Personally, I enjoyed the time I had with both Jamie and Heidi as their first Sunday School teacher in our little community church in Albin, Wyoming.  I helped them memorize the 23rd Psalm.  What a sweet time to watch our grandchildren, who looked so much like twins, come dressed in their “Sunday Best” and interacting with one another.  Oh, how I treasure those memories!

 The springtime before Jamie was to begin kindergarten his parents decided to move so his Dad could take a job about six hours away in central Nebraska.  We did not realize how much we would miss them until our homestead lost the daily hustle of Jamie and Michael (who joined the family just a year earlier). 

Sadly, from that time on we did not get to see Jamie’s family as often I would have liked.  With Carlton’s work and the operations of our own farm, we only got to see them three or four times a year.  Oh how those kids grew between visits!  We did keep in contact by following the children’s academic progress closely as well as activities like wrestling or church plays in which they were involved.  We visited them as often as we could.

Our whole family enjoyed following football, especially University of Nebraska and the Dallas Cowboys football teams.  I enjoyed shopping for the boys – often choosing football memorabilia.  Football, our weekend entertainment and a great connector for our family, gathered us all around the television.  Some slipped into naps, but not Jamie.  Jamie loved football, and he really understood the game.  And he was so smart.  His Grandpa (my Ken) always said, “He’s going to be a quarterback!”  Later, when Carlton moved his family to Colorado, Jamie organized football games in the street. 

Another fascination for Jamie, living in the big city, was the ability to see the airplanes.  He shared the love for aviation with his Dad.  Carlton loves planes.  Working for an airline, he was able to take his family on many plane trips.  Those boys could tell you so much about all types of planes from military to commercial.  We knew Jamie’s dream to become a fighter pilot.  His Grandpa (my Ken) had served his country during the war as a pilot, so this was something we also anticipated with him.  We remember when he received the news from his doctor that he needed glasses.  Most children would have been excited for the novelty.  Jamie?  Devastated, he knew the military academies see him  unfit for flight school with such a handicap.  That was his freshman year in high school.

“He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

⁵ Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.”

Psalm 23:3-5 KJV

What a tough year that was for him!  He had been so excited about going to high school to join a real football team.  He bought the uniform, he memorized plays, and he practiced with all his heart.  He did not get to play even a minute of a game the entire season.  This crushed him.

From that time on, Jamie seemed to carry a sadness with him. 

PERSPECTIVES:

When invited to participate in this perspective endeavor reflecting on Jamie’s life and subsequent suicide, most family members offered openness to share their story.   However, most did not feel either capable or comfortable to write their own perspectives.  Therefore, I sent surveys and conducted oral interviews from their responses.  These were used to establish primary source material from which to write on their behalf in the first person.  In each perspective, you can expect “Reflections on the Interview” and “Brief History.”  Both sections are written in the third person.  Then, the voice will shift to first person for their Perspective.

We welcome you here.  This remains tender space for us.  So join us accordingly.  Know you’re also welcome to subscribe to receive email links as we publish pieces here.

Reflections on the Interview:

This Original Interview was one of my early interviews  conducted on  July 4, 1997.  Grandma Phyllis eagerly participated, answered my questions thoughtfully, and commended me several times for taking on this project to honor Jamie’s memory and help others facing similar loss.  She cried some throughout.  She delighted to remember Jamie as her little cowboy on the farm when he lived near.  And while she had already come to grips with his absence, she remained unsettled with what had gone so terribly wrong for him to sink into such hopelessness.

Brief History:

Grandma Phyllis Nancy LaBue Lundberg (September 18, 1927- September 1, 2013)  was the eldest child and only daughter of Philip and Ruth LaBue in Momence, Illinois  (Great-Grandparents Grieve (part 1)).  She was born September 18, 1927.  She grew up in Chicago Heights where she remembered her large Italian (Sicilian) family gatherings with great fondness – usually involving bodies of water, fish fries, and high energy conversation and laughter.

After graduating from high school, she moved with her family to a tiny little farming town in southeast Wyoming where her Dad served as local pastor.  It was there she met Grandpa Kenneth Lundberg as he returned from serving in the World War II.  They met and married quickly.  They were married for 67 years.  They “raised” four children – two boys and two girls- on the farm.  Their two girls, Karen & Kathy, were Heidi and Jamie’s moms respectively.

Jamie actually lived the first five years of his life on this “home-place”.  As is fairly common in the region, multiple houses stood on this homestead.  This gave family units some privacy and independent autonomy while also availability for farming operations and interdependence for family and rural community culture.

The three greatest loves of her life … her Lord, her family, and all things beautiful – from sunrises to purring kittens to strawberry patches, painting ceramics and music.  At an early age, Grandma Phyllis learned to play the piano and sang with her Dad.  Her love for music continued throughout her life.  As an active member of local choir, she enjoyed singing solos, duets, and quartets.  She read her Bible and prayed for her family & loved ones daily.  She enjoyed women’s luncheons.  She also dutifully prepared and served many meals to farmers & harvesters in their home.  She lit up every room she walked in and delighted to love anyone in her path.

She was an accomplished seamstress and excelled in ceramics.  She also owned her own shop -“Phyllis’ Ceramic Den.”  She exercised an exceptional ability to paint life-like eyes.

Grandma Phyllis also suffered migraines nearly her entire life.  And she and Grandpa Ken’s home of 40 years burnt to the ground in 1982.  Not long after, they moved to Leavenworth, Kansas where they delighted to serve military families in their church communities.

Eventually, Grandpa Ken and Grandma Phyllis moved back to the Wyoming homestead community and  lived out their final nine years on family farm homesteaded by Ken’s grandparents, Peter and Sophie Lundberg.

written & edited by Heidi L. Paulec  (photo of photos by H.Paulec; frame handcrafted by Kenneth R. Lundberg)

___________________________________________________________________

PERSPECTIVE:  Grandma Phyllis

Before we moved to Leavenworth, Kansas, my husband Ken and I lived on our farm in western Nebraska along the Wyoming border for over 40 years.   Ken’s Dad and Gran-Dad farmed the land.   After the Second World War, Ken returned to the prairie after serving as a pilot in Asia for the United States Army Air Corps.  Although he was nine years older than me. we met, married, and settled into farm life within six months.  He was 27, and I was 18 years old.  We know we’re oh so blessed to raise our family on the farm. 

Our daughters met their husbands when the young brothers, Tim and Carlton, joined the harvest crews that helped harvest farms as far south as Texas working their way north to assist farmers in the harvesting process throughout the summer months.  These two young men from Wichita, Kansas loved the country.  Farming is tough work, but both young men loved the challenge  and adventure in the summer during their high school years.  After graduating high school in the spring of 1969, Karen and Tim went to John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas that fall.  Tim proposed that winter.  They married in July of 1971 and lived in Siloam Spring, Arkansas until graduation.  Carlton and Kathy married in August of 1972 just following their graduation from high school the previous May.

 Of course, we were thrilled to have Carlton and Kathy living on our farm soon after they married.  They lived a short time in Wichita immediately following their wedding.  Soon they moved near us and  lived in one of the houses on our home place. 

Following Tim’s graduation from JBU in 1974, he and Karen moved to a place three miles away in southeast Wyoming.  Then, when our first grandson, Carlton Jamison Plinsky, was born – we were completely overjoyed.  From the beginning, he was a simply delightfully happy baby.  With that little guy living right next door, we got to see him every single day for the first five years of his little life.  What a joy!  Now and then, he would ask or we would invite him to spend a night in our home.  I can still see him teetering on the sidewalk that connected our two houses with that big suitcase.  He tried so intently to balance himself.  What a sight that little guy!

When Jamie was about three years old, he was visiting our house as I was soaking my feet in a tub of hot water.  (This was a method of relaxation for a farmer’s wife who spent much of my days in the garden or standing in the kitchen preparing meals for lots of hungry mouths ready to eat between hours of farming in the summer sun.)  Jamie decided he wanted to join me, so he pulled up a chair next to me.  He climbed into the chair and plopped his feet into the water.   Instantly, he pulled his feet out of the water.  With wide eyes, he proclaimed, “Dumb kid!”  Oh how I loved and laughed with that little boy!

He and Heidi roamed, and played, and “worked” alongside all of us in those days.  Sometimes they helped me weed and pick strawberries in my strawberry patch as I clipped laundry to dry on the line.  Then, I’d let them sit on the patio and snack on a berry or two of their harvest.  Those two… were somethin’ else.  A little ornery.  So sweet and silly.  And quite well behaved really.  Jamie… such a happy boy.

Having Carlton, Kathy, and Jamie, then later Michael, live on the farm with us was such a blessing!  They were such a part of our daily life.  And we were a part of theirs. 

Once when several friends and family had gathered for a meal and some fellowship, Jamie began to choke on a steak bone.  His Grandpa (my Ken) grabbed him out of his high chair and dislodged the bone.  Jamie did not seem fazed, but he sure scared the rest of us that day.

“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.   He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:     He leadeth me beside the still waters.”

Psalm 23 :1-2  (KJV)

 

 

Editor’s Note:  This is a fresh intro. & edit as of July 10, 2016

What a seriously intense week… month, really!?!  Orlando’s still smoldering.  And now, Dallas… and families from St. Paul to Baton Rouge grieving… intensely.  As fellow citizens, we  hear it all… we hear the side-stakers… we hear the “haters”… we hear the denials & the outrage… and wonder if a second Civil War is eeking out… We wonder if we should speak out or how best to reach out.  Will we hold up under this internal pressure here in our homeland?

What if, in our weakness and confusion, we kneel down?  I mean really kneel down… and pray.  I, along with several hundred others, just completed a study on the book of Philippians (IF:Equip).  Timing could not be more profound.  We’re reminded our citizenship ranks on a higher plane than where we find ourselves.  Yet, we can’t pretend it all away.  We can’t conquer all the wrong, and we can’t even right enough wrongs to feel right again.

Navigating the now… that’s the tough space.  But we must remember we aren’t alone, and we must remind each other we aren’t alone.  We’re being held up, and we’re holding up.  I concur with Paul’s  prayer:

“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”

Philippians 1:9-11 ESV

Throughout this series, we’ve met kindred souls surviving terrifying, horrific, and lonely losses throughout history. Their ingenuity, humility, courage, and driving love continue to speak of the mysterious rest & wrestle of vulnerably sharing hope in troubled times.

In … always holding somebody up … (part 1), I shared my Dad’s words at Jamie’s funeral that included the story of Dawson Trotman. In … always holding somebody up … (part 2), I shared a compelling story of a Hero of Hope of mine from World War II, Friedl Dicker- Brandeis.  Similar to steadying Lifeboat 12 on the sinking Benares (… always holding somebody up … (part 3) ), we relate to the sincere souls struggle to steady.  Each inspiring story strikes hope and courage despite death’s dark and dank pursuit.

Slipping back into history a bit further, we see how this persistence plays out ( (part 4) & 5) … Listen, as the songs swell …

First, Matthew 14:22-33 recounts the mysterious majesty of Jesus Christ when he walked on the water … perilous, swirling-waves-and-winds-kinda water.  At first, even His disciples feared Him because they thought He was a ghost.  Once they knew it was Him, Peter played bold and asked to be invited to join Him on the sea as the storm raged on.  Peter got out of the boat.  He actually walked on water, too.  Then, he saw the wind, he began to sink, and he cried out “Lord, save me!”

“Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him saying to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’  And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.  And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, ‘Truly, You are the Son of God.'”

Matthew 14:31-33 ESV

We see Jesus faithfully save Peter, join the others in the boat, calm the storm.  And they respond how?  They worship Him by declaring Who He Is.

Next, John 11 recounts the story of Lazarus’ death and Jesus’ response.  Jesus speaks of being the Resurrection and the Life in verses 17-27.  This He speaks to Martha even after Lazarus has been buried for four days.  Jesus asks if she believes Him, and she responds, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Then, they go near the tomb to find Mary weeping along with the Jews who were with her.  Jesus’ response- despite His power, majesty, divinity-… He “was deeply moved in His spirit and greatly troubled.”

“Jesus wept.”

In doing so,  Jesus’ compassion connected with His dear friends, Mary and Martha in their mourning, but He also connected with some of the Jews who witnessed this.  They noticed, “See how He loved him.”  Jesus didn’t “hocus pocus-poof”  in a manner of pride and power.  He joined them – heart, soul, mind, and strength.  He loved His neighbor as Himself… both in His humanity and His Divinity.

Are we really looking for the Glory of God?  Do we recognize His Steadfast Love in the moments we’re not getting the Resurrection and the Life vibe?

If we see a glimpse of Him, are we willing to also declare His consistent character by returning praise to Him?

Maybe we think we are, but maybe we’re looking for instant relief?

Maybe we’re looking to political patches, feel-good feelings, humanitarian handouts, work ethic accolades, athletic honor, academic prestige, or anything less than the Resurrection and the Life.

Acts 3 Peter reminds us, “But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He thus fulfilled.  Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may sent the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets long ago.”  (verses 17-20)

Repent. Receive.  Redemption.  Refresh… in the presence of the Lord.

How do we respond?

Paul in Philippians reminds us again and again to REJOICE.  Our response is to TRUST and THANK Him through it all.

Remembering back through this grief journey … mourning Jamie’s loss… I confess several seasons where I withheld thanksgiving to the Lord.   Honestly, I even squinted my jaws and locked my soul’s scowl in place containing trust to a controllable region of my heart and mind… because, like Peter, I kept my eyes on the wind.  And the sinking soul…my mind and my mire.

Part of this may have stemmed out of a misconception.  Holiness and Hope doesn’t necessarily equate to jolly, persistent happiness which is contingent on favorable circumstances and stirring fuzzy feelings.  Rather, Joy is a fruit of the Spirit that seeds contentment deep into our souls and stirs encouragement soul to soul despite circumstances.

I know now that I’ve withheld full praise until I see what I want to see as a solution instead of remembering His Character far surpasses my understanding.  His purifying touch inhabits us in beautifully, powerful ways as we praise Him in the process… Step by Step.

In regards to this project in particular, I did not want to share until I felt strong enough.  I didn’t want weakness.  I didn’t want pity.  He’s used both to teach me what Compassion really is.

We’re told to expect trouble in this world, but live in the lively know – Jesus has overcome and He overcomes.  We’re told to “Take up our cross daily and follow,” not to illustrate ease, prowess, or even ethic… but to obey and honor the Divine Dignity bestowed upon those who know only One is always holding us up.  The One who chooses the foolish things of the world to tame the wise was born in a stable.  His earthly character built up His heavenly witness to His Father and perfect obedience to the mission.

Yet, we waver… whether with doubts like Peter or in our grieving… we wonder.

However, as I’ve submitted my weakness, fears, and rejections back to Him, He’s beyond faithful stirring Life, Light, & Hope beyond all I can imagine still, but especially in those early, dark hours of grief and loss.

“Consider and answer me, O LORD, my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,’ lest my enemy say, ‘I have prevailed over him,’ lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.  But I have trusted in Your Steadfast Love; my heart shall rejoice in Your Salvation.  I will sing to the LORD because He has dealt bountifully with me.”

Psalm 13:3-6 ESV

Won’t you join the eternal song already in progress?

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” 

Revelation 4:8

How do we respond to Who He really is?

Repent. Receive.  Redemption.  Refresh… in the presence of the Lord.  Rejoice!  And Remember His Faithfulness.  Remind one another Who He was and is and is to come.

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”  Revelation 4:8

In the contrasting times of our earthly existence, we’re reminded again and again who we are and Who He is.  Circumstances and loss wreak havoc on our emotions; however, they don’t have to derail His Character in us.  Rather, when the winds and waves conspire, we ought to receive His reach to us, and we ought to extend His reach to one another.

Faith.  Hope.  Love… always holding somebody up.

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!.. To Him who sits on the throne to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!  Amen!” 

Revelation 5:12-14

writing & photo by Heidi L. Paulec

 

 

 

 

 

Throughout this series, we’ve met kindred souls surviving terrifying, horrific, and lonely losses throughout history. Their ingenuity, humility, courage, and driving love continue to speak of the mysterious rest & wrestle of vulnerably sharing hope in troubled times.

In … always holding somebody up … (part 1), I shared my Dad’s words at Jamie’s funeral that included the story of Dawson Trotman. In … always holding somebody up … (part 2), I shared a compelling story of a Hero of Hope of mine from World War II, Friedl Dicker- Brandeis.  Similar to steadying Lifeboat 12 on the sinking Benares (… always holding somebody up … (part 3) ), we relate to the sincere souls struggle to steady.  Each inspiring story strikes hope and courage despite death’s dark and dank pursuit.

Slipping back into history a bit further, we see how this persistence plays out (in parts 4 & 5) … Listen, as the songs swell…

“I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry.  He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure.  He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.  Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD… As for you O LORD, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love will forever preserve me!”

Psalm 40:1-3, 11 (David) ESV

A staggering steadiness can arise as a sinking exhausts.

… exhilarating fears, depleting losses… sorrow… stillness… aching sustaining… yearning… past … savors shrink … then slumps… sulks and strives … to sip a savor… only to sink … {a guttural gasp}

Then.. sings…

heart songs erratic with lament,

joy, angst,

release, rest, tension, and time…

and then… stands again.

But sometimes, we sabotage the standing.  Anger, impatience, arrogance.  Rather than wrestling through, we choose to starve our souls by perpetually hiding, cowering from the very One bent, bruised and broken to preserve and nourish us with steadfast love.  We refuse Him even as He offers to sustain us.  We refuse those He sends with a message of conviction, correction and comfort.

Consider Jonah.  When God, out of His Holy Compassion for a city under sin’s siege, called Jonah to go to Nineveh, he recoiled and fled to Tarshish to avoid obedience.  God “hurled a great wind upon the sea…so that the ship threatened to break up”.  (Jonah 1:4)  The turbulent crew eventually tosses Jonah overboard.  You know, the big fish swallowed him.  For three dark, dank & stinky days, Jonah barreled around the sea.  Then Jonah prayed.  (His prayer is recorded in Jonah 2.  A worthy read, indeed.  However, I’m just going to share a few verses here.)

“When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.  Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.  But I with voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay.  Salvation belongs to the LORD.”

Jonah 2:7-10 ESV

The fish obediently spewed Jonah out on dry ground where again God called Jonah to go to Nineveh to deliver a daunting, damning message to this city.  The message:  in a matter of 40 days, their city would be destroyed.  The city believed the message.  They responded.   Immediately, the people called for fasting and mourning among themselves.  Their king, in utter devestation of this news, decreed a fast and pleading to God to spare them.:

  “Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands.  Who knows?  God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”  (Jonah 3:8)

God’s response?  In His Great Mercy, God saw their repentance and relented of the disaster doomed upon them by their own consequence.  (Jonah 3:10)  He’s always holding somebody up.

Interestingly, Jonah’s response this time… Anger… at the Lord’s Compassion and Consistent Character.  “O LORD, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country?  This is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster.  Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”

Again, Jonah pulls away to pout.  Even so, God grew a plant to shade Jonah- “to save him from his discomfort.”  (Jonah 4:6)  Jonah responds with gladness.  But in the morning, God sends a worm to devour the plant.  And again, Jonah asks to die.

The LORD’s response, “You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in the night and perished in a night.  And should not I pity Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left?”  (Jonah 4:10-11)

How many countless times has my heart echoed Jonah’s first prayer of submission followed by God’s response – resounding Power & Presence…

only for me to berate impending disaster and His Grace?

Another Old Testament example includes Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  These appointed Jewish leaders in Babylon, (Daniel 3:12) refused to bow to King Nebuchadnezzar’s golden image.  As a result, they faced trial and punishment.  A flaming furnace.

Their response under trial?  “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter.  If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.  But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image you set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18)

How did the trio hold up in the furnace?  Truly, brilliant bright hope in the center of devouring circumstances… for a full read, check out Daniel 2:46-4:3.

Similarly, Daniel (a distinguished official among officials) faced King Darius’ distressful scrutiny (bc King D respected Daniel) as Daniel remained faithful to set petitions before God alone and refuse to worship the king. Although the king desired to protect Daniel from the consequence, the edict dictated -even the king. (Daniel 6)   Daniel’s obedience sentenced him to the Lion’s Den.

The next morning, the king rushed to the den.  He called out, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you serve continually, been able to deliver from the lions?”

Daniel’s response to King Darius?  “ O king, live forever!  My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me because I was found blameless before Him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.”  (Daniel 6:21)

Even in a dire den, we see the absence of attack as a creative and powerfully uplifting.

The king responds… so … kingly.  And He hands down a decree demanding all:

“…tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever;          His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and His dominion shall be to the end.                               He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth,                              He who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”  

Daniel 6:26-27 ESV

Until Heaven is home, the tensions remain… real.  The pit pulls.  Allegiances align with allies.  And opposing sides wield opposing swords – one weak and bent on convincing lies and the other “sharper than a double edged sword” lifted high declaring the veracity of God and His steadfast love.

When I feel and face danger, death, and destruction, I’m tempted to try to hold myself up.  “Let me show you how tough I am.”  (My sons run faster, jump higher, my daughter dances divine-r, and my husband lifts more… Yet, You can ask my family… who out-planks everybody… um by minutes?)  I want to outwit… or run and hide.  I’m tempted to even think I don’t need help or hospitality… even hugs.

However, the truth is blaring and obvious.  We’re granted a gift to be needed.  And to need.  Do we share the gift only as it polishes pride?

Hope comes humbly, but decisively.

“Let each of you look not only to his own interest, but also to the interests of others.  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed an Him the Name that is above every name, so that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Philippians 2:4-11 ESV

Recognizing a cosmic conflict wages on, we rejoice in the LORD – Jesus is indeed The Christ.  And He calls out His People – Citizens of Heaven to pulse with an ever-increasing awareness that:

Christ’s Resurrection ~ reaches out to others … authentically, naturally…

humbly, sacrificially…

Yet, Endures, Overcomes, Redeems.

Reconciles, Renews, Refreshes.

Gathers.  Relaxes.  Relishes.  Savors.

Shares.  And Remembers.

How do we respond?  If we accept His Grace Gift, we receive the Power & Purity therein.  And we’re His extensions of Hope & Joy & Peace to those around us- not because we can sing the loudest, smile the brightest, or even stand the straightest… no, even in our own brokenness, He is our Living Hope… not to hide or hoard, but to share.

Our righteousness is His transforming work in and among us.  He grants us historic examples in His Word of soul struggles we’ll face, but He also grants us responsive examples who relate to our struggles to fully trust Him when waves chide and crash all around.  Our lives beat, moan and sing our responses to Him.  A fellowship in suffering… and in song.

Epic Endurance.  Witnesses waving us home…We’ll may never know how all the prayers, sacrificial acts, and encouragement from saints of old buoyed… and steady us still.

More to come… Living Hope.

Heidi L. Paulec