Monthly Archives: April 2017

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At the Right Time

Book: Country Wisdom for Heart and Soul

MUSICAL IMPRESSION

The man can sing.

His voice is as smooth as a lullaby. He has but one leg, the other lost long ago from a Caterpillar tractor accident. Melodies flow from his lips as he strums his guitar. The silky sound meets me.

They two are one. A few others and myself are in Sunday night church. The crowd is small. His hand softly strums the guitar. The songs are familiar to me; they hearken back to the 60s and 70s.

A Keith Green song, My Eyes are Dry, causes my forearms to tingle. I am back in the day when the artist who wrote it sang at Laxon auditorium in Chico to a college crowd. I recall his words to us.

He challenged us to walk the talk and to go light the city of Chico on fire. There was no messing around or empty words with Keith Green. He was real, and he was dynamite. It was profound.

We sing and sing. I love it. The songs lend themselves to harmonizing. Our vocals blend. My mind says, thanks, my friend, it’s good to sing tonight. Peace is a soft presence in the room.

When this songster sings, it is as natural and fluid as water flowing. He is not a performer aware of his performance; he is a minister sharing life through his singing. I am ministered unto.

Songs speak life.

Keith Green: My Eyes are Dry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyxoqHBkwqY

 

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IT’S NOT MINE

Her embrace is like a clinging.

Tears are streaming from her eyes. “You have no idea what this means,” she says to me. She hugs me again, tightly, and sobs. It’s been a rough few months for her. I feel her pain and overwhelm.

I just gave her a Benjamin Franklin as an impulsive gift. This morning, I had a feeling of God tugging at my heart. He says, she needs it more than you do. I say, okay, Lord, I’ll give it to her.

The woman has been dealing with major life-changing circumstances. We meet and talk and hash over life and the best ways to heal and deal with the emotional stuff. It is hard work but sweet.

Her tears and reaction tell me that it is one of those God-things, one of those just-at-the-right-time sort of moments, when the need is at its greatest. People need each other. She needs encouragement.

I remember times when we as a family were down to our last buck. Those were difficult days, with a family to feed and bills to pay. We were grateful for any help. But it was humbling.

As I write this, three teachers are teaching without pay at a local Christian school with declining enrollment. They don’t want the school to die off so they carry on. It breaks my heart.

The teachers’ willingness to do this amazes me. Teaching is hard work. But without pay? It can only be because of God and His love, and their desire to keep the school from folding.

My heart feels tender towards them. Do they feel appreciated? I doubt it. I plan to encourage them with a money gift tomorrow. It is right to give even when my own resources are tight.

What money I have I consider as a gift from God and not to be hoarded or spent foolishly but to be used to help others and care for my family’s needs. Everything we have is from God, really.

That is how it works. We let loose of the reins on “our” money—we let God move our heart with when and what to give—and then He provides for others through our acts of love and obedience.

Once this is realized, Christians become less selfish and more willing to let go of their plans and purposes for their resources, and they become more sensitive to God’s leading and promptings.

The joy of being at the right place at the right time is a blessing above and beyond the normal. It is a joyous and free way to live life. The blessings roll in because God delights in our spontaneity.

Follow your heart.

BOOK PROJECTS

What’s New: Country Wisdom for Heart and Soul is a collection of daily thoughts written during the year 2014 (originally theme-based tweets). I am refreshing this manuscript and plan to make it available in book form in the near future.

I am looking for Beta Readers to read Country Wisdom. Could you help? Please let me know if you are interested in reading for me. I would really, really appreciate it!!!

Update: Silent Sacred Space with God is with Beta Readers right now and is receiving finishing touches. It goes to the editor next.

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Heart to Heart on Easter Morning

Easter Sunrise in the Hills of Red Bluff, CA

Two Women, Two Conversations, Two Circumstances

The Easter Sunrise at my brother’s place on the hills of Red Bluff is special. We sit on folding chairs or on blankets strewn on the ground on a hill with oak trees interspersed around us. People draw stadium blankets around their legs and arms to keep warm. It is a beautiful morning. Crisp and cool. The birds are singing profusely. We face the east to watch the sunrise. My brother and wife have invited the neighbors. Many have come. I’m there with my family and a friend.

Easter sunrise service in the hills of Red Bluff. Thanks Paul and Kimberley.

Posted by Norma Brumbaugh Wieland on Sunday, March 27, 2016

My brother says a few words and then three readers read messianic passages. We sing a song led by my sister-in-law and her sister, as she plays the guitar, then three passages of Jesus’ words are read. We sing again, and then one more layer. The sun is coming up. We end with Morning Has Broken, one of my all time favorite songs. The sun is a full orb on the singing of the last verse. It is right on schedule. Thrilling. We appreciate the array of lavender to purple wildflowers resplendent among the grasses on the hill. There is a quietness in the air. We follow the trails down to the house where we will share a communal meal.

There I see a woman I met the year before and we begin to talk. She asks about my writing. I ask about her church. We talk family. We talk spiritual. We spend the rest of the early morning talking. She shares. I share. She reaches over and touches my hand and asks if she can pray for me. With her hand touching mine, she begins to pray for me, for the Easter morning, and all that Easter brings forth, pausing once in awhile for silent prayer with her Father God. It is a long prayer and I am blessed. The two of us have joined in the sweetness of spontaneous fellowship. She heard my heart, and she cared.

There is something beautiful in that. Today is another day. I promised I would meet with a friend of mine. She texts me and we determine a time and place. It feels slightly different this time. She is reticent. Lots has happened since we last met. I sense her need for assurance. She is quiet, reflective, close to tears as we skip topic to topic and then land on something that anchors our conversation. She’s been going through it with a lot on her plate, but she is learning the greater secret, what it is to trust in God when you cannot see the way. Although it is hard, she is stronger. I see this in her. And tell her so. There is a new calmness about her.

She faced an obstacle and met it with grace. The crisis did not defeat her. The joy of Jesus comes after the storm has passed. There is something about the storm that causes us to trust in God even when we lose heart. There is so much that causes us to fear and tremble because we know not the outcome. I see in my Christian sister’s eyes; the tears that brim when the heart feels its truth. I get that. God is close, with us, and alive and real. I am encouraged by her comments. Her words lift my spirit. I tell her she is in a metamorphosis and will soon become a butterfly. I believe it. The day has been full. Sweet. Gentle. Blessed.