Author Archives: accidentalcountrypastor

Daily Readings in Lent

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Friends of Old Stone Well Farm,

I plan to post entries here on this page from the Lenten devotional I wrote for Presbyterians Today magazine. May these reflections enrich your journey!

Blessings,

Donna

Inheriting the Kingdom

Then the king will say to those at his right hand, “Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

Matthew 25:34

Ash Wednesday | March 2

Repent and believe

By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return. — Genesis 3:19

Growing up, having foreheads smudged with burnt palm ashes was something my Catholic and Anglican friends did. We didn’t do it in the Congregational church of my childhood nor in the Presbyterian church I attended as a teen. Yet I was intrigued by the practice, mostly by how my friends seemed different once they sported smudges that looked more like abstract art rather than the crisp crosses they were meant to be. The brazen was subdued. The bully was quieted. The confident turned uncharacteristically awkward. It was as if suddenly the world could see their frailty. It made me relieved that I didn’t get ashes. I outgrew that relief, and now embrace Ash Wednesday’s somber reminder, echoed in the words from Genesis that accompany the ash crosses: Remember, from dust you come and to dust you return. Remember. We are not our own. We belong to God, and one day we will return to God.

There’s an alternate phrase that can be said when imposing ashes: Repent and believe in the Gospel. I prefer that to the mention of dust, for the “repent” spurs me to reorient my life and take seriously the Gospel’s message of love. And each year, as I feel the grit of the ash against my skin, I think of another cross once placed on our foreheads. The one that made us squirm and squeal as infants: the watery baptismal cross marking us as God’s beloveds. One day, our baptisms will be made complete at the time of our death. Till then, Ash Wednesday comes, reminding us time is slipping by. Inwardly we squirm. Silently we squeal. The smudge is made. The question is asked: When life is over, have I done my best to love as Christ loved?

Pray

Redeeming God, we remember this day the fragility of our lives. We remember that through all our days, we belong to you. May we return to you and learn this Lent to truly love the world you created. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

Ponder

What would others say about how you have lived your life for Christ? How do you currently show the love of Christ to others? Where can you do better?

Old Stone Well Farm

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Ashes

What do you need to let go of this Lent? How will you prepare your heart for all that God wants for you? Come to Sofie’s Hill in Vermont and join me as we remember that God is bigger than our little selves — and more forgiving, loving and kind. May we, who have been created in the image of God, reflect that to the world.

OId Stone Well Farm

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Confessing, Cleaning and Flipping Pancakes

Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday, which ushers in the season of Lent, has traditionally been a day of preparation for the 40-day journey to the Easter. That preparation has included presenting one’s self to a priest to confess sins, also known as shriving, thus, the name for the day — Shrove Tuesday. It was also a time to clean out the pantry of flour, eggs, butter and sugar. And what better way to use all these items up than to make pancakes? Join me here at Old Stone Well Farm as we get ready for Lent together. And, yes, it involves pancakes!

Old Stone Well Farm

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Changed By Prayer

Our Lenten journeys are about to begin! But before we enter into this season of discernment, join me in the kitchen at Old Stone Well Farm where a little butter churning reminds me of how moments of change are not just found on the mountaintops, but often right in ordinariness of life. A little cream turns into delicious butter, and all it takes is perseverance and prayer.

Before you take you seat at the farm table and pour yourself a cup of coffee and begin watching today’s message, I want to extend a thank you to the Rev. Sarah Bigwood who invited me to guest preach this Sunday at Southampton Presbyterian Church via video. Sarah is a pastor with vision and passion, and thinking beyond traditional pulpit supply is just one example of how she embraces the new thing God is doing.

So today, you not only join me at the farm, but you have other friends from Southampton at the farm table.

Blessings!

Donna

Old Stone Well Farm

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Preparing for Lent

I am making hay while the sun shines. Well, more like burning last year’s palm branches outdoors to make ashes for Ash Wednesday, March 2, before a foot of snow falls down on me here at Old Stone Well Farm as the weather forecasters are predicting. So I am enjoying the sun and preparing for next week as we enter into Lent. As I do, I invite you to join me in not just burning the palms, but thinking more deeply how you will enter into this holy season.

Old Stone Well Farm

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The Birthday Cake

Are you a birthday person? I admit, I am not. But recently I have been thinking about birthday celebrations as a spiritual practice — not a day to groan about being one year older, but a day to remember the beautiful person God created us to be.

And so, join me today at Old Stone Well Farm, my 18th-century home here in Vermont as I surprise my mom with a cake baked from scratch and reflect on ways I can get better at embracing birthdays.

As you watch the video, think about your birthday attitude and ask, “Does it need adjusting?”

Blessings!

Donna

Old Stone Well Farm

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Speaking Words of Love

It’s Valentine’s Day at Old Stone Well Farm in Vermont. While I am dealing with a broody hen, I think about the broodiness in this world where our words and actions often don’t reflect the love of God. Our lives are filled with so much chatter…but are we speaking words of love or just making noise?

How will you speak words of love this day and in all your days to come?

Old Stone Well Farm

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Blessed Are …

A drive around my rural haven revealed a lot more than lost mittens and tossed away cans along the side of the road that are peeking through the melting snow.

What I saw was the tiredness and brokenness of a people, of God’s creation. Were all those falling down barns on my drive really the perfect illustration for life in this moment? (Watch toward the end of the video below and find out the more perfect illustration I stumbled upon. It is one that had me saying repeatedly with joy in my heart, “God is good.”)

Jesus, in what is known as his “Sermon on the Mount,” once told a crowd of folks, whose barns were probably caving in too, “blessed are you.” Blessed are you no matter what life brings you. Blessed are the poor, blessed are the hungry, blessed are the persecuted, blessed are the grieving…blessed are we this day in all of life’s circumstances, because God is with us.

So join me here at Old Stone Well Farm in Vermont as my life being an accidental country pastor leads me down dirt roads and back pastures — all in search of those beautiful God moments. And may you discover how blessed you are this day.

As always, thank you for coming to the farm. If you like this ministry, consider subscribing to the YouTube channel, share with a friend, let us all spread more good news out into the world.

Old Stone Well Farm

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Here I Am

Well, we had another snowstorm here in Vermont, which means more snow angels to make and more snowflakes to marvel at. While I yearn for warmer weather, there are lessons to learn in winter’s “slow down” mode. Lessons such as before jumping into saying saying “yes” to everything, discern the time and energy you have to give. Discern if what you are signing up for fuels your passion.

Even with that beautiful “Here I am” we wish to say to God, listen first for what is really being asked of you. So, sit back and enjoy what I call a “mini-retreat.”

Yes, these videos are your time to enjoy country living in Vermont with me. So enjoy Old Stone Well Farm — my little 18th-century home in a Vermont valley which is known by the locals as “the oldest house in Rupert.”

Invite your friends to come along and visit the farm as well. There’s always room at the old farm table. So like, comment and share Old Stone Well Farm Media & Ministry with friends and invite them to subscribe to the YouTube channel to get the latest news and reflections. This fledgling ministry is getting some attention. I am still not sure where God is leading me with it, but I have said “here I am” and I am excited and curious to what tomorrow will bring. So join me in praying for direction and wisdom.

Till the next time!

Blessings, Donna