Tag: spirituality

• 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

• Oh, the Conflicted Month of February

  Oh, how I long for the “Merry, Merry Month of May.” But first I must struggle through the conflicted month of February, and then March and April. I’m tired of winter. There I’ve said it. But huge piles of snow and sub-zero wind chills just represent the most obvious burdens of February. It’s the time…

  Marian

  February 10, 2015

  Celebrations, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  accounting, bread heart, catch up on accounting, conflicted month of February, favorite month, February, friends, getting organized, happy childhood memories, heart-shaped box of chocolates, heart-shaped slice of bread, joy, joyful month, life challenges, love your neighbor, merry month of may, mid-morning snack, QuickBooks, reflections, selecting valentines, spirituality, terrible month, tired of winter, Valentine, valentine box, Valentine’s Day

• 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

  February 3, 2015

  Uncategorized

  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

• More on that Reflection in the Mirror – and in the Photo

  In last week’s blog post I wrote about Floey’s reaction to seeing her reflection, and I changed the words of a familiar old song to “How Mean is that Doggie in the Mirror?” Then, personalizing it, I rewrote the simple lyrics again with the words “How Kind is that Person in the Mirror?” This week…

  Marian

  January 27, 2015

  Celebrations, Reflections

  Abbey, anniversary, anniversary card, birthday, Blessing Ceremony, church directory, family, family forever, family pictures, February 1, Floey, forever family, God’s love, January 24, kindness, legal wedding, long-haired people, love your neighbor, Maia, Megabyte, Mim, mirror, mirrors that reflect our history, photo, photo log, really married, reflection in pictures, reflection in the mirror, reflection in the photo, reflections, spirituality, spousal rights, talking with God

• How Mean Is That Doggie in the Mirror?

  Floey, who will turn one on January 24, barks ferociously every time she sees her reflection – whether it’s in a mirror, in a window at night, in the shiny black refrigerator door, or in the oven window. She sees that same dog everywhere! She knows there’s a dog on the other side of that “window” and she…

  Marian

  January 20, 2015

  God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Music, Reflections

  doggie, Floey, friends, get along, get along with each other, getting along, God’s love, hospitality, How kind is that person in the mirror, How mean is that doggie in the mirror, How much is that doggie in the window, kindness, life challenges, listening for God, love your neighbor, mirror, reflection in window, reflection mirror, reflection of myself, reflections, Romans 15:5-6, spirituality, talking with God, The Message

• A Dramatic First Entry to My Gratitude Jar

  Last week I wrote about the special words Mim, Floey, and I chose for 2015. Mim’s word is WAIT. Floey’s is LEARN. And mine is GRATITUDE. More readers responded to that post than usual, and I really appreciated reading your comments. One friend asked me if I had ever heard of a “Gratitude Jar?” I…

  Marian

  January 13, 2015

  Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  accident, Beltline, car accident, God’s love, gratitude, gratitude jar, jail, life challenges, McDonalds, Mim, reader response, reflections, slick roads, slippery roads, snowplow, spirituality, talking with God, tow truck, Woodmans, word for 2015

• 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

  January 6, 2015

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

  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

  December 30, 2014

  Assisted Living, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, New Year

  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

• The Best Family Tradition of All – Baking Christmas Cookies!

  For the month of December, Joan Chittister has been focusing on the role of traditions in our lives in her pamphlet, The Monastic Way. On December 11 she said: Traditions are meant to develop us emotionally, one layer of understanding at a time. It is our traditions – the Easter eggs, the Christmas trees –…

  Marian

  December 16, 2014

  Celebrations, Christmas, God’s Love, Reflections

  Berliner Kranzer, center of our souls, Christmas cookies, Christmas tradition, cookie cutouts, family tradition, gingerbread cookies, God’s love, God-given gifts, Joan Chittister, Kringla, krumkake, listening for God, love your neighbor, mixed marriage, peppernuts, reflections, spirituality, sugar cookies, talking with God, tradition

• Living inside a Broadway Musical

  Last weekend was like living inside a Broadway musical – like “The Sound of Music.” Life wasn’t an opera – our conversations were spoken, not sung – but the whole weekend seemed to flow from one musical moment to the next. It’s almost like we were taking the message of the Psalms – to sing…

  Marian

  December 9, 2014

  Celebrations, Christmas, God’s Love, Music, Reflections

  Advent candles, Away in a manger, Beverly Taylor, Broadway musical, Christmas Carol Sing, Christmas Carol Sing-along, Christmas Carols, Come Thou Long Expected Jesus, God’s love, Hallelujah Chorus, Hutchison, hymn sing, I thank you Lord for each new day, Joy to the World, Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence, Light One Candle to Watch for Messiah, Madison Symphony Choir, Madison Symphony Chorus, Madison Symphony Christmas concert, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Madison Youth Choirs, Messiah Lutheran Church, Monona Senior Choir, Mt. Zion Gospel Choir, music, O Come All Ye Faithful, Overture Center organ, Overture Hall, reflections, Sam Hutchison, Silent Night, sing praises, Sing to the Lord, sing with the angels, sing-along, spirituality, The First Nowell, The Sound of Music, Winter Underwear, Winter Wonderland