Yokemates

MarketWatch.com posted “Five of the Most Popular New Year’s Resolutions” this week which included resolutions many of us have promised ourselves we’d work toward or at least gave it a good try – for a week or two. The most common resolutions that were shared by those who were interviewed were Getting healthy Getting organized Living life to the fullest Learning new hobbies Spending less and saving more We’ve probably all had one of those resolutions as a life goal at some point in time. But, did you know that statistics say that only 8% of people will actually follow through on their resolutions? Wow! That’s a bit depressing, don’t you think? And, perhaps that is why I rarely make the traditional New Year’s resolutions for self-improvement. Now, I don’t think there is anything wrong with setting personal goals. There are times when it is wise to strategically create a starting point to jump start a self-improvement plan or to amp up the effort given to change a habit....

We have been given one very unique and valuable gift – not because of who we are necessarily, but because of who we married. Yes, our husbands may or may not have been a pastor when we said "I Do," but if you can be called The Pastor’s Wife, you have inherited quite a special and unique gift. One that  is multifaceted.  We, of course, have been given a tremendous opportunity to encourage our husbands - and influence them in life  and ministry. Some days, we need to dive into the hard conversations together. Other days, the most beneficial thing we can do is to provide a soft place for our husbands to land. Creating a refuge in our home - or in our conversation - can be invaluable after a long day or a particularly tough meeting. Simply providing a calm and quiet atmosphere can be a healing balm for both mind and soul. Another benefit of being a pastor’s wife is that we are often given a front row seat to watch God’s redemptive work literally change lives. To witne...

Unexpected, but welcome. The sleigh bells jingled as I carried another container of Christmas decorations back to the basement. I didn’t realize that the tub had any bells in it at all. So, I dug a little deeper, curious to see what I would find hidden below. And, there they were. Several little sleigh bells tucked away for safe keeping. I loved this little unexpected surprise! Sleigh bells have had a whole new significance to me in recent years. For some, the jingling of sleigh bells brings fond memories of horse-drawn sleigh rides on glistening snow. For others, their sound brings a vision of Santa and his sleigh cheering, “On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer and Vixen!” But, for me, the happy jingle of the bells goes much deeper. Sleigh bells are now the sweet sound of God’s amazing grace and forgiveness in mine and my husband’s lives. We even keep a sleigh bell door hanger up all year round in our home. Those particular sleigh bells were an unexpected gift - and a p...

Noel It’s a Christmas carol, right? Most people have sung, The First Noel, but I wonder how many have considered what the word, Noel, actually means. My curiosity was piqued this year since we had chosen Noel to be the theme for our annual Women’s Christmas party at church. Interestingly, the definition wasn’t just a simple answer and so my search began. Perhaps we don’t quickly know the definition of the word, Noel, because it has multiple root meanings.   The French root comes from the word, nouvelles, which often translates into the word, news. From the English root we get the word, nowell which means ‘shout of joy.’ And, the root word in Latin brings us to the word, natalis, which means birth and has often been associated with our word, nativity. News, Shout of Joy and Birth! If we consider just those simple words from our modern English language, they actually sum up a big piece of the Christmas story. It’s found in Luke 2, but not the part that begins ...

Christmas lights, trees and traditions. It's that time of year again, and this week I went back in time and shared some of my childhood traditions with my 8-year old grandson. He was working on a homework assignment in Social Studies and wondered if I could help him out. He was supposed to interview a family member and find out what Christmas traditions they celebrated when they were children. Soon memories, long forgotten, were flooding through my mind. The first tradition I shared with him was about making our favorite Swedish cookie. It is a spice cookie called pepparkakor. It’s similar to a ginger snap, but much milder and thin - with cardamom being one of the essential ingredients. Oh, their sweet and spicy goodness just melts in your mouth when they are rolled out super thin. They've been a family favorite for at least four generations, and just last year my 4-year old grandson was caught with a fistful of cookies while grabbing for more. Oh, such fun! Another S...