Category Archives: Weekend Wisdom

Weekend Wisdom: Advent Week 1 – HOPE

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This first week of Advent is about HOPE.

I love Ann Voskamp’s definition – “A defiant reliance on God keeping His word.”

In this crazy, chaotic time in our nation, we need to rely on God’s faithfulness more than ever. Because that is what He promises, to be faithful. We just need to trust Him, to defiantly rely on Him.

This is one of my favorite verses. May you find hope in this verse no matter what you face this week and this Christmas season.

Bio: Michele Kearns is the founder and HUG© (Hope Unites Globally) Award-Winner of JoyReturns. She shares her widowhood adventures hoping to inspire widows to move through grief and rebuild their lives. A graduate of Kent State University with a Bachelor’s degree in communications, she’s currently using those skills as a virtual logistics contact center representative for a Fortune 100 company. She’s also managed call center teams, co-facilitated a grief support group, and helped small businesses with various writing assignments. Michele is a bookworm, and a lover of history, music, chocolate, red roses, and golden retrievers. She is also the amateur photographer behind the blog OgleOhio.com.

What I am Thankful for In 2020

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This morning I decided instead of Weekend Wisdom I needed to write a partial list of what I am grateful for this year and share it with you because…..

Yes, there is always something to be thankful for even in the most dire times.

My partial list,

  • Discovering a way to afford Nexxus Shampoo (best at helping the my very dry brittle hair)
  • Fudge covered Oreos. (already was in love with the white chocolate fudge ones)
  • Our election and the appeals processing working the way the founding fathers intended
  • The Bible, The Declaration of Independence, and The Constitution
  • The word Stand.
  • The END of the laziness in my personal life
  • Finding a way to deal with handling 2 chats at the same time.
  • My new dishwasher (courtesy of stimulus check)
  • Labor Day storm sewer back up
  • The men who cleaned out my basement after storm sewer back up
  • Getting together with Joe’s family for a birthday party
  • My Scottish ancestors
  • Sharing gyros and baklava from a local restaurant with family
  • FREEDOM
  • 2020

That is just a small list of persons, places, events or things I am grateful for so far this year. Yes, 2020 is on the list. Why? Simply because we do not know what 2021 holds in store for us. So be thankful for and appreciate this year.

Advent starts tomorrow and I decided once again to use Ann Voskamp’s The Greatest Gift: Unwrapping the Full Love Story of Christmas as my devotional. I did not regularly use anything last year and I don’t remember the year before because I work in retail. So it’s been a year or two since I used this book. Maybe something new will jump out at me. I doubt it. The book is so marked up form the years I did use it but there is always hope.

Have a joy-filled weekend!

Bio: Michele Kearns is the founder and HUG© (Hope Unites Globally) Award-Winner of JoyReturns. She shares her widowhood adventures hoping to inspire widows to move through grief and rebuild their lives. A graduate of Kent State University with a Bachelor’s degree in communications, she’s currently using those skills as a virtual logistics contact center representative for a Fortune 100 company. She’s also managed call center teams, co-facilitated a grief support group, and helped small businesses with various writing assignments. Michele is a bookworm, and a lover of history, music, chocolate, red roses, and golden retrievers. She is also the amateur photographer behind the blog OgleOhio.com.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

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Happy Thanksgiving!

May this prayer bless you as it has me. Words are by Ralph Waldo Emerson and photos are by me and my father.

For flowers that bloom about our feet, Father, we thank Thee.


For tender grass so fresh, so sweet, Father, we thank Thee.


For the song of bird and

hum of bee,

for all things fair we hear

or see, Father in heaven, we thank Thee.


For blue of stream

“Downstream From Soda Dam” – October 1992 Santa Fe National Forest, Jemez Springs, NM

and blue of sky, Father, we thank Thee.


For pleasant shade of branches high, Father, we thank Thee.


For fragrant air and cooling breeze,

for beauty of the blooming trees, Father in heaven, we thank Thee.


For this new morning with its light, Father, we thank Thee.


For rest and shelter of the night, Father, we thank Thee.


For health and food,

for love and

June 19th, 1993

friends,

for everything Thy goodness sends,

2 deer in woods and lilac bush
“Good Time For Clam Digging In Chiniak, AK” – by my father

Father in heaven, we thank Thee.

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

May you and your family have a joy-filled Thanksgiving.

God bless you.

Bio: Michele Kearns is the founder and HUG© (Hope Unites Globally) Award-Winner of JoyReturns. She shares her widowhood adventures hoping to inspire widows to move through grief and rebuild their lives. A graduate of Kent State University with a Bachelor’s degree in communications, she’s currently using those skills as a virtual logistics contact center representative for a Fortune 100 company. She’s also managed call center teams, co-facilitated a grief support group, and helped small businesses with various writing assignments. Michele is a bookworm, and a lover of history, music, chocolate, red roses, and golden retrievers. She is also the amateur photographer behind the blog OgleOhio.com.

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