Vicki Hinze's Faith Zone

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Milestone Celebration Time--Forget Me Not

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Vicki Hinze, Forget Me Not, My Faith Zone, Crossroads Crisis Center series, books, thriller, suspense, inspirational, romantic thriller, romantic suspense, inspirational romance, faith-affirming thriller, books, reading, novels

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

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ARE YOU A FAITHFUL SERVANT?

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WHEN GOD SAYS NO

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What Is the Purpose of Life?

At some time or another, often many times over the course of a life, we all ask or wonder about the purpose of life.  And at different stages of our own lives, we’ll answer that question in different ways.

Whether the reason for that is seasonal (we see the world and ourselves much differently at 20 than at 30 or 40 or 50) or predicated on experiences and exposure to different thoughts and philosophies and beliefs probably all has a lot to do with those changes.  But there are other things that factor in, too.

in 1997, my mother died.  She’d lived me with and my family for nine years--since my dad’s death.  To say my mom and I were close is such a gross understatement of the way things were between us.  Little between us ever actually had to be said.  We just knew. 

When she died, I wasn’t unfamiliar with death.  I’d already lost my grandparents, my father, my brothers, far too many other relatives and a number of friends.  Death and grief were not strangers to me.  And yet her death impacted me in countless and profound ways I couldn’t have expected. 

About eight months after she died, I was standing at the door to my then office, looking out over the deck at the trees and everything seemed so futile.  I well remember thinking that if this is all there is to life, then why bother?  You’re born, you grow and laugh a little, cry a little and then you die.  Surely, I’m missing something.  Surely there’s more to life than this cycle. 

So more than quizzing myself on my life’s purpose, I was quizzing myself on the purpose of life as I see it.  At that moment, I truly couldn’t see the merit in it.

Now some would say that was depression.  It wasn’t.  This was an opportunity.  A launching pad for delving, seeking, looking for meaning on a grand scale.  Something, anything, that would make the process of life make sense--and seem worthy.  MORE...

In Memory of Leona Hinze

On October 15th, my beloved mother-in-law, Leona Hinze, was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  She has now passed.

She was a courageous woman to the very end, and one who experienced many changes in her ninety-one years.  For 68 of those years, she played the organ for her church, St. John’s Lutheran.  In my 34 years with her, she often said when she reached playing for a hundred weddings, she was going to retire, but then someone would ask her to play for their wedding and she always did.  At the time of her death, she had played 127 weddings and over 300 funerals. 

Music was her ministry and her passion, and I, along with many others, were privileged to hear her express her heartfelt passion often and for a long time.

Once, when I thought I was dying, I told her I had been blessed.  I’d had a life of being well loved and of loving well.  In real life, that’s about the best it gets.  A few days before her death, she told me that she’d thought about loving and being loved and she’d been blessed with a wonderful life.  Now and forever all of us treasure those words from her and we’re comforted by them.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested contributions to the Leona Hinze Memorial Fund at St. John’s Lutheran Church.   The address is 3316 Hummingbird Lane at Hwy 77, Robstown, Tx 78380.  This memorial fund is dedicated to a new organ for the church.

Blessings,

Vicki

The Greatest of All

©2008, Vicki Hinze

www.vickihinze.com

We’re busy making Christmas lists--both of things we want and things we want to give others.

We shop, often until we drop--multiple times--seeking the perfect gift for that someone special to us, often going to amazing lengths to make sure everything is just so, that the perfect gift is not only acquired but presented wrapped perfectly in the perfect paper and trimmed with the perfect bow.

We search our minds and hearts and speak blessings over our gifts, anticipating the reaction of that special someone when s/he sees it, opens it. We eagerly await the ooohs and ahhhs and the squeals of joy and pure, unabashed delight.

We take joy in giving. Heartfelt and sincere. Open and honest in child-like glee.

We relish the scents: fresh pine from our trees and wreaths, cookies baking, roast turkey filling the house. Cider and cinnamon and all the unique Christmas scents we reserve only for this special time of year.

We attend special programs, special parties and gatherings. We pluck strangers names and wishes off trees and make them come true. We feed and clothe others, buy gifts for children in foreign countries we will never see. We open our minds and hearts and, yes, our wallets, and we think of others. We do for others. We are aware of others.

These things are all a part of the spirit of Christmas.

God charged us to love one another. Christ reiterated it, delivering the message to us personally. Throughout the years, many have repeated it using the same and different words, like Mother Teresa, who suggested we do little things with great love.

Over and again we have been told and reminded, and been blessed with the refrain. And especially at Christmas time we hear and listen. Often at Christmas we focus outside ourselves and on the needs and wishes of others. We embrace the spirit of Christmas.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we took a lesson from Dickens’ Scrooge and embraced Christmas every day? Yes, perhaps that is idealistic and in the view of some unrealistic. But is it really?

Is it so difficult to embrace that child-like joy at giving and doing for others? Is it really impossible to keep our hearts and minds open? To think of others as well as ourselves?

For some it may be. But others will consider it a great liberation. A license to be joyful--guilt-free!

So many of us have been conditioned to believe that we must scramble and snatch to get what we want. The fear of less or none drives greed and corruption, and we all know those things are far too prevalent. It often takes a long time to realize that we don’t have to scramble and snatch. It’s a myth that just isn’t true. There’s more than enough. Ours is a God of more than enough who desires us to live life abundantly. And sooner or later we discover another truth: READ MORE

A Christmas Wish . . .

DISCIPLINE

WARNING:  This is a no-edit zone...

“How do you get so much done?”

There’s a question some have asked others, and often.

I wish I could write that there’s a supernatural means responsible, or a set method that makes accomplishing much in little time.  But the truth is it requires discipline.

Years ago, a friend and I were both aspiring writers.  While she went on shopping trips and out to lunch with the girls and spent hours and/or days doing fun things, I abstained to write, and on more than one occasion, I was told I was obsessed.  

I didn’t see it that way.  I had a lot to learn and if I wanted to write well, then I had to apply myself to learning and to actually writing.  A mentor once told me that I didn’t have the right to call myself an author until I’d written a million words.  I saw merit in that, though at the time, the declaration admittedly stung.  The merit was that any professional requires training.  After all, a brain surgeon doesn’t wake up one morning, decide to be a brain surgeon, then declare himself/herself one.  Education and training are required. 

So I invested in writing and in intensive independent study and then in the formal education to earn the privilege.  And I wrote.  And wrote.  And then wrote more and continue to invest and to write.

Temptation in this, like in everything else where the intent is to use what you do for good purpose, abounds.  It’s a gorgeous day, and you’re stuck, backside to chair before the computer, writing.

You’d love to engage in a hobby.  Those have a way of falling away when you write.  It consumes.    You’d like to go on that cruise you’ve been thinking about, or take that trip, or take that pottery class for the love of it.

And yet you know if you do those things then you won’t make the progress you’ve hoped to make.  You know that  you will fall short of your intended goals. 

After twenty years, I can say that... READ MORE