Reflections: Going to town, with a toe still in the country

Reflections on the River debuted today in the Nodaway News-Leader. My column will publish every other week in the paper. It’s a great experience to be back working for my hometown paper and I’m thankful for the opportunity.

Even though I live inside city limits, I still go to town.

 When I was a kid, nothing brought more excitement than the announcement that we were going to town. This set off a mad scramble to find clothes that were decent to be seen wearing in public, a thorough scrubbing – wash your neck and behind your ears – and the inevitable search for shoes. I could go for days completely oblivious of my shoes’ existence, but to get in the car to go to town, shoes are absolutely required, no exceptions.

 All this manicuring convinced me I would never be fit for city life. Who would want to live where you had to walk around in shoes with a shiny neck all the time? Keep your sidewalks and stoplights, just give me that countryside.

Life has a way, though, of not going the way you expect.

Some ten years ago, I took a job as the agriculture reporter for the St. Joseph News-Press. A bit ironic that the country girl had to move to the city to cover farming, but it was a good fit. I remember packing up, thinking I was moving to the big city. I’d probably have to buy a whole new wardrobe to fit in. But once I got to St. Joe, I discovered that as the locals say, it’s just a big small town. And you wouldn’t believe the things people where in town these days.

Now, I’ve bid farewell to a desk job to make my own way in the world. I’m working as a freelance writer and riding out the waves of this undulating economy. Last summer, I worked at a part-time job that was (just barely) in Kansas.

Each day, I drove across the Missouri River and took a moment to reflect on it.

 The contrast is especially vivid heading back into Missouri. You move through Kansas, a land where the wind blows straight from North Dakota to bob the heads of sunflowers growing in quarter-section sized fields.

Pass over the Highway 36 bridge and you’re immediately thrust into the middle of St. Joseph’s industrial district. The aroma of commerce is a blend of hog processing, leather tanning, and ethanol refining. The skyline is no longer puffy white clouds and church steeples, but smokestacks and factory buildings. Semi trucks barrel down double-decker highways while the trains rumble underneath.

What a smelly, unsightly racket. Who would want to live here? Right, that would be me and this is my exit.

As I turn down my tree-lined street with brick sidewalks, I realize the city is not quite the cesspool of humanity I imagined it to be when I was running wild and barefoot down the creek bank.

St. Joe, for instance, provides thousands of jobs for the region. People drive from 20, 30, 40 miles from all across Northwest Missouri and Northeast Kansas to work at positions that pay more than they could ever make in their hometown.

St. Joseph’s industry is still based on agriculture. Those sprawling factories take farm products like pigs, corn and soybeans and turn them into hams, flour and biodiesel. They also make fertilizer and animal pharmaceuticals that make corn and cattle grow better. The infrastructure and work force of the city is necessary to support these businesses.

The city needs the country, but the country also relies on the city. Every once in awhile, it’s good to scrub behind your ears and go see how the rest of the world lives. And, sometimes, you need to wiggle your toes and take in a deep breath of fresh air.

Even though I live in the big city, I’ve kept my roots. Whenever I need a loaf of bread, I still have to hunt up my shoes to go to town.

In the same way, I am delighted to be back writing for the Nodaway News-Leader, the first paper I worked at while I was in college.

Faith trumps the South Pole

This winter has grown long and wearisome.  Can I get an amen?

Several days of below-zero weather were especially trying. My thermal long underwear grew itchy and uncomfortable. The wind howled and I swear I shoveled the same snow out of the driveway three times. At one point, it was actually colder in Missouri than it was in Antarctica. Talk about cold!

The difference is that this week in Missouri, temperatures edged above freezing.  The snow is melting and patches of grass are showing through. In a few more weeks (okay, several weeks) tulips will be poking through the soil and the robins will fly into the yard.

At the South Pole, by contrast, the snow is still blowing and it’s as cold as ever. Tulips never bloom on the frozen continent.

Spring is more than something I think will happen, I know it will arrive and that gives me hope through the cold, dark days of winter.

That, I believe, is similar to how it is to live a life of faith. Our faith gets challenged from time to time. The horrible earthquake and its aftermath in Haiti is one cause.  We look at all that suffering and wonder how God could allow that to happen. Some friends are grappling with tough, tough issues and it’s just not right. I keep praying over the same situations, but the answer hasn’t come.

Sometimes, those who trust God seem to be as helpless as those who reject him and live life on their own terms. However, there is a difference. Living without faith is bleak — with no expectation it will ever get better or that there is a purpose for it. Spring never arrives in a faithless land.

With faith, though, we rest in confidence that though evil howls and pain seeps into our bones, it won’t last forever. God is at work beneath the frozen soil. Even in the most desperate situations, He is working out his purposes for good.

Missouri is not an ideal Eden, but I’d rather live here than in Antarctica. The life of faith is not perfect, but I’d rather walk this journey than give up all hope.

“Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” Hebrews 11:1

Get a load of all those blessings

This devotional was written for the American Christian Fiction Writers central region blog. I’m happy to post it here.

A pot of potato soup was simmering on the stove, but I discovered I was out of crackers, so a quick run to the neighborhood grocery store was in order.

Walking out of the store with a box of saltines, I headed across the parking lot and noticed a gray Impala parked near the front door.

“That’s a nice looking car,” I thought.

Then I gasped. And with a little chuckle, pulled the keys out of my purse and unlocked it. That nice looking car belonged to me!

In my defense, I’d only had the car two weeks. A new car certainly wasn’t in the plan, but the old one bit the dust. It had been rather hectic buying a new car and I was just relieved to find something.  That surprise in the parking lot revealed that I had completely overlooked the blessing of this vehicle. I’d been praying and stressing about buying a new car, but hadn’t taken time to enjoy what a gift it truly was.

We do that too often, I’m afraid. We fail to recognize the blessings God has given to us, sometimes even while complaining about them.

The New Year would be a good time to take a moment and ask God to open your eyes to see all he has given. What about your family that drives you nuts but you love dearly? That daily grind of a job? Ministries at church? For a moment, let’s not see them as demands, but as delights poured out from heaven.

This year begins with a big change for my writing career. About six months ago, I started a part-time job and began freelance writing. The writing took off way beyond my expectations and circumstances changed so that I quit the part-time job. I am now a full-time freelance writer.

And it scares me to death! I have been worrying plenty about paying the bills, making sure there is enough work and being disciplined enough to work at home. Then I think, “Hello! This is my dream job!”

Is anyone out there guilty of same thing?

Gratefulness is the most sincere expression of a Christian’s heart. I believe when we give thanks to God, especially when we’re struggling, it gives him great pleasure and sets the scene for him to work in amazing ways.

What are some of the blessings you are thankful for and how will you use them to God’s glory in 2010?

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.” Col. 3:15

In 2010, it’s not about me

A tradition began several years ago to adopt a theme verse for the year. Having one passage to key in on has really helped in times of confusion or turmoil to keep my focus.

I’ve also adopted theme verses for certain circumstances. For instance, when I was looking for a new job, the verse was I Corinthians 3:9 “For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, you are God’s building.”

For 2009, the verse was Romans 5:1-2 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Look at the key words in the passage: faith, peace, grace, hope, glory. During my quiet time, I would often choose one word that expressed my prayer for the day. It was amazing how often the word for the day was “grace!”

I must be on a Romans kick, because the passage selected for 2010 is another Romans passage. Lately, God has been speaking to me about how I need to quit dwelling on what I don’t have or fretting about the future and to simply live as best I can at the moment where God has placed me.

I want each day to be worship to God, which brings to mind Romans 12:1-2 “Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God.” However, that was the theme verse for 2005. It’s still a good passage and one I refer to often, yet there’s a definite need in my heart for a fresh word.

During the course of the past year, I switched from New King James to a New Living Translation bible (Love it!). So, without further ado, the theme for 2010:

Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

For who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give him advice? And who has given him so much that he needs to pay it back?

For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen! Romans 11:34-36.

This Word of God speaks right where I am. It tells me to quit bellyaching, that God has given me wonderful gifts, he knows what he’s doing and I can trust him. In other words, it’s not about me. But it is about him and God is writing his love story on every day of the calendar for 2010. I can’t wait to read it.

What’s your word for the New Year?

Merry Christmas, Ye Sinners!

One of my favorite Christmas songs begins “Tears are falling hearts are breaking. How we need to hear from God”

Ah, it’s the most wonderful time of the year!

I like that song because it reminds me that Christmas is not about smiley happy families gathered round artfully decorated trees sipping hot cocoa, sharing melodious laughter while snow falls on a picture-perfect house.

Christmas is about the total depravity of man.

God looked down on us lost in our sin, hopeless to do anything more than cry over our messed up lives and shattered dreams.

But God, who is rich in mercy, chose not to leave us broken down on the side of the road. He sent His Son, perfect in every way, to show us the way to peace. The first Christmas gift was a sacrifice on a rugged cross.

Christmas exists not because there is goodness in every human heart, but because there is wickedness in every human heart.  Which makes us desperately in need a Savior.

Hallelujah! Glory to the newborn king!

We need a good dose of Christmas spirit. A broken spirit and a contrite heart, grateful for the dawn of redeeming grace in a manger.

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” I John 4:10

What I’m thankful for, 2009 edition

A new Chevy Impala
My old car lasted as long as it did

Redemption
“To Seek and Save” is completely rewritten and finally up to snuff
Unconditional love

Repairmen who arrive when they say they will
Free lance contracts
Having more time to be myself

Tenderness on tough days
New Living Translation
A writing space,  complete with wood stove and cowboy accessories

New teachers for the 20something Connection Group
References
A new job

Pen pals
Frontline Flea and Tick Control
A great interest rate

Family, no matter what
Being published in Chicken Soup for the Soul
Celebrating Dad’s 90th birthday

Curl spritz
Being flu-free so far
Volunteers

FEMA legislation
Saying hi to friendly faces in the hallway between church services
Faithfulness

Called To Write Conference and winning the devotional contest
Friends who watch and pray with me
Friends who tell me to get over myself

Max Lucado books
My street is one of the first cleared in a snow storm
Dad’s auction bargains

Fresh healing for old wounds
Dark days that help me see how bright the light shines
Bananas that are perfectly ripe

Veterans
My 401(k) is rebounding
Chris Tomlin songs

Sermons that are dead on
Strangers who catch runaway dogs and bring them home
Baking

God has a plan for it all and it leads to victory.

“Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”
I Thessalonians 5:17-18

 

Reflections: Alero had a great ride

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, martini in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming “Woo-hoo! What a ride!”

That’s how the Alero lived and when we careened around the corner and screeched to a stop at the car lot, there was no doubt that it had given every last drop of life. The little green puddle underneath was proof.

Purchasing the Alero had been one of the biggest financial decisions of my life. Or at least it felt like it at the time. When car shopping in 2001, I visited dozens of dealerships and drove hundreds of cars. I figured out what I wanted but was so disgusted by car salesmen, couldn’t bring myself to commit.

One summer afternoon, I determined to visit the big event at the mall, where all the car lots bring in their vehicles under tents and balloons. It seemed like the easiest way to visit a lot of dealers with the least hassle. I distinctly remember heading out and being overwhelmed at the thought of visiting with more greasy salesmen.

“Lord,” I prayed, “I just want to find a 2000 silver, four-door Alero for $12,000.”

Country music gets happy and sober

It can be hard to find a good heart-breakin’ song when you need one.

Used to be, you could always count on country music for some tear-in-your- beer commiseration. These days, though, it seems like Nashville took a dose of happy pills. You can’t turn on the radio without hearing a guy in a cowboy hat crooning about how peachy keen life is.

One of the biggest hits of the summer was a patriotic tribute to fried chicken:  Salute the ones who died, so we can have the things we love … like our chicken fried.

There’s also the song about the kids in the yard selling lemonade. One fella talks about how he likes mustard on his fries and rocky road ice cream. Bard Paisley extols the virtues of his iphone. Everything is fine, according to Josh Turner, and mama and daddy are coming over for a fish fry.

This is country music, the brand that gave us honky tonk angels and drinking my baby goodbye?

Take it to the bank

A flutter of paper in the yard caught my eye. Likely another piece of trash that blows through a lot these days on the fall winds.

I picked it up and couldn’t believe what I had found! It was a $50 bill!

Right there, it said $50. On the blue paper. With the Monopoly stamp. It wasn’t really a treasure, it was trash after all.

I held it and wondered what if a real $50 bill had blown into the yard. Oh, the visions that danced through my head as I imagined all the things I’d do. They were just dreams, though, because this little blue bill would be worthless at the mall.

Monopoly money is easy to spot as a fake, but we often get deceived by other counterfeits. Satan is masterful at disguising sin as something valuable. We chase busyness, thinking it makes us productive. We strive for riches, thinking it will buy security. We seek fame and attention, hopeful it will make us feel worthwhile.

But when we go to cash in, we make the sad discovery that the world’s promises are only Monopoly money.

Lately, I have been convicted that too often, I just do what feels right when I must do what is right. Feelings are deceptive, but God’s word is true.

That’s truth you can bank on.

“This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls.” Jeremiah 6:16

Chicken Soup for the Soul released!

Chicken Soup for the Soul: What I Learned from the Dog releases today nationwide.

Open it up and there on page 188 is my story “Being A True Buddy.”  I got my free copies yesterday and it was quite a thrill.

I shared a copy with my neighbor lady,  a fellow dog lover with a Yorkie named Duke. She called after she had read it. “You didn’t tell me it would make me cry!” she admonished.

Then she asked if that was a true story. Absolutely. That made it even sadder, she said.

It was, indeed, a miserably sad day when Buddy died. I cried like a baby, even though I was 32 years old. It came at the end of a period that had been very difficult personally. I remember feeling as though I had reached rock bottom and would live the rest of my life there.

But, what do you know! God who is rich in mercy shone a ray of sunshine into the dark corners of my heart. Hope was restored and blessings I never expected have been poured into my life.

As I unpacked the Chicken Soup books and received congratulations from friends, I thought how the blessings of this story were born out of such a sad time. I needed that reminder. The last two months, although not as severe as a few years ago, have been draining. At times, I wondered if my heart was destined to dwell in the sadness. I believe, though, that just as before God will use this to bring about something wonderful.

Rock bottom hurts, but to the Master Engineer, it is a solid foundation on which to build His glory.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2