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Patience
Patience is defined as the ability to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting upset. I think we all have different amounts of patience. Some of us have a lot, and some of us, not so much. It also may depend on the situation at hand and the degree of patience. As a farmer, we need to have a lot of patience. We rely on the weather constantly and many other things as well. For instance, the weather we have had this April and into the first part of May has been extremely challenging, especially for those calving. The verse I like to think of is James 5:7…
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Life isn’t Fair!
How many times have we heard that, or we have said that to our children? I have often thought that in various situations, life isn’t fair, and that’s not quite the way life should be viewed. Remember our Bible stories about how God created each and every one of us uniquely. So our situations in life are different from one another and unique. All of us have different approaches to how we do and process life. God has a unique and different journey for each of our lives. God is merciful and has given us all a chance for eternity in heaven if we just believe and accept him. So…
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When you can’t finish well. Crashing into the end zone.
Last year about this time, I wrote a post on finishing well. As a college professor, the dawning of May always brings thoughts of finishing well. I must admit that I am unable to finish well this year. Trust me, I have every desire to finish well. Unfortunately, my body isn’t letting me. I mentioned in an earlier post about my post COVID struggle. We are still investigating its roots, but one truth remains: I cannot function at 100%. I am attempting to complete the semester requirements as best I can, letting much of the household tasks wait, and have completely abandoned all my extras. My post from last year…
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Where are you, spring? Waiting on the promises.
Living in the upper Midwest, I know that spring will eventually come. However, having had a blizzard followed two days later by a couple more inches of snow and icy roads making Easter travel hazardous, spring feels very far away. Not what any of us wanted or expected this Easter! I have many relatives who are farmers, and late spring storms can cause immense problems for calving and getting into the fields to prepare them for planting. In fact, these storms can be significant enough to make or break a farmer’s year. My husband, as a contractor, is also often at the mercy of the weather. The weather this past…
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Taking our Success out of the Hands of Others
As a business owner, I am continually trying to do what is best for my business. As a multi-business owner, I am looking for ways to make one action work for all or more than one of my platforms. I am constantly bombarded by suggestions, emails, and theories on how to do this; you should be doing this, and of course, if you don’t do X, Y, and Z, you will fail. However, I have successfully made it this far, so I can’t be doing things wrong. However, this spring, as I have worked through a number of challenges, I have realized that no matter what I do in my…
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Grocery Store Blues
I rarely find that our blog is one to be a place for me to complain. Instead only to help, heal and give inspiration and motivation. However, on my most recent trips to the grocery store and gas station, it truly leaves me a little blue. I walk down each aisle and wonder how did pricing change so quickly and in vast amounts? How did we become a society where it is now an everyday occurrence that the shelves are found empty and out of stock? We do live in America…the greatest country in the world we say. I have come home a time or two from the store without…
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Prayer
How often have you started to pray and then paused or just stopped altogether because you weren’t sure how to pray? You didn’t want to sound silly or maybe we think we need to have these fancy prayers that are well thought out and are almost like they are prewritten. We are trying to pray to God, and we certainly don’t want to sound silly. The thing is, God already knows us inside and out. He has seen us at our best and at our worst. I have been trying to think of prayer more as having a conversation with God. The Bible says we should pray without ceasing and…
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Gratitude
What is gratitude? The definition states that it means to be thankful or the readiness to show appreciation or return of kindness. And the verse in Psalm 136:1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” When we look around at not only all the things we have but the family we are surrounded by daily, we should always display an attitude of gratitude. God has truly blessed us with the greatest sacrifice of all, his son. God didn’t complain at all; he did it with a grateful heart. Sometimes as we go about our day-to-day life it’s hard to have or…
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April Devotional: You Can’t Hide From God
Scripture Verse: Psalm 139: 1-16 “ O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven,…
