Patti's Rules to Live By

Patti Morse was one unforgettable woman! Although she has been with the Lord since this past May, her ongoing influence is a daily part of many of us who had the privilege of knowing her. Shortly after her death, I put together a brief list of observations that I had made of Patti over the many years of knowing her and entitled it “Patti’s Rules to Live By.” And trust me, she lived these out! It was her chief aim in life to live for the glory of God. When I sent this list to Chas, her husband of almost 42 years, he added another section from notes Patti herself had made in her journals. May we each, those who knew her and those just now “meeting” Patti, be challenged and encouraged in our walk with our Lord as we review the specific commitments of our dear friend, Patti Morse.

- Sheila Pennington

If you'd like to print these notes, there is a printable version of this article at the bottom of the page.

Patti’s Rules to Live By:

• Life is to be lived for God and others.
• God’s Word must be what we “marinate” on all day long.
• Family is to be our primary priority.
• A wife’s husband is the single most important person in her world.
• Life is about service.
• Everywhere God sends us is a mission field.
• Everyone we interact with is an eternal soul.
• Others are more important than ourselves.
• Every single person is to be loved and nurtured.
• Serving and loving people, even when we are the newest arrival, or the one dying of cancer, is to be our focus.
• Our homes are to be places of hospitality.
• Moments, even otherwise mundane ones, can be “forever memories” in the making.
• Needs are opportunities to meet them! (As they fit within our God-given priorities.)
• Every minute is to be used wisely.
• The resources God gives us are intended for His purposes.
• Singing in church is a joyful, whole-hearted activity, that includes those around us.
• Whatever is important to our friends is important to us and we need to try to be there, whether it’s wisdom tooth surgery or being launched to the Space Station.
• The beauty around us is meant to be enjoyed, so surround yourself with flowers, birds, pictures, paintings, and anything else that is beautiful.
• Keeping our house neat and orderly, as much as possible, is a helpful way to love on others.
• Keeping physically strong is good stewardship of our bodies.
• Cake is always better with sprinkles.
• Food is a primary way to show love.
• Decorating in memories keeps us focused on all of God’s good gifts.
• Balloon are always fun (and the bigger the better!)

Chas compiled the following notes from Patti’s journals.

- People won’t care what you know until they know how much you care.

- In the name of “service” we often sacrifice our intimacy with the Lord, our intimacy with our husbands, and our intimacy with our children.

- A servant’s heart must first be seen in the home.

- Time spent with God fuels and focuses all acts of service.

- Every day we must choose whom we will love most: God or ourselves and the gods we create.

- Discontentment comes because we are not thinking God’s thoughts about a situation, and we are self-focused.

- There is nothing … no circumstance, no trouble, no testing … that can ever touch me until, first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ right through to me.

- Is there anyTHING or anyONE I love more more than God?

- Schedules should be considered as servants, not Masters.

- Contentment is not found in having everything we think we want but in choosing to be satisfied with what God has already provided.

-A mother’s highest calling is to train the next generation to know and love God.

- As a mother, God wants you to thrive and never lose the joyful wonder that God has entrusted you with a little life to love and train.

-Guard your home carefully, your main mission field [as a wife-mom] is fleshed out within the walls of your sweet little home.

- We teach life’s greatest lessons not with our words, but with our lives.

- Hospitality is sharing in love, your heart and home with others, ministering to their spiritual, physical, and emotional needs with a gracious and thankful spirit.

- Our greatest commodity in this world is our time, and our greatest possessions are those we have in our home.

- The temperature of our own heart must be right before we can be used to regulate the temperature of our home.

- Every day we are either building up or tearing down by our actions and attitudes.

- Every home is an expression of its homemaker and a gift to those who live there.

- It’s more important to model humility than to model perfection.

- Spurgeon noted “the happiest people he has seen are departing saints and they are the ones he envied most.” (Patti has a happy face by this quote)

- Let my life speak!

- May we embrace all God has put in our lives and never question His love and timing in what He has chosen to withhold. (Psalm 145:1-3)

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