Tag: life changes
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My Mom and Me and Bibles
My mom got me hooked on exploring new translations and paraphrases of the Bible when I was a kid. Although I grew up in the ’50s and ’60s knowing that the King James Version was the real Bible – the one we used in Sunday School and church and the one to memorize Bible verses…
Marian
Amplified New Testament, Bible, Bible translations, Bible versions, Bibles, Billy Graham, Billy Graham Evangelistic Crusades, Dagmar Vasby, daily devotions, J. B. Phillips, King James, King James Version, KJV, library of Bibles, life changes, listening for God, Living Bible, MSG, New English Version, New International Version, New King James version, New Living Translation, New Revised Standard Version, NIV, NKJV, NLT, NRSV, paraphrase, reflections, Schofield Reference Bible, Scofield Reference Bible, spirituality, talking with God, The Living Bible, The Message, The New King James Version, The New Testament in Modern English, translations of the Bible, Whispering Winds Retreat Haven -
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
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 -
ENOUGH
Last December when I told Mim about the idea of selecting a special word for the New Year instead of making any New Year’s resolutions, she caught my enthusiasm and decided to select a word for herself, too, a word that would help her keep focused on one particular area for spiritual enrichment throughout the…
Marian
A Fruit Stall, Christian Century, concentrate on today, enough, enoughness, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, God’s love, God-given gifts, Helen Allingham, hospitality, Joan Chittister, just enough, kindness, life calling, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, love your neighbor, manna, Monastic Way, reflections, sharing, spirituality, talking with God, The Christian Century, virtue of enoughness -
Awful August – except for …
Does it ever seem like your world is shattered? That life is suddenly broken? For some of my family members, that’s what August has been like this year. I guess I would describe August 2014 along two tracks of events. One track is affecting my broadly extended family. The other track is affecting Mim and…
Marian
93-year-old, amazing transformation, broadly extended family, car accident, change in my life, condo sold, Conrad Bender, Ecclesiastes, extended family, family, farmhouse, For everything there is a season, friends, friends and family, funeral, getting organized, God at work, God will take care of you, God’s comforting love, God’s love, God’s presence, God-given gifts, hospice, kind strangers, kindness, life challenges, life changes, life of the farmhouse, listening for God, love your neighbor, next phase, oven cleaner, reflections, retreat, sadness, Sandy Bender, self-cleaning oven, sister-in-law, spiritual retreat center, spirituality, talking with God, time to die, time to mourn, time to weep, track one, whispering winds, Whispering Winds Retreat Haven, will to live -
“Family”
About 40 years ago, I went “home” with Mim for the first time. We drove from Chicago to Kenyon, Minnesota, at least a seven-hour drive, the first weekend in December. In Kenyon, we picked up Mim’s mom, Selma, and drove another 15 miles to go to the St. Olaf College Christmas concert. Mim’s mom, who…
Marian
125th anniversary, 150th anniversary, Bill Gaither, branch of God’s family, childhood church, church family, church of my childhood, country church, family, family church, family of God, family reunion, friends, God’s family, God’s love, Gol, Gol Lutheran Church, home church, immigrated from Norway, Kenyon Minnesota, kindness, life changes, listening for God, love your neighbor, Messiah Lutheran Church, Otto Jacobson, Philip Yancey, reflections, Resurrection Lutheran Church, retreats, Selma Jacobson, sesquicentennial, spirituality, St. Olaf College, Willerup United Methodist Church -
Blessed are the Arrogant
God in the form of the Holy Spirit came to chat with me while I was in the shower this morning. The hot steaming water was pretty noisy splashing on me and on the shower door, so I’m not sure I heard absolutely everything the Holy Spirit said completely right, but here’s the gist of…
Marian
accomplishments, Beatitudes, Bible translations, blessed, Blessed are the Arrogant, friends, God blesses, God’s love, God-given gifts, gun control, Holy Spirit, immigration, kindness, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, love your neighbor, nation’s borders, New Living Translation, outdated, peace makers, reflections, spirituality, talking with God, The Message, welfare hand-out -
Abbey’s Dream
Abbey came running to see me this morning. “Hey Mom, I’ve gotta tell ya about the dream I had last night. You won’t believe everyone who was in it!” “Really, Abbey. Who was there? Tell me all about it,” I replied. “The dogs who used to live with you – Megabyte and Maia were in…
Marian
Abbey, Abbey’s dream, Aunt Marilyn, cats and dogs, dream, Eliza Hewitt, friends, God’s love, heaven, hospitality, Kimberly Kat, kindness, lessons from our pets, life calling, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, love your neighbor, Maia, Marilyn Huebel, Megabyte, reflections, Spiffy, spirituality, When we all get to heaven -
Funerals and the Misfit Organist
That’s me. The misfit funeral organist. I’m not sure which order the words should be in. They’re all nouns linked together to convey one image – me as an organist who likes to play for funerals, even though I shouldn’t. I’m a misfit. I should avoid funerals, at all cost, just like my mom did.…
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Imagine you have just been arrested! Now what?
Imagine you have just been arrested – for a crime that you may or may not have committed. Your life has suddenly been put on hold – for who knows how long. You may have small children at home. Who will care for them? You may have a job. What will happen to that? Think…
Marian
arrested, Backyard Mosaic, Backyard Mosaic Women’s Project, Chance Allies, change in my life, chapel, chaplain, concert, Dane County, Dane County Jail, David Allen, fundraiser, fundraising concerts, God’s love, humility, inmate stories, inmates, jail, jail chapel, jail ministry, Jazz for Jail, Jazz for the Jail, John Mix, Julia Weaver, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, Lucas Koehler, Lutheran Churches, Madison Area Lutheran Council, MALC, Maria’s story, Messiah Church, Messiah Lutheran Church, mistakes, pencil, silent auction, Tisha Brown, white collar crime -
The Virtue of Inconsistency
My favorite quotation of all time was made by Ralph Waldo Emerson. I loved it the first time I read it, back when I was a literature major in college: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” I always thought “hobgoblin” was a fun-to-say word – almost onomatopoeic – the sound it makes…
Marian
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