Listening for God: 52 Reflections on Everyday Life

By Marian Korth

Discover how God talks to us through everyday happenings.

One day, God tells us to hold our to-do lists lightly. There are more important things for today. Another day, Gods message is to think a little harder about how we spend our money. Some days, God just says to relax and enjoy the beauty of the earth.

Priorities, values, prayer, music, nature, and hospitality are some of the themes addressed in these 52 reflections on everyday living. Most of the reflections originated as posts on the blog of Whispering Winds Retreat Haven. As you read the reflections in Listening for God, you can expect to:

Smile as you read about some amazing coincidences and then remember some of the equally amazing coincidences in your own life. Think about the choices you make every day and how they reflect your values. Wipe a tear from your eye as you read about Emma seeing God a week before she died. Look at birds a little differently as you wonder what songs they are singing today. Feel your heart soar as you begin to hear God speaking to you regularly in your everyday life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 22, 2013
• ISBN: 9781449779023

Marian Korth

Marian Korth is co-owner of Whispering Winds Retreat Haven, a B&B-style retreat center in rural Wisconsin. For the past two years she has written a weekly blog about seeing God in everyday happenings. A graduate of Wheaton College and the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, she has had a varied career that includes being an English teacher, business consultant, real estate broker, innkeeper, and church organist.

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Copyright © 2013 Marian Korth

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). Copyright © 1989 by Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Other Scripture references are from the following:

The Message (MSG). Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Contemporary English Version (CEV). Copyright © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.

New Century Version (NCV). Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Word Publishing, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-7903-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-7902-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012923308

WestBow Press rev. date: 01/17/2013

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

PRIORITIES

To-Do Lists

Personal Retreat

Think on These Things

Learning to Unwind

PRAYER

God’s Style of Communication

How Do You Talk with God?

MUSIC

Singing with Choirs of Angels

Work and Reward

Reflection on a Good Old Hymn

A Conversation with the Goose Family

A Treasure Chest of Church Hymnals

NATURE AND GARDENING

Rain and Snow and God’s Word

The Repetition of Firsts

The Beauty of Nature –

Does It Remind You of God?

Meet Gary Gopher

Garden Guilt

Playing Games with Chip and Randy

An Abundance of Tomatoes and Thistles

VALUES

Remembering My Mom

Decorations for my Parents’ Grave

Life Stages

Am I Really Defined by My Possessions?

The Value of Things

High Stakes Musical Chairs

Let’s Celebrate!

HOSPITALITY

We Always Treat Guests as Angels

Connections

Parish Nurses and Nutty Knitters

Coincidence or God-incidence?

I Saw Jesus

Emma and the Love of God

A Special Cloud

The Kindness of Strangers

WORKING

Picture Study: Reclaiming an Old Activity

Here’s My Two-Cents’ Worth on Working

Names

A Meeting Can Be a Good Thing. Really!

A Voice from the Past

AUTUMN

The Mixed Blessings of Fall

The Message of Two Cornstalks

God Sent a Deer to Remind Me

The Last Tastes of Summer

I Am Right!

JAIL

Testimony

Jesus Loves Me

Getting Together in Jail

Owning My Name

I Remember Cheating God

What Am I Thankful For?

THANKSGIVING AND CHRISTMAS

Notes from a Thankful Dog

Christmas Music Memories

God’s Love Made Visible

EPILOGUE: A Year-End Conversation with my Dog, Abbey

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Dedication

T o my life partner, Mim Jacobson, for encouraging me to write what’s on my mind, and then taking the time to read and critique each draft.

To my friend, Deb Schroeder, for helping me select which blog posts to include in this collection of reflections, and for helping me edit them so that they all fit together.

And to all the faithful readers of the Whispering Winds Blog, for encouraging me to keep writing, and for enriching the blog by contributing more examples of God speaking to each one of us.

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Acknowledgments

T wo writers have inspired many of the reflections in this book. I try to read a little from their writings every morning, to seed my mind with some good thoughts to reflect on throughout the day.

Joan Chittister, OSB, is a prolific writer. She has authored many books on various aspects of contemporary spirituality. What has been a very big influence on my daily life is a monthly pamphlet called The Monastic Way. These pamphlets feature a different painting each month. Chittister writes a short essay about what she thinks the artist is trying to say in the painting. Then she writes a sentence or two that relates to the theme of the painting for each day of the month. Many of her daily sentences have prompted me to think differently about things that I encounter in my day. Some of the reflections in this book are the direct result of starting my day by reading The Monastic Way. [Joan Chittister, The Monastic Way copyright © 2012 by Benetvision, an outreach of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, PA.]

Sarah Young has written several devotional books from a unique perspective – as though Jesus is talking directly to the reader. In Jesus Calling, so far, my favorite of her books, each daily conversation ends with two or three Scripture references that ground Jesus’ comments in the Bible. Almost every day as I read Jesus Calling, my reaction is Wow! Jesus is really right here beside me, talking to me. Some of my reflections were directly prompted from a particular day’s reading. [Sarah Young, Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence, copyright © 2004 Sarah Young. Published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN.]

I am very grateful to both of these writers for inspiring me to listen for God’s presence in my life, day by day.

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Introduction

E very Monday morning for the past couple years I’ve written a reflection about something that’s on my mind. I like to think that God planted the thought in my mind so that I can share it, so that we can all take a little time to think about these things. I posted these reflections, week by week, on www.WhisperingWindsBlog.com , the blog of Whispering Winds Retreat Haven, and then I watched for comments from readers of the blog. We’ve been having a wonderful conversation that still continues through the digital universe. I’m amazed when I read comments and gain new insights from both friends and strangers in Mexico, Japan, Ireland, South Africa, and many other countries; and, of course, from all parts of the United States – friends and strangers who have been thinking about some of these same things that I’ve been thinking about.

This book is a compilation of some of my favorite reflections from this blog. With the help of a friend, I selected 52 reflections, a year’s worth of reading for anyone who wants to read one reflection a week, following the same pace as the blog itself. The reflections are arranged somewhat seasonally. Reflections about spring appear early in the year and reflections about Christmas are near the end. But for readers who would prefer to read the book straight through, I have also arranged the reflections into sections addressing the topics of Priorities, Prayer, Music, Nature and Gardening, Values, Hospitality, Working, Autumn, Jail, and Thanksgiving and Christmas.

An odd list? Perhaps I should explain a little about who I am so that you can understand why God put thoughts into my mind about these subjects.

My immediate family consists of my life partner, Mim (short for Miriam) Jacobson and our dog, Abbey (a beagle-golden retriever mix). We live on the farm in Cambridge, Wisconsin where I grew up. Actually, we have two homes – the original farmhouse which we remodeled and turned into a bed and breakfast, and a new condo that was built in what used to be the pasture of the farm.

Mim is a nurse. I have been lots of different things, including English teacher, editorial researcher, business analyst, manager, small business consultant, real estate broker, innkeeper, and church organist. Both Mim and I have been self-employed since 1999. Currently we have two businesses: Country Comforts Assisted Living (primarily Mim’s business) and Whispering Winds Retreat Haven (primarily mine), although we both help each other with our respective businesses.

We describe Country Comforts as Assisted Living – Family Style. We care for two people at a time who live with us in our home. Over the past ten years we’ve cared for about twenty people. Most of them have been very frail, and some have had varying degrees of dementia. Almost all of them have stayed with us throughout the end of their life. Recently, we decided to specialize in end-of-life care. We work together with family members and a hospice organization to provide the best care possible for each person until the very end. (More information is available at www.CountryComfortsAssistedLiving.com.)

Whispering Winds is a bed-and-breakfast-style retreat center. When we decided to buy a condo, we intended to sell the farmhouse. We made that decision just as the housing market was about to crash in 2007. The farmhouse didn’t sell, so rather than having it sit empty, we licensed it as a bed and breakfast. We market it as a retreat center – a place for individuals to come for a quiet getaway, and a place for small groups to gather for a group retreat. (More information is available at www.WhisperingWindsRetreatHaven.com.) The reflections in this book were originally written as a ministry of this business and were published on www.WhisperingWindsBlog.com.

The last few paragraphs above should explain why I might reflect on most of the topics listed on the Contents page. But what about Jail? I’ve been thinking about jail a lot over the last couple years. I play the piano as a volunteer for the weekly women’s worship service in the local county jail. I can always count on God being present in these worship services. It’s a real privilege to be able to participate with the inmates in worshiping God. I am always blessed, every time I go to jail.

A few of the reflections in this book are written from the perspective of Abbey or one of the other animals living on the grounds of our old farmstead (gophers, chipmunks, rabbits, birds). Sometimes the message from God just seems to represent their perspective.

The overall theme of Listening for God: 52 Reflections on Everyday Life is listening intently to be able to hear the messages God has for us in the everyday happenings of our life. I hope you can hear some of God’s messages for you through the reflections in this book.

If you want to respond to me about any of these reflections, feel free to email me at [e-mail]. You