Luke 2:19 “but Mary kept all these things in her heart…”

image from 4catholiceducators.com

In my Bible study this morning, as I was reading through the story of Jesus’ birth in Luke, chapter 2, I was struck by verse 19:

“…but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.” ~Luke 2:19b NLT

And then again by verse 51:

“And his mother stored all these things in her heart.” ~Luke 2:51b NLT

My role as a mother has changed as my children have grown into adulthood; however, my concerns and love for them has only deepened through the years…if that’s even possible.

I’ve always prayed for and over my children; for their health, well-being and happiness, for them to grow up strong and confident, for them to be righteous, honest, people of integrity, contributing members of society, for them to realize God’s purpose for their lives, for them to lean on their faith in times of difficulty or trouble and to be grateful in the good times, for them to know that I love them unconditionally and so much more.

So much I have stored and pondered in my heart. So much I will continue to store and ponder in my heart.

So much like Mary.

God has instructed us to pray; I believe this “storing and pondering” is prayer. I love that prayer is my touchstone and conversation with God. And one of the most important jobs I have as a mother.

I’m thankful that while my children are grown and discovering all that life has in store for them, I can continue to pray over them…even though it’s no longer at their bedside each night. It’s my gift as their mother.

YOLO!

Jan

Virtual Coffee Date…

One of my favorite things is to have a good cup of coffee and visit with friends & family. It’s wonderful to take the time to slow down (you can’t drink hot coffee quickly) and be present, in the moment, sharing all the good in our lives.

I’d love to have a virtual cup of coffee with you! Venti pumpkin spice latte’s (with an extra shot) are my favorite fall splurge. The cost of one pumpkin spice latte (approx $4.86) will provide 18 MEALS for AT-RISK CHILDREN! Just 27 cents will provide a nutritious meal for a hungry child.

Our church – Highland Park Church is sponsoring a Feed the Hunger Pack-a-Thon on October 17th and 18th. Our goal is to pack 60,000 meals; half of the meals packed are being designated for FREM orphanage in Haiti…8 members of our church visited them last spring and discovered that they currently receive ZERO outside support and they were praying for food. HPC Haiti Relief was born.

Here’s where you come in…we NEED donations to meet our goal of 60,000 meals!

We need donations IMMEDIATELY! 

Will you please meet me for a virtual coffee date and buy me my favorite fall splurge – or two – or even three?! My life, and  most importantly, the lives of the children at FREM, will be enriched and blessed by YOUR generosity!

Donations are easy peasy: go to https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/fthdonate and donate with credit card or pay pal. Scroll down and select “Nashville Pack-a-Thon” as the special purpose to designate the funds.

I’ve already bought YOUR cup of coffee…will you please buy me one?

Blessings to you!

Yolo!

Jan

Vision…

As humans, we hunger for a vision. If we are unable to create a compelling vision for ourselves, we will latch on to someone else’s vision. With no vision for our future, ours or someone elses’s, we extinguish our powerful internal fire.

The GOOD news? You can re-ignite it at ANY time.

~Ray Higdon

Happy Birthday, Florence Nightingale!

As a nurse, Florence Nightingale is a very important part of the history of my profession.

Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing was born on May 12, 1820. Her most famous contributions came during the Crimean War; by improving sanitation, hygiene and nutrition, she played a major role in reducing the death rate of wounded soldiers from 50% to 2%. She became known as “The Lady with the Lamp” for making her nightly rounds tending to the wounded.

Here’s an interesting video I found on youtube – “Who was Florence Nightingale?”

And then I found this rare recording of the voice of Florence Nightingale.

I am amazed and astounded by the strength of this woman. Lives saved. History changed. Medicine and nursing forever improved.

Happy Birthday, Florence! Your legacy lives on…your lamp is still shining brightly!

-J

Mother’s Day…

Mom & I with our buddy Jack!

It’s Mother’s Day afternoon and I’ve enjoyed a beautiful day already: mother/daughter night at the ballet last week, church today, brunch at our favorite after-church-breakfast spot (free box of candy for all Mom’s – too bad I’m not eating sugar…my office will benefit tomorrow!), sweet texts from family & friends near and far, phone call with MIL, a tear-jerking, heart tugging, loving email from my son who is traveling and plans for dinner cooked by hubby, daughter & SIL! My life is full of love indeed.

I’m so very grateful for my mother, who among many other things, raised me to love God; to be kind towards others & treat others as I would want them to treat me; to be a woman of integrity; to serve others; and she instilled in me her love of travel, big cities and sandy beaches! I hope that when I grow up I can be a small measure of the woman my mother is! I love you Mom!!

As this year marks the 100th anniversary of Woodrow Wilson proclaiming Mother’s Day a national celebration in the United States, I thought I’d share some of my favorite Mother’s Day quotes.

• “Motherhood: All love begins and ends there.” ~Robert Browning
• “If you have a mom, there is nowhere you are likely to go where a prayer has not already been.” ~Robert Brault
• “Children are a great comfort in your old age – and they help you reach it faster too.” ~Lionel Kauffman
• “A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest.” ~Irish Proverb
• “Sing out loud in the car even, or especially, if it embarrasses your children.” ~Marilyn Penland
• “There is only one pretty child in the world, and every mother has it.” ~Chinese Proverb
• “A Mom’s hug lasts long after she lets go.” ~Author Unknown
• “Motherhood has a very humanizing effect. Everything gets reduced to essentials.” ~Meryl Streep
• “Any mother could perform the jobs of several air-traffic controllers with ease.” ~Lisa Alther
• “God could not be everywhere, and therefore he made mothers.” ~Rudyard Kipling

I am a mother only because God chose to give me the blessing of raising two beautiful children. I truly believe that is my main purpose in this dance called life. I am learning as I enter this next phase of motherhood…as my children are grown and living out their life’s purpose…that while the role of being their mother changes…the love I have for them only deepens. I can only imagine the love my mother feels for me and my siblings. Wow!

Blessings to all the Mom’s out there! Happy Mother’s Day!

YOLO,

Jan

 

 

Sunday inspiration…2 Timothy 1:7

Tomorrow…

Tomorrow…the beginning of a brand new year. You can be anyone you want. Accomplish anything you want. I thought I’d share some thoughts from my own reflection, studying, reading, and planning to guide you:

• The best day of your life is the day you decide your life is your own. No one to lean on, rely on or blame.
• Life is about the choices you make. Choose wisely.
• Live your life on purpose.
• The gift of life is yours, it is an amazing journey, make the best of it.
• Every single day matters.
• Love always.
• Be authentic.
• Life is now.
• You are the hero of your own story.
• Keep your word.
• Give back.
• Be grateful.
• Live passionately.
• Mentor someone.
• Forgive.
• Be present.
• Don’t “go” through life, GROW through life!

Begin your new book…tomorrow. It just so happens that THIS tomorrow falls as the FIRST day of the NEW YEAR!

Have a safe and happy celebration wherever you may be.

Make it a good year!! And remember…

YOLO!

~Jan

How are you spending your marbles?

So…I start this blog post a bit frustrated because while our sermon this morning by Dale Robble at Highland Park Church was in one word…AWESOME…my attempt at taking notes electronically was a major FAIL since I apparently forgot to hit the “save” button.  Now I have to depend on my memory…and wait for the podcast to come out this week so I can listen to it again! That’s what I get for trying to lighten my load instead of carrying in my Bible and journal. Ok…I digress…back to the topic.

Dale and his family just returned from a trip to visit their family’s homeland in Newfoundland. He was quite generous with pictures on facebook and I enjoyed visually “traveling” with them. One of their adventures involved visiting a very overgrown family cemetery. Today, Dale shared pictures with us and his feelings as they uncovered headstones long forgotten and neglected on the now uninhabited island.

Interestingly, the inscriptions on the headstones are different than what we typically see today. Instead of “date of birth” and “date of death”, they listed the “date of death” and then the age of the deceased….in years, months and even days.  See an example below (this is not from Dale’s trip):

I believe this headstone says “Aged 38 yrs, 4 mo, 15 ds”. Think about that.  Think about your life in terms of the number of days you will have lived at your death. What are you doing with your remaining days? What am I doing with MY remaining days?

Meditating on this today, I remembered the story of the 1000 marbles. You’ve probably heard it…if you have, here’s a reminder…if you haven’t ever heard it, here’s the lesson:

I’m seriously thinking of buying some marbles…I need to get to calculating how many Saturday’s I have left. That’s a scary thing to think about. I feel like I’ve wasted so much time…which creates even more MOTIVATION to live life to it’s fullest. We aren’t promised ANY more Saturday’s. You only have to turn on the news to realize that.

This weekend, we spent time with our children, including our favorite son-in-law…as they are “all grown up”, I especially cherish any time I get to spend with them. We went to a Nashville Sounds baseball game Friday night, on Saturday I spent the day with a friend who is recovering from surgery and just lost her mother unexpectedly, Rich and I went to church today, had brunch at his favorite “after church” brunch spot and then we shopped for groceries for our family dinner. The whole family was together for a fabulous meal jointly prepared by my daughter and I. Good times. No…correct that…GREAT times!!

So again, I ask…what are you doing with YOUR marbles?

Remember…YOLO!

-Jan

Your Life is Your Message…

NewYear…New Book…Blank Pages