Hearts in Service

  Matthew 6:5-21 (NIV) ~ “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing  in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.   But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father,  who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.     And when you pray, do not keep on babbling  like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.     Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need  before you ask him. “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father  in heaven, hallowed be your name,   your kingdom  come, your will be done,      on earth as it is in heaven.   Give us today our daily bread.   And forgive us our debts,      as we also have forgiven our debtors.   And lead us not into temptation,      but deliver us from the evil one.’   For if you forgive other people when they sin against yo

Giant snapping turtle under the water. We've had a lot of rain this month and many of the trails at the Audubon Center where I walk run through wetlands. Last Saturday Dan and I went for a walk there only to discover one of the bridges we use was under water. We made it through this little patch, but then as we went further on the trail we found that the entire section of forest was flooded. This is the first time since we've moved here that the outer trail has been under water. After looking for a way through we ended up turning around and going back the way we came. When we came to a cross-trail we continued on our walk. As the week went on the flooding has gotten worse. So I've had to readjust my walking. There is just no way through the water without getting soaked. I'm not wading through knee- deep water, especially with snapping turtles, snakes and who knows what else lurking in the depths! I find the same to be true when facing obstacles in my path in life. I'

One of my favorite places to walk is our local Audubon center. I like it because it's only about 12 minutes from my house, it affords me the opportunity to get out in nature by myself while exercising, and it's safe place to walk. The way I connect and hear from the Lord best is as I'm out in His creation so I try to do that as much as possible. I've also been trying to disconnect from the "noise" of social media. I stayed off of it for much of the time this weekend. When I do that I find I feel much more peaceful and I'm able to focus and hear from the Lord. I notice when I'm tethered to social media that I have such a difficult time focusing on anything. While it can be a tool to connect to others, it also can make it difficult to stay in the moment of what's going on right in front of me.  The other problem with social media is the feeling of discontent it can create. I start to compare my life to others and when I do that I always come up lacki

  As I read this verse in Philemon I see three things: 1. Faith is active and not passive. We participate in our faith through actively spending time in God's word and prayer, by ministering to others, and through seeking to become more like Christ through surrendering our will and being sanctified.  Are you participating? 2. Our faith becomes effective as we understand who God is. As we come to understand our position in Christ and the attributes and characteristics of God, our faith grows and deepen. Our faith is effective when we reflect those same characteristics because every good characteristic is in us as children of God. Effective faith is the opposite of a stagnant faith.  Are you growing? 3. And our lives are to bring glory to Christ. Everything we do should be pointing to Him. If people can see Jesus through us than our faith is effective. If they can't then we need to evaluate ourselves.   Are you glorifying Jesus? That sure is a lot of meat in one little verse! NOT

Not my photo I admit it. I'm a bit of a control freak and it brings me comfort to make sure I can have all my ducks in a row. But the reality is none of us can control anything that happens in our life. Monday we had a total solar eclipse and it was such an awesome experience. It had been a cloudy day here in Western New York, but the clouds parted for much of the beginning of the event.  We put on our special glasses we had purchased and oohed and aahed at the sight.  But sure enough in typical lake-effect fashion the clouds rolled right back over the spectacle in time for totality.  But it truly was a very cool experience to have total darkness come over the area at 3:20 p.m. It went dark, the birds that had been merrily singing suddenly stopped  and within a few minutes it was light again. Very surreal. We did get a glimpse of the event for a couple of seconds when the clouds parted a bit. But I wasn't really disappointed because it really was a wonderful experience.  This w

This past weekend was our church's annual missions conference. It was busy and chaotic, but such a wonderful time. I'm so thankful that we made the decision to have the missionary stay with us. It was nice to have another woman around to connect with and she was a delight to host!  As I listened to her talk about her ministry overseas, it was a wonderful reminder to me of God's call on my own life. In fact, she kept trying to recruit Dan and I to come over to their country to work with her and her husband. She said, "we would love to have you and your energy!" 😀 I had many little reminders this weekend of the need to stay attentive to the ministry God has given me and use the spiritual gifts He has also blessed me with. Throughout my life, I have seen the following gifts at work in my life and these have been confirmed by others. Administration - I am happiest when I have something to organize. And this weekend as we orchestrated travel arrangements, putting tog