Tag: Whispering Winds Retreat Haven

• Two Thousand “Ducks in a Row”

  Just imagine 2,000 ducks waddling around a big pond. Some wood ducks. Some mallards. Some plain white farmyard ducks. Some old. Some fluffy little yellow ducklings. And they’re all mixed up. Now imagine that it is your job to organize them by species and subspecies, and then line them up alphabetically by name – from…

  Marian

  July 26, 2016

  Book Recommendations, Goals, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  2000 books, bookcase, books are friends, bookshelves, Country Comforts Bed and Breakfast, down-sizing sale, ducks in a row, favorite authors, give-away library, lending library, library, Max Lucado, organizing books, Philip Yancey, whispering winds, Whispering Winds Retreat Haven

• The Life of a Farmhouse Continues

  Last Thursday was a very big day for Mim and me. We sold our farmhouse. This is the farmhouse where I grew up, and where my mom grew up. The farm had been in my family for over a hundred years – since 1908. Mim and I moved to the farmhouse in 1992, after my…

  Marian

  August 25, 2015

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

  assisted living, Captain Kangaroo, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, Country Comforts Bed and Breakfast, farmhouse, FH, Grandfather Clock, hiatus, hospitality, house blessing, Martin Kenseth, moving out to pasture, peaceful, retreat house, Selma Jacobson, spiritual retreat center, stewardship, supportive living, welcoming guests, whispering winds, Whispering Winds Retreat Haven

• Shhh. I’m Trying to Quiet My Mind.

  It’s hard to be quiet in today’s culture of constant stimulation. Worse yet, we take pride in being really busy, and we brag about our ability to multi-task. So how can we possibly shut out the noise and concentrate on just one thing for ten minutes, or half an hour, or even an hour? How…

  Marian

  July 21, 2015

  Goals, God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Music, Personal Retreats, Reflections

  angels, Be still, call to worship, candles, church music, church organist, cloud of love, crystal angel, daily devotions, distractions, Holy Ground, holy place, Holy Spirit, introit, Jesus Calling, Lanny Wolfe, prelude, Quiet my mind, retreat center, sarah young, Surely the Presence of the Lord is in this place, This is holy ground, Whispering Winds Retreat Haven

• My Cohort in Big Adventures

  In the middle of my 11-day getaway a couple weeks ago, I drove home to Cambridge to have Sunday brunch with Mim and my other cohort in big adventures, Ellen Kogstad. Ellen was in Wisconsin for a wedding, so I jumped at the chance to have a few hours together to catch up on our…

  Marian

  May 12, 2015

  God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, New Year, Personal Retreats, Reflections, Reunions

  bed and breakfast, big adventures, CCHC, Circle Christian Health Center, cohort, cohort in big adventures, Ellen Kogstad, Emily Bray, farmhouse, grand adventures, gratitude, homeless teen moms, life changes, New Moms, New Moms Inc., North Park Seminary, spiritual formation, spiritual retreat center, Sunday brunch, teen moms, Transformation Center, whispering winds, Whispering Winds Retreat Haven

• 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

  October 14, 2014

  Book Recommendations, Reflections

  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

• 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

  August 26, 2014

  God’s Love, Life’s Challenges, Reflections

  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

• 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

  December 2, 2012

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

  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

• A Special Cloud – Part 2

  And now for the rest of the story… Last week I wrote about Ruth, the latest addition to our assisted living family. Ruth moved into our condo (Country Comforts Assisted Living) less than two weeks ago. She was already receiving hospice services, and as soon as she settled into our home, she relaxed into the…

  Marian

  August 20, 2012

  Assisted Living, God’s Love, Reflections

  assisted living, blog, blogs, cloud, cloud of love, clouds, Country Comforts, Country Comforts Assisted Living, dying, friends, friendship, God’s love, gold and silver, life changes, Marilyn Huebel, reflections, silver and gold, whispering winds, Whispering Winds Retreat Haven