Author: Corgi Hollows

It is true that the Lord gives guidance, but sometimes there is a waiting period involved.

I need to report on His faithfulness. I need to do this for my own sake, as well as writing testimony of His goodness.

Over the last few weeks I have asked the Lord for wisdom and guidance regarding my septic system. I was at a place where I had no idea how to go about fixing my system.

The Lord gradually sorted out the options in my mind, and I formed a plan in my head to deal with it all. It is, of course, costly, and it will take much time this year, but I need to face the battle and get things in order.

One day at a time!

After my amazing, genius, wonderful husband unexpectedly passed away I was adrift for quite some time. He did it all for me.

I was spoiled. Rotten.

There are a lot of emotions in grief and loss, and experiencing traumatic loss is a whole different level. I know. I’ve done some research.

Part of being a widow in her fifties is the possibility of remarriage. It’s a fact.

My brother’s first wife died of a brain tumor, tragically, to our monumental loss as a family.

Six years later he found a nice gal who made him happy and they married. They both tragically died in a horrific accident five years ago, now.

I think that was in the back of my mind during these past years of grief and loss.

Speculation about the future is part of grief. It is just there.

My loss was profound. I couldn’t get beyond my loss for a time.

God offers guidance in the darkest moments, though, and it was only afterward that I saw it for what it was.

I may be a human with problems and issues, communication and relationship failures, sin, and general messes, but I am still lovable.

God has given me my five children and their families to support me and help me, to focus on. With that I am content.

Still, there were several potential romances that arrived at my door, even in my grief.

God gave me guidance, though, standards, that helped me navigate these possibilities.

In a relationship I had these six guidelines:

1. Christian
2. No living former spouses
3. Financially stable
4. Reasonably attractive
5. Reasonably intelligent
6. Interested in Asia, perhaps even bilingual

I’m pretty sure this person doesn’t exist, so I am content to go my merry widow way. It is very freeing to have such clear guidance from the Lord!

I don’t know if I will ever go back to the mission field. The idea always hovers at the edges of my brain. Perhaps a limited time abroad may be just the thing for me with my current obligations. As I become an empty-nester my life changes once more.

I have a clear path these days with house repair, taking care of things at Corgi Hollows and those that abide here, my two part-time jobs, and striving to be healthy!

Add to that my time devoted to music and art, writing and knitting, learning Chinese and yardwork, yardwork, yardwork….

I love my church and helping with worship occasionally. I love my international/Chinese Bible Study.

I love my friends and friendships, literally hundreds of these over the past years. I am so blessed.

It’s a beautiful sunny day here in Minnesota. I’ve already run out in the hay field with the dogs and set the Sandhill Cranes off. They’ve been here two weeks already now.

This morning I’ve taken down all the decor left by spiders over the winter. The start of Spring Cleaning at Corgi Hollows. It’s still below freezing this morning, so I won’t attempt to wash the windows yet.

I am thankful for another day to get things done at home, and to help Grandma, too. Vacuuming, dusting, laundry and filing are all on my list. It’s spring. Lists are just inevitable. Cherie is seeing the end of the semester in sight. I will be busy the rest of the week with teaching.

My heart is so grateful for God’s guidance this morning. I’m thankful for His leading, gentle prodding, and boundaries.

The time of the singing of birds has come! The winter is past and the rains have begun! Come away! Come away!

MARANATHA!

This past weekend I was honored to host a group that attended a local conference which is held here every year.

It is a pagan conference, and my friends go to discover information and also to meet with people there, get to know them some, and perhaps give a word of truth if possible.

Truth = Jesus

The stories they tell are compelling and interesting. The people that are attending the conference are all extremely needy. Many are the outcasts of our society. Most are formerly “Christian.”

There are witches and druids, pagans and a few Satanists. (Satanists don’t really fit in either, though.) Luciferians are all present. Lots of trans people, obese people, and mentally struggling people.

They have found community and acceptance from the pagan world.

What a terrible thing to realize and learn of, for someone (like me) who follows Jesus. Christ followers should have embraced and loved these dear people FIRST!

Sadly, many had horrible stories of rejection by churches claiming to be Christian.

Minneapolis has become a real capital of paganism. There are thousands of pagans that have moved here, multiple covens call this home. This is a mission field.

May Christ be preached to the pagan, the heathen, the lost.

Let’s go!

MARANATHA!

I am reading Psalm 71 every day this year. Last Easter we were honored to host house guests who are missionaries to Japan. The husband/dad had gone to high school with Brian 40 years ago. He married a Japanese woman. They have two children.

Ministry in Japan is difficult. My assessment of the church in Japan is this; Japanese are a very proud and self reliant people. They are efficient and capable. They really don’t need answers to life’s problems. Their way has worked for centuries.

I lived in Germany for two years. Germans are similar: talented, hardworking, clean, efficient, gifted, self-reliant. I got the same vibe in Japan. The society works well. There is a very strong mindset which is hard to divert from.

Mavericks aren’t welcome.

For anyone to choose Christ in Japan is a cultural death sentence. There are about 1 million Christians in Japan, out of 130 million. This number grows slowly. There is definitely growth. People are recognizing their need for the truth of the Gospel.

To become a believer is courageous. Those who do are very strong believers. They have made a huge choice. Often they lose family and friends for Jesus. Faith choice comes at great cost. Japan is mostly atheistic in belief systems, but there is still a huge faction paying respect to the dead and to the ancient religions, Buddhism and Taoism, the teachings of Confucius, and various other religions. Christianity is the marked minority belief.

So, my friends, who are missionaries to Japan, understand difficult ministry.

I was blessed to get to know these friends over the holiday weekend that they visited. Before they left they gave me Psalm 71 as a word of encouragement for me. I read it several times over the rest of the year, but decided to read it daily in 2025.

What a blessing this Psalm is!

It encourages and strengthens. I plan to share a verse every day over the next 24 days (24 verses) on social media.

I think it’s a good plan. We need to encourage each other in this dark spiritual climate. Things may look chaotic, perhaps to some the world looks brighter, but to many things are spinning out of control.

We await our King, but the world awaits theirs. That beast system is coming, even as Scripture has prophesied. There will be a ruler, a Christ figure, who is the antithesis of our Lord and Savior. This person will set up a hopeful kingdom but it will ultimately fail.

According to the symbolic plan that the Lord gives us in the array of feasts ordained from the time of Moses we believers will not see that kingdom. We will be feasting with our bridegroom in glory.

We will be celebrating God’s Kingdom with Him, the marriage supper of the Lamb.

This is the plan.

Looks like it will happen soon, too.

MARANATHA!

I was down with a cold over the weekend. Sneezing, sore throat, etc.

But sickness has a benefit of quieting the mind at times. I thought about politics, health, family, friends, goals, dreams, bills, and Jesus.

My Bible reading was helpful. I have found over the many decades of “quiet time” that the consistent and sequential plan of Bible reading is most beneficial to my spiritual walk. God always speaks to me in the plan.

I’m currently reading five chapters a day in my Henry Morris Study Bible. I also read (KJV) the corresponding day of the month/chapter in Proverbs. (Today is the 17th, Proverbs 17) and I also read Psalm 71 every day.

Add to that “Daily Light on the Daily Path” and Institute of Creation Research “Days of Praise” and I get a sweet diet of spiritual counsel. It takes me about 45 minutes every morning.

It was a few years ago that Jude 23 hit me in a different light. I developed a list that I prayed for daily, a “Snatch List” that covers everyone I want to be in eternity with, that I plea for before the Lord to snatch them from the fire.

Maybe it’s like praying a Rosary, or something, but here, on this St. Patrick’s Day, I avow that I am just a plain Christ-follower, a Christian. I love Jesus and I believe the Holy Bible.

I am a believer in the power of prayer.

I went to funeral last Saturday. The man was born to a German Roman Catholic family. His parents and an older sibling had emigrated from Germany in the 1920’s. It was a good funeral. The gospel was preached, and the testimony of the man’s faith was pretty solid.

The service, in a Free Church, was a nice respectful blend of Protestant and Catholic for his mostly Catholic family.

Traditions are fine if the life of the Holy Spirit is in them. Dead traditions are worthless.

I affirm faith in Scripture, faith in Christ.

I liked what the pastor said about “belief” and the strong, willful meaning of it regarding faith. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.”

He chose to use this English word in the sense of putting absolute trust and faith in someone. Jesus.

This belief will change a life, fill a heart, heal a spirit, give joy and peace. This is the truth of faith in Christ.

So I pray for my Snatch List, that each and every person on it will seek that type of “Belief.”

I am praying in accordance to God’s will, as He is not willing that any perish.

Each person must willingly make a decision to follow Christ, but the Holy Spirit must open the eyes of the spiritually blind. This transaction is what I am praying for.

You may be on my snatch list.

I am resting in the confidence of answered prayer in Jesus’ name. I will find out the results when I am with the Lord, and at that time I can trust Him to be everything to me, all of my desires and dreams.

I will pray for these loved/listed ones until that day.

Start a Snatch List. Let’s pray these loved ones into the kingdom of heaven.

We are called to be light. We are not to hide it under a bushel, as Jesus preached in his Sermon on the Mount. We need to be constantly interacting, sowing seeds, speaking the truth and the Gospel to everyone that we can!

Prayer is the basis for that action.

Lately I have been under severe spiritual attack. Warfare. I can almost feel the presence of evil beings as they put thoughts of failure and inadequacy in my mind. I’ve even listened to those voices! I’ve agreed with them.

Several of my friends are also being attacked with the same lies.

The battle is real. We need to be in the Word, we need to be in prayer. We need to be confessing our thoughts and sin before the Lord—-

In the morning, when I rise, give me Jesus.

His mercies are new every morning.

Each day is a brand new start.

Remember Anne of Green Gables? That wonderful quote she had? Each day is a brand new day with no mistakes in it! (It was something like that.)

We need to walk spiritually like that. Too often we are mired in the mistakes and sins of the day before, week before, years before—

Start fresh. Pray. Get a snatch list. Be light.

Jesus is coming again soon.

Are you ready?

PERHAPS TODAY!

MARANATHA!!!

Choices must be made.

Today I choose to be grateful! I choose to do what I don’t want to do; exercise, listen to music, breathe in the fresh spring air, stare at the sky.

So many of us are affected by depression. The dark panic that closes in at times can be suffocating, frightening. This gray time of year is a surprise pitfall for us. The beauty and expectancy of spring is marred by lack of color and whimsical weather.

As believers in Christ we know the truth and have a foundation for blessings and praise. I can choose to praise God in my darkness.

Inevitably that will help me.

I took my B vitamins, D and C. I ate my handful of cashews.

But the road is hard! Spiritual battles are happening all around us. I am burdened with other’s burdens, not to mention the ones I’m carrying.

And yet I tell myself that God knows the end game. He isn’t going to leave me hopeless. I will adopt the attitude of gratefulness and expectancy.

I will put my trust in Him, the Ruler of Creation.

It’s the waiting game.

Pray for us who struggle with depression.

It’s all in the attitude.

And Jesus knows.

Come Lord Jesus. Come soon. We are waiting for Your glorious appearing.

MARANATHA!

Well, we made it!

The deep cold is over, the sun is out and almost all our snow is melted. I am accepting practically every subbing job coming my way, even if I struggle with a particular age group or subject. God provides.

I get to visit the laundromat now, which is always interesting to me. What a slice of society I meet.

My friends are praying for me, for solutions to my house repairs, for wisdom and guidance. I need wise counsel because I have NOT A CLUE about mound systems/septic systems.

I know God sees. He provides. He will help.

In my international Bible Study (Chinese) there is a gentleman who has had contacts with construction folk and he indicated he would try to link me with reputable help. See? God is working. We will see what is next.

I just don’t want to be “taken to the cleaners.”

Though I do visit the laundromat willingly 😉

Cherie and I did lose Gandalf last week. He went downhill pretty fast last Thursday, and we were (thankfully) able to get an appointment in Buffalo to have him put down. He was sweet to the last minute.

We wept our way home. Burial will follow, as the ground is still frozen. He will join Lacey, Blackberry, Misty, and Kiwi. My heart aches as I think of these precious pets! I like to think of them playing with Brian, Sera, and Jean up in heaven.

Sera and Jean are our two little ones that didn’t make it.

I fully expect to meet them in heaven.

But here on earth we wait. I never pray for patience. You know what happens when you do? Lessons are learned. I’m waiting for enough already.

I pray for strength and wisdom and help for each day.

I chose to take a day off to get some errands and financial stuff done today. I’m thankful, because I woke up feeling under the weather. Stress, probably.

I’ll try to zip around town and get everything done— tomorrow I’m doing a double job subbing; Second Grade in the morning and Middle School art in the afternoon.

This is my colorful and varied life.

I wouldn’t trade it!

---

It took five years to feel confident about living alone and facing life single.

I never dreamed I’d be alone in my senior years. I always pictured us growing old together, having a blast camping and traveling, enjoying our music and our reading, discussing politics and theology.

It took five years to become rather selfish and content with living life alone! I don’t feel the need to remarry anymore. I felt so incompetent for so long. I hadn’t done so many things for 30 years! Finances, bills, repairs, car stuff, house stuff, —-all that hadn’t been my thing. Brian did it all.

Now it’s mine. With fear and trembling I took it all on again, and now, five years later I survived.

How selfish of me! I make my own decisions (with prayer, of course!) and live life by myself. Being single is really a selfish thing.

I am more and more of an advocate of early marriage as I see trends around me and in myself.

Being married is an incubator for selflessness.

It’s really difficult for people who are set in their ways to submit wholeheartedly to someone else.

The benefits of marriage seem pretty slim to anyone selfish.

Having been married for 30 years, and single now for awhile I stand in some authority to have an opinion!

Marriage is a wonderful thing! Children are glorious gifts from God!

Marriage is hard, though, and one MUST surrender wholly to its demands. It is the perfect lesson in submission.

I am so glad I was married, for quite some time. I know the demands and the benefits and I actually miss being married!

I see my selfish decisions these days and I am embarrassed! It’s weird to just decide what I want and do it.

Like I said, I’m getting used to it after five years, and it would be hard to go back to being selfless in many ways.

Our pastor has spent two weeks talking about marriage. He used Ephesians 4:31-32 as his text. Kindness and forgiveness must characterize a marriage.

When those two things are the constant a marriage will be blissful.

When malice is absent in marriage it will be the easiest relationship to maintain.

We are fallen humans, though, so forgiveness must be practiced. Constantly.

Boundaries in marriage, accountability to God, consequences of organic problems are all realities. Kindness and forgiveness can only be positive forces in this most important covenant relationship on earth. It was an excellent series. Short and truly sweet.

Widowhood has its deep sorrow, difficulties, darkness, and pain. But selfishness is also a part of it.

Because I recognized this pitfall especially this past year I chose “service, purpose, and faith” as my words to characterize 2025. I want to be of service. I want to have God’s purposes in my life. I want my spiritual antennae to grow again after trauma took them out. Faith must characterize my life.

I will die if Jesus isn’t my central focus. I must live for Him. This must cancel out my selfishness.

Yet I still make decisions, little and big.

What a responsibility!

So today I do stuff. Stuff we all do. I am drinking coffee by the fire this morning as I write. Yukichan is at my feet. Corwyn is grunting at squirrel activity outside the front window.

This morning I heard the chickadee singing a spring call. I expect robins will turn up soon. It’s still a gray world out there. No green. Sunshine is plentiful and gentle air encourages the creatures to begin anew.

I am also encouraged.

MARANATHA!

I am plagued by worry these days.

I know that Christ commands us to Not Worry. I read a hint that praying for others can be a remedy for worry. I do pray for others. I pray through my “snatch list” in the morning, and as people cross my path during the day I pray for them—sometimes over and over.

My cousin is sick. I pray for her to get better every time she comes to mind, which is often.

I pray for my children and my grandchildren.

Something else that combats worry is counting blessings. It may be way below zero in temperatures this week, but today the sun is shining and after this bitterly cold week we may be seeing warmer days. I see pictures of spring on social media. Blossoms in Japan, sunny beaches in the Mediterranean, green grass in the south! It’s not even close to being spring this week here.

But it is sunny.

Gandalf is fading away. Our hearts are broken. Cherie and I cry. We just don’t want to bring him in to be put to sleep. We want to hope that he can win this game against liver malfunction. Our vet diagnosed liver disease, but he told us that it would be extremely difficult to figure out why Gandalf has it, and costly, and there would be little chance of recovery even with a diagnosis.

But miracles. We still can pray for miracles.

I’m complaining more than counting here, today.

Someone told me that my septic mound system may need complete replacement. They only last about 30 years, and that is how old my system is.

Remember that I’ve just waterproofed the basement, rerouted the drainage, replaced the pipe under the house—–I’ve trouble-shot so many things already.

And yet I just love to live here in this beautiful “hollow,” nestled under the highest point in Hennepin County.

It is worth it to repair and make this place habitable. When I am gone it will be sold, and whenever sold it must be in good condition.

For now my cozy fireplace is on, the sun is streaming in, and I am thankful for being warm. I’m thankful for my sweet Corgi, my Rat Terrier, my cats. All lend warmth and comfort.

I’m thankful for music! I’m thankful for my church. I’m thankful for books and art supplies and yarn and needles to knit!

I’m thankful for the lakes and fields and forests that I love to see and walk through, swim in.

I’m thankful for health. I love to be mobile, to swim, to breathe deeply and move around freely.

I’m thankful for God’s provision! Jehovah Jirah, the LORD provides! He has never let me down.

I’m thankful for friends, family, my mom, my kids, my grandkids. How lovely they all are, how blessed I am.

I’m thankful for safety and peace, knowing full well that God’s plan is unfolding steadily, day by day, with His people in positions of leadership and service for Good and for Evil.

I am thankful for Jesus. I couldn’t live without Him.

Come quickly, Lord! MARANATHA!

In this world you will have trouble. That’s a truth universally known. Jesus tells us to take heart, though, and we must obey.

It’s a week of hearts. Valentine’s Day is Friday, and the kids at school are primed for the parties. I’m subbing in music and there are some cute songs modified to celebrate the holiday. Third grade is performing them, and they really enjoy singing them.

I’ve had trouble, though. Could use your prayers.

My septic system froze this past weekend, ahead of the really sub zero temps we are having right now, for an extended time.

I was told I will probably have to wait until late spring/summer for the system to thaw out. Ya.

Until then I can periodically pump out the tanks. Very costly. The gray water gets hauled away instead of flowing into the mound.

We are scrimping around here. It’s like camping, sort of: paper plates, short showers, careful usage of water that is draining into the system. It’s just a “pain-in-the-neck.”

I’m so thankful for a furnace that can combat these arctic temperatures. This house is needing a complete overhaul, apparently.

The new little room under the front step of the house (the one that was completely not accessible before the basement waterproofing people came) is just part of my ongoing “adventure” in home repair and upkeep. “Little surprises” are becoming normal.

Life is hard.

But in acceptance lies peace.

I learned that many years ago when I lost my fourth child to miscarriage, when another tragedy struck simultaneously. I recall being paralyzed with pain and horror, sadness.

In acceptance lies peace.

I learned that from a book by Hannah Hurnard. She wrote a pair of books, “Hinds Feet on High Places,” and “Mountains of Spices.” I love those books. I grew up reading them several times. I should probably revisit them soon.

God is good all the time. It may seem like things are falling apart. God holds the master strings, the tape, the glue, the screws and bolts, nails and fasteners. Perhaps I cannot see which things He is using at a given time, but I trust I will see a bigger picture when I am with Him someday.

It’s Valentine’s Day —-week.

I made a chocolate cake. I had some and froze the rest of it. Do you ever get hungry for chocolate cake? Brian used to love it with a glass of cold fresh milk.

I’m spending my Valentine Week with some sweet memories.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

MARANATHA!

It was in the fall of 2022 that I got to a church service/event for those grieving, invited by my friend, in the wake of my dad’s passing. Of course, I was also grieving my husband’s unexpected death, my brother and sister-in-law’s tragic death, my family disunity, and the many pressing issues that I was seeking to navigate at that time.

The service was meaningful. I was so stiff with grief, but something opened in me that night and I cried. There was an offer of prayer for individuals at the service, and I went to the person who was praying.

Her prayer for me was sweet and comforting, but the words I remembered her praying over me were “love, beauty, and peace.” Striking words for one who is grieving.

I let those words swirl in my mind and decided to pray them as blessings for my new year, 2023.

So began a journey.

That year I was always piqued to see where those words showed up in my life. It became a real blessing. I looked for beauty. I found it so many places, and I saw it as a blessing and gift from God.

I sought peace and found it, as I faced my trials and tribulations of doing life alone.

I saw love in my life, whether it was from a pet, one of my children, a friend, or God. I remembered the love I had experienced. Love was a hard one. When you are lonely for your mate you feel the absence of it. That becomes the prevailing outlook. Love was a bit of a challenge to see that year.

I chose three words for 2024: Balance, Boundaries, and Health. That’s a whole blog post, perhaps, again, as I look back at the year from January. I need to scroll down to see where these words appeared last year. More later?

But for 2025 I’ve settled on service, purpose, and faith.

It’s the end of January, and I am looking for these words and ideas of them. I find them constantly. I want purpose, I want to be of more service, and I want my faith to grow. I may be old, but there is still time to see these things in my daily life.

Walking with Jesus is a journey, an adventure, an opportunity.

So, today I will see my purpose. I hope to be of service, and I want to spend time with my Lord.

Faith, Service, Purpose.

MARANATHA!

For the past four years my interests have centered on China. I’ve been asked “why?” so many times, so I’m going to list my reasons. This is a rather personal post, so it may only interest those of you who took the time to ask me.

There are many people from China who relocated here in Minnesota years ago. My family connected with several of them.

My best friend was an MK in China.

Since 1999 my husband and I hosted dozens of Chinese students at our home, including one very special young man who refers to me as his American mom.

In my Master’s Degree studies I had a Hmong professor who was excellent. He piqued my interest in East Asia. I took a class about NGO’s in Asia with him.

After my husband died I went through a time when I wanted to be as far away from “here” as possible: China.

I started reading about China. I started learning the history of China.

I was connected to an NGO named “Tai Initiative” through friends and pursued a COO position with that organization. During Covid this fizzled, but it still exists and it was part of my education.

I began Chinese language studies.

I began to attend a Chinese/International Bible Study in my area.

I spent more time at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts which has a premier collection of Asian artifacts.

I realized the strength and power of China, its huge population, its blossoming society, deep culture, and its role politically and spiritually.

I became aware of my own prejudices regarding China, and my views began to change, perhaps along with China itself.

Ed and Cherie started learning Japanese and Korean, respectively, while I began my Chinese studies. We had the Asian language trifecta!

I continue to become closer to several Chinese students living here in Minneapolis.

China is worth understanding deeply. It is a world power with a vast history and a strong people. There is much to admire in their fastidious devotion to respect and tradition.

Despite the Communist Revolution, China is on track to be the most Christian nation in the world. More devout Christians live in China than in any other country, including the USA. This, in turn, blesses this vast country.

Despite the Three Self Movement Chinese Christians who truly know Christ are thriving under persecution.

Chinese society is evolving at a pace that astounds. Scholars and politicians cannot keep up with the changes occurring monthly/weekly/daily in this huge land. Communism is the official form of government but capitalism reigns. Money multiplies with a billion people as the market.

Persecution is a reality.

Ancient Eastern Religions (including ancestor worship) are significant influences on Chinese culture, despite Communist Atheism.

These are things I’ve come to know through studying China. I am fascinated.

I look forward to a visit there soon, and plans are brewing.

The landscape of China is amazing, with scenic spots everywhere. Climate variation, as well, colors the country.

Yes, there is a Serpent. He gets his way in this culture. It’s very obvious.

But God is greater. God really loves the Chinese people. Their language shows evidence of The One True God throughout. They are not far from His heart.

I’m so thankful for all the seeds sown by Gladys Aylward and Hudson Taylor, other pioneer missionaries to China. Their work has taken root and is producing great fruit.

It’s amazing to be interested in this vast thing called China.

I’ve been blessed.