Make Sure Every Moment Counts

Make sure every moment counts as the sands of time move forward. Again, look at the time November 26, 2013 and where did those moments go and were they well spent?

The September Fundraiser was a success because; we learned so much and accumulated equipment that will make each additional program and fundraiser more spectacular for those participating.  We raised a good deal of funds and still have items to offer on our web site.

When you evaluate performance plus and minus overall,  we found that the leader (this is me) was not asking for enough help even though starting early on this event.. The check list was made and contacts were established but the leader fell short because of loosing participation of volunteers available.  However, volunteers appeared from new contact programs attended by the leader.

So, to that end the PR work is most important. Well, the best thing of all was the new board members that live locally.  Redeemer Lutheran brought us new blood and Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church volunteers were back again helping.

We have been able to change the donkey barn to the tractor barn and free up the bottom of the retreat center to be completed. We still have to cut the pipe down on the tractor but the old posts have been moved and there is room for all the equipment to fit in the tractor barn. MORE Progress has taken place.

We have a movie projector, access to old and new movies, movie screen and the desire to start movies on the ridge. That comes with a marshmallow roasting fire and popcorn.
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Helping others who have suffered a loss is our job. With Joy in our hearts my husband of one year and I share our story as we see those in need.  We are trained facilitators of GriefShare. We encourage others as we speak of hope found by our faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. At our October Church function "Harvest Fest" we spoke of help available to everyone the Lord lead to us. On our October anniversary cruse we spoke to many of our joy and how they can find the same. Those hurting who came to the GriefShare program Surviving the Holidays  at our home were in the company of others who understand. Grief Share.org is what we recommend for a loss as a beginning.

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Gathering pictures and making memory books is on my list of to do's. Keeping up with emails is on my list as I added a new email making my list four!
Learning how to cook is falling to the end of my list for sure, I wish I felt bad about it. I am just getting tired of tossing food out. It was fun but it didn't work and that part is discouraging. I like painting or drawing food better than actually cooking.
I made cookies from frozen cookie dough that didn't work out. I made great frosting and covered most of the bad cookies with frosting that was thicker than the cookie.  As a sacrifice I ate about two dozen of the cookies, to save anyone else from  eating them.  Five pounds later someone said they liked the cookies crisp like that.  I guess eating my mistakes is not a good thing.
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I have a list of things to accomplish on my white board and try to accomplish them.  I keep finding more things to add to the list. I will say that starting every day with prayer and ending with prayer is a great thing to do. What I have found that making new traditions is a good thing and laughing is the best for your health!  Make sure you get a hug at least 2x daily. 

I have a wonderful daughter and other family. Now I am blessed with more family: step-daughters, a step son and lots of step-grandchildren and many new friends. Check out all your blessings and you will see they are coming faster than we actually claim.  Smile this is the day the Lord has made be sure to thank Him! I am making sure every moment counts!

Happy Blessed Thanksgiving to all!
Your sister in Christ
Maryanne Jerome-Whitlaw, President
God's Cozy Acres, Inc.
www.Godscozyacres.com

Calendar Pages Move On Their Own

Well, the calendar pages at my home have managed to flip forward at a remarkable rate! Wow, here we go two months has past since we last spoke.

Getting ready for the 2nd fundraiser at God's Cozy Acres. This time it will be a chili cook off with an award and a prize made by Herb West a skilled woodworker. We have a special tag team cooking chili and looking for a winning combination from Redeemer Lutheran Harriman Tennessee along with Chef Mike at Rugby Café in Rugby, Tennessee. We have a challenge by a real expert lady in the kitchen Karen Minninger which will put the fear into Retired Colonel Joseph Tom Whitlaw Jr. as he looks to take the prize away from everyone with his Top Secret recipe. We hope to have one more chef if he is in town, that will really put some fire in the pot and get the competition hot! If we are really lucky our Biggest Surprise Chef will be announced at the last minute, so as not to give the others a chance to back down! WHO WILL DECIDE THE WINNER....YOU WILL!!!! Everyone who attends the Chili Cook Off will be voting for the best!!!! Come on down and get your spoon in the voting pot!

So we are going to have a variety of baskets filled with all kinds of goodies donated from every group I could get to. We will have auction and drawings, food and music. Come out and make a difference as we move forward at God's Cozy Acres Widows Ministry, a twenty five acre program filled with possibilities that will be in our community for many many years to come.

There is a lot of work that goes into a program like this and I am running every day and pushing the keys on my computer as my eyes cross at two in the  morning. I have to tell everyone I see every day all the time because we need help, we need funds, we need volunteers that can help us obtain grants to further these programs. Everyone in the future will be a widow or a widower or loose a brother or a father or a sister or a mother. Some of us want to share the Hope God has given to us in whatever way the Lord leads us. Will you look into your heart and help us out?

 Tomorrow is more visits to the funeral homes to see about borrowing tents, stores to see about donations, groups to see about volunteers, funds for rocks to fill in the road where the rain washed them away, help to get the 4 wheeler up on my tractor to go into town and get the starter replaced so its ready to go. Then I need to jump on the tractor and bush hog(cut the field down) so we can see the ground.

The best complement my Aunt Phillis could have ever given me was starting a monthly meeting with widows in her area. She said she was inspired by what I am doing. Please, seriously, grab your joy by helping others find theirs. Get a small group together go to or bring in a speaker, share the love of Christ. 

Well, I guess I will have my daughter go crazy proofing this blog and I am heading downstairs to do some praying. While you finish up your day would you all pray for God's Cozy Acres and Widows?
Please try my new email address right after you check out the website that has taken me two years. Lots of learning going on in between my running.  www.Godscozyacres.com and the email is Maryanne@Godscozyacers.com . How neat is that. 

Have a great week in the Lord and drop our name for prayers at church Sunday too! thanks so much.
Your sister in Christ, maryanne

After all this is said, I want you to know that my dream is that enough people find interest in WIDOWS to help with this program and keep it growing long after I am gone to be with the Lord.

There is room for so many great ideas for this Twenty Five acres and everything is a benefit to widows and other who have lost loved ones and those who help build this project.  My life has been so enriched when I started working for the Lord on this widows ministry God's Cozy Acres.  I may be so busy but I am so happy and I now have a partner in life once again who loves the Lord and helping others who have lost a loved one.

You can not imagine the joy you can receive from the smiles and stories of the people you meet on their journey of grief as they discover their joy. God is awesome and we are walking and breathing proof "survivors" by the Grace of God. My life, which I thought was over in September 2009, is so wonderful and filled with JOY! I am anxiously looking for places to speak about God's Cozy Acres. I have been to Florida (East and West Coast) and around Eastern Tennessee and shared in Maryland around Baltimore. If your church group or organization has an opening for a speaker please let me know.  I never planned on speaking in public but the Lord has put me out there and that's what I do now showing what a difference HE can make in your life!

Have You Really Noticed All Your Blessings?

Have you really noticed all you blessings?  My life is so unbelievable and I am so blessed from the time I wake up to the time I close my eyes.  By turning my life over to God I have found JOY! Where the worry was taking over every moment of my day I now have the ability to breath without worry. How is this possible you say. Either you believe with all your heart and mind or you don't. That's all there is. I believe the Lord Jesus is my savior and I turned my life over to him. Now I work for the Lord and find that arrangement to be most suitable. I do the best I can every day (well I try to do the best I can) and I know for a fact that my boss "God" is happy with me.  I ask for things I need and He gives me the things HE feels I need when I need them.

Oh I can share some stories that encourage you to pray but watch what you pray for because what we expect for an answer in our mind is not always what the answer God feels we need. God has a sense of humor that's for sure.

I have been so busy I have not found the time necessary or should I say I have not prioritized my life lately to cover everything I have on my plate. So this blog has been long in coming. Since my last blog there has been a weekend of widows on God's Cozy Acres. It was a success but I did find this is something I can't do alone. I had one helper but I needed more. So it was a learning experience for me and even though it did not all turn out like I expected everyone had a great time. That was by the grace of God!

Since then Redeemer Lutheran and St.  Paul's Lutheran volunteers have come out and helped with other necessary work on the farm. That was another plan of God's and in His time. I hear "Let Go and Let God" that's not easy but I work at it daily. 

I see so clearly that God has a plan for each one of us and it is a very intricate plan that we can't even grasp.  I know every day I am where I belong to hear or say something that the Lord wants me to relay or learn.

My JOY comes from serving the Lord in the capacity He has presented to me. That is to help widows and others who have lost loved ones.  I really enjoy speaking at different churches or organizations as long as my power point is with me. Everywhere I hear from a widow that there is nothing around for widows.  This is what the Lord has put on my heart and this is my job.

I have some board members but only one lives in Tennessee. So my task is to find other Board members and helpers for God's Cozy Acres.  I know the Lord has a plan and I want others to pray to find what He has in mind for them! 

I work for GOD and you can't find a better boss! Similar to the 401K He offers something better "Everlasting Life".  This plan is all paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Have a great day in the Lord!  Check out your blessings today you will find more than you imagined!

Be Still and Listen

My late husband Dennis used to say "Be Still and Listen" as we sat or walked on the farm property, now God's Cozy Acres. So, the weekend widows group stood in the field with our eyes closed and did just that.

This is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. You are in the presence of the Lord everywhere on this earth and if you are "still and listen" you will hear Him.

I sat in the cottage  2011 and said Lord I need to have help, I am alone and sad I could really use a phone call from someone. I didn't wait long and the phone did ring and the angel on the other end said she had a Stephen Minister just for me.  I know the Lord hears and responds in his time his way and I got the call.

2012 allowed me to continuously discover the miracles of life that were all around me and only discovered when I was still and listened.  Books are presented to me in many ways and the information has given me hope and joy, even when there isn't enough time to read to the entire book. Answers to questions come from amazing people and situations.

2013 I drove to Madisonville with cloths to share because my heart said I had to that day and that time (be still and listen). I was glad I called ahead because the establishment was not open. The lovely lady answered my call and opened up the door to receive my bags of cloths. As we talked I learned about a new young widower with a special child, and gave her information to share about GriefShare and Buddys Break at our church. She acknowledged the Lord sent me to her at the right time with the right information for this young man. We spoke of how awesome God really is!

God's Cozy Acres needs more volunteers to help with challenges on buildings and I know it's in God's time, I just stay still and listen.  So, when a call came from people who had heard my talk a long time ago I smiled. They have funds and volunteers willing to come and help out. I am always in awe of the power of the Lord on all our lives. 

I knew a program for widowers (an idea that came when I was still and listening) would be helpful but many said it would not work.  Widowers are no longer left out because of a new program "Search Light" which allows widowers to get together and share their new life path challenges. It was in God's time and the right widower accepted the challenge.

I am continuously learning to be still and listen and be open to the instructions laid on my life path by the Lord.

This is the day the Lord has made and I will rejoice and be glad in it as I am still and listening to Him.