or a work which, narrates…
Marian
50 cents, 50-cent thrill, assisted living, awakened living, bolt out of the blue, Book of Wonders, daily devotions, devotional book, divine visitation, Edward Hays, God’s love, joy, kind deeds, kindness, life challenges, lightning, listening for God, love your neighbor, Madison Symphony Orchestra, mirabilaries, mirabilary, Overture Center, parking garage, parking meter, reflections, spirituality, talking with God, two quarters, unexpected kindness, wonder-worker, wonderstruck -
We Laughed and Laughed and Laughed
Some of my fondest memories of my parents are of Mim and me sitting together with them around the dining room table, talking about our everyday lives, and laughing and laughing and laughing. In the 1970s and 1980s when Mim and I lived in Chicago, we drove to Wisconsin to visit my parents about once every…
Marian
All for one and one for all, Apache creation story, assisted living, be always grateful, be joyful always, Chasing Joy, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, Edward Hays, friends, God’s love, happy times, hospitality, invincible joy, joy, laughed, laughing, laughter, pray always, reflections, sharing joy, spirituality, talking with God, Three Musketeers -
The Blessings of Awful Stories in the Bible
There are some pretty awful stories in the Bible – like the story of Tamar in Genesis. She was a young widow who disguised herself as a temple prostitute in order to entrap her father-in-law into having sex with her so that she would have a son. Have you ever wondered why that story is…
Marian
awful Bible stories, awful stories, fairness, friends, God’s love, hard decisions, hymn sing, jail ministry, joy, kindness, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, love your neighbor, praying for each other, reflections, sharing our stories, sharing stories, singing together, spirituality, talking with God, Tamar, tough decisions, worship service -
Hurry Up!
Yesterday morning, after breakfast, Abbey and I went outside for our usual morning walk. The sun was shining in a clear blue sky, but the temperature was 8 below zero. I put on my winter boots, bundled up with my down-filled jacket and pulled the hood over my head. Abbey waited patiently while I slipped…
Marian
Abbey, Alan Fadling, An Unhurried Life, conversation with Abbey, daily devotions, eating snow, fast from hurry, fasting for Lent, fasting from hurry, hurry, hurry up, Jesus Calling, joy, leisurely pace, Lent, life challenges, listening for God, morning walk, perfect word, reflections, sarah young, spirituality
Whispering Winds Blog 