JOYFUL WORDS
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Speaking
  • Writing
  • Hospitality
  • About Sheri

Be Where Your  Feet Are

12/22/2021

1 Comment

 
Be still and know that I am God…Psalm 46:11

We’ve entered those last weeks of the year that are so full of faith, family, fun, stress, activity and we may feel the need to buckle up and hang on.  But maybe the Lord is asking us to look at things a little differently. 

What if we all decided to take a big deep breath and remind ourselves that the next couple of weeks will be filled with things we love and things we don’t.  What if we decided to invite God into all of it very intentionally.  Being surrounded by family is a beautiful thing but getting the house set and ready for their arrival isn’t so beautiful so why not offer the getting ready prayerfully asking for His blessing on the conversation, laughter and memories that will take place.  What if we remembered that nothing bad lasts forever and the same can be said for the good stuff.  Life is a series of yeahs and yucks and God is found in both so lets not be in such a hurry to get through life.

As we make our way through the next crazy days, lets consider  one simple suggestion…Be Where Your Feet Are!  Life blazes by so meet God in the moments…he’s there in all of them.  If we’re not where our feet are, we’re dwelling int he past or zipping off into the future missing what God is doing right here and right now.  We won’t always be comfortable, things aren’t always the way we plan…that’s ok because pain and frustration are places God does so much teaching, forming and leading. 
A Seed to Plant:  Every time your tempted to “wish away” a day waiting for one that’s better, ask the Father to help you be where your feet are and feel him working,​

Blessings on your day!
1 Comment

Little is Lovely

12/8/2021

2 Comments

 
The person who is faithful with small matters is also faithful with great ones.  Luke 16:10

Our task for the week: seek the SMALL and the SIMPLE!  Seriously…I’m not kidding…our motto for the week should be “Little Is Lovely!” (Let me be clear, hips and thighs don’t count!!!)  If I had any power of any kind, I would declare it National  'Little is Lovely Week!' 

Christmas Eve is coming quick and this is just about the time many of us go into our “Christmas Freak Out” and completely forget about the coming of a King!  We have probably done some of our shopping and now we start to worry about whether the gifts we’ve purchased are good enough or big enough or fancy enough to out-do what we gave last year.  That’s where the trouble starts to brew!  

Many of Gods greatest gifts are small.  Babies, flowers, butterfly’s, puppies and a Son who came to save us from our sinfulness are all small but yet so completely amazing they can make us stop  in our tracks and take notice.  God works among the small and simple parts of our lives.  He shows His magnificence in the little details but yet we live in a culture that praises, rewards and almost requires bigger, better, bolder and over the top.  It’s a good time to think about which influence we’d like to be shaped by.  God wanted so badly to make things small and simple He even took His Ten Commandments and broke them down into two very simple ones, Love God and Love others.  How could we goof up something so simple!

Sometimes it’s the little things we take for granted.  We don’t often think of the simple gift of time as something valuable we can wrap and put under the tree but it is.  Instead of trying to find the newest toy or hottest appliance or trendiest outfit, give the simple gift of time.  Give a now and later gift, a small treat or gift card for now and a certificate for a lunch or dinner date together later. A gift from a student one year that really touched my heart was a beautiful cookie, made and wrapped with a bow by the child complete with a card saying that child and her family had prayed for me and my family at supper each night for a week.  Give the gift of an event, like bowling or a movie together. How about the gift of a promise?  It could be a promise to spend an hour or an afternoon doing whatever the recipient wants whether it be playing a game, cleaning the cupboards or helping with yard work.  You could attach your promise to help with spring gardening to a new shovel or pair of work gloves.  Be creative…be simple…be small!  As you are trying to figure out how to bless the people you love, first remember to pray for them and ask the Creator who knows them best to help you decide how to bless them with a gift.

While we’re on the subject of little, how about spending a little or a little more time in prayer each morning so we can keep our hearts focused on the true meaning of the season.  Be simple but be intentional.  God loves Christmas and He’s the first one in line to help us keep focused and not overwhelmed by the way our culture can clutter up Christmas.  

A seed to plant: Set your alarm to get up 15 minutes earlier this week and use those minutes in simple prayer, maybe reading the first two chapters of Luke’s Gospel.  Second, take a look at your shopping and to-do list and pick 5 things to do smaller or simpler. 

Blessings on your day!

2 Comments

New Advent

12/1/2021

1 Comment

 
For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father… Matthew 16:27

Happy Advent!  Advent is my favorite…it is so filled with joy and hope and anticipation.  I love it because it means the teachers at school meet each morning for prayer.  I love praying with my work sisters and taking 15 minutes a day to soak up some peace and have conversation focused on something great makes my heart happy.  Last  year we couldn’t meet in the little chapel at school like we had in past years so when we returned to the practice this week it brought joy!!

On the first Monday of Advent  I showed a Fr. Mike Schmitz video about Advent and it kind of blew me away.  He’s amazing but this particular video knocked it completely out of the park.  We talk in class about how Advent is a time to prepare for the coming of Christ and think about his second coming.  I  never really gave the second coming much though to be honest but because of  Fr. Mike and a couple of other great Advent videos… I’m thinking now!  I’m going to combine the best parts of all I’ve learned into one post that might help your Advent as much as it has mine.

*We prepare to celebrate the coming of Christ on Christmas…we prepare to celebrate Christ the Baby.  I can honestly say I didn’t really get too far from this spot.

*We prepare for the second coming of Christ…either He will come to us at the end of time or we will go to Him.  Either way we’re preparing to meet him at the time of our judgement.

*Advent it about preparing for the coming of Jesus as the baby and Jesus the Judge…something to ponder.

*Fr. Mike challenged us to think about what Advent would look like if we knew we would meet Jesus on December 25th.  What if that was our last day…how would Advent be different?  What would we be truly be preparing for?  What would change?

*After some thought and prayer my idea of Advent preparation took a gigantic turn.  All of the sudden the shopping, decorating and Christmas prep didn’t seem as important.  It gave me great cause to really think about what I was actually preparing for.

*I asked the middle lovelies to think about it too and when I asked them what they thought would change; my favorite answer was…”I would focus on the things that matter.”  When I asked them what mattered to them they said, “That’s  pretty simple, loving God and loving others is what matters most.”  I suppose if we subscribe to that  powerful notion it about covers it all.

The coolest thing about it all is that thinking about Jesus the baby and Jesus the judge slams on the brakes and just brings peace.  It’s one of those stop everything and think kind of statements.  I put the link to the video below so if your Advent needs a direction and a jump start give it a watch.

A Seed To Plant:  If the purpose of Advent was prepping for heaven, what should your four candle wait include?

Blessings on your day!​

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WD357YYDk1A&t=45s








1 Comment
    Joyful Words magnet picture

    ​Click on the items below to expand the options available to you to explore the Joyful Words blog.

    Categories

    All
    1 Corinthians
    1 John
    1 Thessalonians
    2 Corinthians
    Acts Of Love
    Advent
    Ageing
    All In
    Amazing
    Anxiety
    Armor Of God
    Asking For Help
    Bad Habits
    Balance
    Baptism
    Be
    Beauty
    Being Gracious
    Blessed Mother Teresa Of Calcutta
    Blessing
    Blessings
    Brokenness
    Carry Our Cross
    Catholic Education
    Change
    Changes
    Cheerfulness
    Children
    Choices
    Christian Belief
    Christmas
    Colossians
    Commitment
    Comparisons
    Compassion
    Consistent
    Content
    Contentment
    Courage
    Crosses
    Crumbs
    Dad
    Daughters Of God
    Delight
    Desire
    Desire God
    Details
    Dicipleship
    Die To Self
    Discipleship
    Dissapointment
    Dying To Self
    Easter
    Ecclesiastes
    Education
    Election
    Encouragement
    Enemy
    Ephesians
    Evangelization
    Exodus
    Expectations
    Faith
    Faithfulness
    Falling Short
    Family
    Fathers Love
    Fear
    Flag
    Footstool
    Forgiveness
    Fresh Start
    Friendship
    Fr. Mike
    Fr. Mike Schmitz
    Galatians
    Generosity
    God In Everyday Things
    God In Scripture
    Gods Beloved
    God's Enough
    God's Forgiveness
    Gods Gifts
    God's Guidance
    God's Love
    Gods Love
    God's Plan
    Gods P Lan
    God's Restoration
    Gods Strength
    God's Timing
    Gods Timing
    Gods Ways
    God's Will
    Gods Will
    Goodness
    Good News
    Grace
    Grandma
    Grandpa
    Gratefulness
    Gratitude
    Greatness
    Gretness
    Grief
    Happiness
    Healing
    Heart
    Heaven
    Hebrews
    He Chose Me
    Holiness
    Holy Spirit
    Holy Thrusday
    Holy Thursday
    Holy Week
    Hope
    Humble
    Humility
    Identity In Christ
    Intimacy
    Isaiah
    James
    Jeremiah
    John
    Joshua
    Joy
    Judgement
    Justice
    Kids
    Kindne
    Kindness
    Labor
    Laughter
    Lent
    Lessons
    Light
    Listening
    Little
    Love
    Lovelies
    Luke
    Mark
    Marriage
    Mary
    Matthew
    Meekness
    Mercy
    Mom
    Mornings
    Mud
    Obedience
    Openness
    Parenting
    Parentng
    Patience
    Peace
    Pentacost
    People
    Perseverance
    Perspeceive
    Perspective
    Philippians
    Pioneers
    Pleasing God
    Poor
    Porch
    Positive
    Possibilities
    Pray
    Prayer
    Priorities
    Promises
    Proverbs
    Psalm
    Relationship
    Religion
    Respect
    Romans
    Sacrifice
    Sacrifices
    Sainthood
    Saints
    Samuel
    Scripture
    Seeking God
    Service
    Serving God
    Signs
    Silence
    Simple
    Sin
    Sinfulness
    Slow Down
    Small Stuff
    Steve Ray
    Stillness
    St. Mary's 4th Of July
    Strength
    Stress
    Suffering
    Surprises
    Surrender
    Temptation
    Thanks
    The Right Thing
    Time
    Troubled Times
    Trust
    Trust In God
    Truth
    Understanding
    Unravelled
    Valentines
    Waiting
    Weddings
    Word Of The Year
    Words
    Works Of Mercy
    Worry


    ​Archives

    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012


    Back to Home

    RSS Feed


      HOME                        BLOG                       SPEAKING                        WRITING                        HOSPITALITY                        MEET SHERI  

CONTACT: 989.640.6673
Picture
EMAIL

FACEBOOK

Twitter

Content is the intellectual property of Sheri Wohlfert 2017
Created by dhengesbach
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Speaking
  • Writing
  • Hospitality
  • About Sheri