Author Archives: Maureen Duffy-Guy

Today we are going to talk about the gift of forgiveness. First I’ll tell you a little story about gifts. There were three sons who left home, and all were successful in life. One day they got together and discussed the gifts they were able to give their elderly mother.  The first said, “I built a big houseContinue reading “The Gift of Forgiveness”

When I was growing up my mom wasn’t good at judging how much food to make for a meal to serve everyone. It tended to be there were no leftovers. Once, we had some people over for dinner, and served them on china plates that had no ridge anywhere, they were extra slippy. Mom put the spaghetti onContinue reading “Ending the Scarcity Cycle”

Today we are going to keep staying positive, and the message is about getting your passion back.   You know, we think about passion in marriage, or passion on a honeymoon. In a relationship, after the first year or two, passion can decrease, and you need to work to keep your passion.   We can have passion forContinue reading “Get your passion back!”

Last year I went to the PSEC UCC conference meeting held at West Chester University. It was lunchtime in the cafeteria, and I got my food and was thinking about where to sit. It is fun to sit with people I know. But sometimes it seems like God pushes me to sit with someone I don’tContinue reading “100 Reasons to be Encouraged”

Lake Wobegon was a fictional town in the radio show, “A Prairie Home Companion.” There all the women were strong, all the men were good looking, and all the children were above average.  It is silly to think we all can be or need to be above average. There used to be a lot of emphasis on theContinue reading “Three Truths to Build Your Confidence”

A little old lady sold pretzels on the street corner for fifty cents each. Every day, a young lawyer would exit his office building at lunch, and as he passed her pretzel stand, he’d leave two quarters. However, he never took a pretzel. This went on for nearly five years. Even though they never spoke, every day he’dContinue reading “The Cure for Complaining”

I don’t want to sound negative, but I’m getting sick and tired of negative news. It gets overwhelming. Lately we have really difficult news: people getting sick and dying, the economy and businesses struggling, and widespread unemployment. It can feel like it’s the end of the world. It’s easy to get sucked into the negativity, anxiety and fear. Sometimes I wonder, is everything going to be ok? It’s aContinue reading “Enough of the Bad News”

Do you feel bad about mistakes? It can be hard to admit a mistake. “No, that’s not a mistake, that’s what I meant to do.” Of if you make a mistake, you might apologize over and over: “I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.” Because one apology is not enough. Or did you ever blame someone else: or let someone else take the blame forContinue reading “Sowing A Bumper Crop”

A man and his wife had an argument, and they were so angry they stopped talking to each other. That evening, the man realized he had to get up at 5 a.m. the next morning to catch a flight. He wasn’t good at getting up early, and he needed his wife to wake him up.Continue reading “Peace”

My cousin Mary lives in Brooklyn. Once she told me, New Yorkers don’t want to talk to or be bothered by any strangers. She said there was one exception: if you look lost and are looking at a map, they’ll stop and help.  I took that as a little sign of hope, that even in a big city, people make time for a stranger and helpContinue reading “Hospitality”