Tag: reflections
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Maria’s Story
“Hey, Abbey. Can you come here a minute? I need to talk, and I need someone to just listen.” “OK, Mom. You know I’m always ready to just sit beside you and listen. What’s up?” “I’m really sad today. I heard on the news that a woman in Madison was sentenced to 13 years in…
Marian
Abbey, being Jesus, conversation with Abbey, example of kindness, fairness, funeral in jail, God’s love, jail, jail ministry, killing a child, life challenges, life changes, listening for God, love your neighbor, prison, prison sentence, reflections, showing God’s love, spirituality, talking with God, worship in jail, you are the only Jesus some people every see -
Remembering My Dad
I haven’t bought my dad a Father’s Day present in more than twenty years. He died 22 years ago. But with all the advertising on TV over the past few weeks, I’ve been prompted to think more about my dad, about the kind of dad he was, and about the kind of presents he liked…
Marian
birthday, blessing in disguise, Father’s Day, Father’s Day present, favorite presents, gardening, God’s love, God-given gifts, hired hand, kindness, Korth farm, Korth Park, lake mills wisconsin, last present, life calling, life changes, listening for God, mom and dad, nature, reflections, remembering dad, school drop-out, spirituality, vegetable garden -
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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Remembering
On Memorial Day, patriotic concert planners and parade organizers try to get us to remember the wars our country has fought and the veterans who have made personal sacrifices for the benefit of all of us. That’s a good thing. We need to remember our history and we need to be thankful for the people…
Marian
assisted living, assisted living resident, blessings, cemetery, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, flowers on grave, God’s love, God-given gifts, grave stones, last days, Memorial Day, memory wall, reflections, remembering, rich personal heritage, spirituality, thank God for our blessings, tombstone -
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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I Found a Treasure on Saturday!
I found a treasure last Saturday afternoon – a little, black, hard-cover “Memorandum Book.” From the inscription on the inside cover, it appears that Stella Lillesand, an elderly woman that I clearly remember from my childhood, had given the blank book to my mom in 1921. I remember my mom telling me that Stella had…
Marian
assisted living, Bible memorization, Elsie Kenseth, Elsie Korth, Gems from the Bible, God’s love, joy cometh in the morning, kindness, life challenges, listening for God, little black book, memorandum book, memorizing Bible verses, reflections, spirituality, Stella Lillesand, Sunday School teacher, talking with God, treasure -
When Bad Things Happen to Good Birds
This morning I overheard a conversation between Phyllis and Fred H. Finch in our back yard. I actually was listening for them specifically, because I felt bad about something Mim and I did yesterday, something that hurt them, I’m sure. Fred often sits on the railing of our deck and sings beautiful songs. I love…
Marian
“The Love of God”, beautiful songs, bird, bird nest, bird songs, God’s love, house finch, kindness, life challenges, listening for God, love your neighbor, Matthew 23:37, Matthew 6:26, Mother Hen, nature, praises to god, reflections, retractable awning, singing praises, spirituality, talking with God, why bad things happen, why bad things happen to good people -
Love One Another – Reflections from Jail
One of the Bible readings in church yesterday was from the book of John. Jesus said, I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one…
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
