Writingpambo

Cold days are absolutely game changers. A drop to zero degrees sends a frenzy of activity in everything from grocery stores to football games. Checking the thermostat and bundling up in warmer layers are as synchronized as putting a pot of chili on the stove and sipping hot tea. The craving for comfort pushes us to the opposite pole.

Yet in colder temperatures, winter beauty skates across the horizon. We see tricks of nature in sun dogs, icicles, frozen ponds and lakes. We see the breath of humans and animals. Things that normally frustrate us like frosty windows look beautiful from the inside in the morning light.

Think of the other hemisphere where temperatures rise and heat is extreme. Where people crave iced tea and air conditioned comfort whether they get it or not. Shade and swimming pools are minor relief from the scorching sun.

Now think of our own human existence. How we live and breathe. We have so much technology yet our hearts are heavy for spiritual connection if we can recognize it. The world is changing daily in the record amounts of fluctuation, We see extreme floods, storms, droughts, fires, and volcanic eruptions Humans are either needy or greedy. Some have even become like used lukewarm bath water no one wanted to step into in any season but have. A far cry from who they were made to be.

While we can’t control nature or the onset of disasters, we can make decisions with better outcomes. We can willingly change where we have been going and get redirected with our futures even with our bath water!

We can start looking at life from the inside out. Inside our spirit or soul, the part that walks with God. He has made us a beautiful world where each snowflake, fingerprint, eye color and creature were uniquely made. Made on purpose and for purpose. Yet each person has strayed . In getting right with God a person needs to change up the bath water. A decision to take the handle and turn off the spout that’s causing his or her stagnation. Why? Because what you’re currently bathing in is sewage! Once a person finds the clog that backed it all up they can feely communicate their sorrow with God and ask for his forgiveness. A loving God waits for you. If you truly desire to get out of it you can. But right now you can’t see how pitiful you look. You need suds, clean water and a new robe!

A loving God stands and knocks at your door. Do you hear his voice? Are you in the bathtub? Get up! He wants to come in and eat with you? He wants you to conquer this. He did. So much so He died for you. Answer the door.

I grew up in Kansas City. My family huddled around the tv watching the Chiefs play. I was in grade school when they won the Super Bowl with quarterback Len Dawson. Something registers when that happens. It’s in the air you breathe. Like sauce on ribs. Fast forward to when the Chiefs brought in Joe Montana. Arrowhead was loud and fun to go to for those games and living there then was okay for keeping faith.

Until

In the past few years it’s been a more of a creed to watch on tv what Patrick McHomes has brought to the Chiefs. He loves throwing a football to the point that something magical happens on the field.

The players later testify to it. The tv replays it. The Chiefs fan’s heart knows it. He brings a joy to football that anyone who has played even one game of backyard football has relived in their youth.

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I think Kansas City may have finally bottled some magic and poured it over its fountains making the Chiefs red a true fountain of youth.

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There are much bigger football fans than me. My husband for instance. He is a supply chain guy. He knows what it takes to move a product down the line. He also played football in junior high. So can you imagine watching the Chiefs with him? He positions, directs, calls the play, and yells when it’s not going in the right direction. “Get the ball down the field” on Sunday is his “Get the product to the customer” during the week talk to his team. I pray success in both instances.

Many of us have team credence. Whether you grew up in an area or adopted a team along the way, Super Bowl Sunday is upon us. I invite you to join in. “If you haven’t got on board…” like my husband says, “There’s plenty of room on our team.” I like that gospel. It makes Sunday morning church the message we take to Sunday afternoon and any team we watch and cheer for”.

Go Chiefs!

Our dog joined the Chiefs huddle in the Mahomes era and will be dearly missed.

 

A few weeks ago I turned 60. Just as a pumpkin changes into something more I too had reached a milestone. “What is it that pumpkins change to?” I asked myself.
In my mind they have a high in the sky hope of becoming a pie, a magical carriage or are cleverly carved with a glowing grin.

Ok, Approaching 60 I had some twists in my thoughts. The twist? Yes! The twist is a dance that was popular my birth year. It’s also a turn in events. 60 years ago I was in the womb twisting the night away safely nestled waiting for my arrival. When the time was right, a spank, taking a breath and letting out a cry occurred. Not much changes as deep breaths still can lead me to tears.
Age 60 is a time to also laugh. Those first belly laughs as a baby are the best. We’ve all seen a baby sitting in a high chair or on a video where they get tickled at something and the perpetrator does it again and again just to hear the baby’s laugh. They could be laughing at a disappearing spoon or the man in the moon but the laugh is a true hard belly laugh and you get so tickled watching you just start laughing to join in.
I get that.
Now imagine being 60 and going up on a roof in the city and finding yourself locked in on a Ferris wheel going around and around. No one is is line so the operator lets it go a little faster as you pocket your phone and heart while holding on with every dear breath. Someone else finally wants to get on so the operator stops it leaving you at the top all by yourself closer to the clouds than you thought you’d be that day. That’s when life is looking at you sky-high placing you in a teetering kind of mercy seat. I looked straight up to the clouds, closed my eyes and said “Father God, I got on this wheel all by myself. We are pretty close right now. My son and his friend don’t know I’m up here. Help! They can’t hear me. Help! You can. Help! Why am I here?”

When I opened my eyes I turned to gaze out from the magical carriage I was sitting in when I saw it. As green as it was big doing the same thing I was doing.

And then the biggest belly laugh I had in my 60 years rolled out of me. A Praying Mantis? Bahahahahaha!


Laughter filled the air, my seat, and my heart as I read what was staring at me on my phone I carefully wrestled from my pocket.

I looked at it again. You’re kidding me? More laughter! I took a photo of it. I commented on the thread. More laughter. Ok OK, that was a good one God! Do you bring all your children up here for this kind of extreme pleasure? You really should! You had me listening the first time around but this twist? Funny! My oh my! You are FUNNY! Thank you for this laughter. And with that I said my tearful, joy-filled Amen.
I got off the ride and found my son wandering around. He said “Where ya been?” I chuckled then grinned’ “You couldn’t see or hear me but I was up there laughing like a little baby pie turning 60.”

60 like every age is an adventure. God is right there and if you ask, closer than a belly laugh. Taking the time to find “the Joy” in 60 is the best way to live out my days. What is your latest encounter? Did you laugh? Cry? Thank Him?

December 1974- Mrs. Liu’s hands were so fluid and beautiful as she directed the red robed children’s choir at the Methodist church. Pam could watch those trained hands and disappear in time. Her thoughts of shyness disapated as she opened her mouth to sing with the other children the well-rehersed song of “Lullay Lullay” or “The Coventry Carol.” The months of Wednesday afternoon junior choir rehersals cumculated for one Christmas Eve service. What is it about rehearsing song that gives a peace when a diphram releases it? The song was high in octave, fine for children’s voices. The song in historical meaning was high in puncture for children. Yet, so close to the joys and smells of Christmas, it would take Pam decades to recognize the full meaning of her young voice as she heard the song again.

December 13, 2020- The hymn service depicting the Light of Lights was almost over when a trio of women entered the stage. The carol ringed somewhat familar yet in a nostaglic way.

Pam’s mind raced for the lyrics. She had a storehouse and she relied on those lyrics to bring hope and joy in a world gone dim. Her mind caught the word as it appeared phoentically as Liu lee, liu lay, just like Mrs. Liu’s name! Her teacher’s face came to mind, her pronuciation of the words. How Pam had unknowingly disappeared in time. How many times did her choir director of Chinese hertiage have to pronounce her name so others may know it. Yet, here she was in at junior choir rehersal not giving word to her name but to the song. “Liu lee Liu lay.” Mrs. Liu’s trained hands once again flowed through the song. Her gentle nod when it was finished. It was such a lovely memory of her teaching young songbirds to sing!

Harsh words, oppresors, bullies and meanness also flooded Pam’s mind as she heard the song. “Herod the king in his raging…. all children young to slay.” In all reality, the star of light, the coming of the Christ, his birth and life threatened some. Some are willing to kill to keep power. This was the message for familes at the time of Herod’s reign. Death of sons under the age of two. It was a dark year yet part of the story. Could it be that young people singing this song gave voice to those babies killed by Herod?

“That woe is me, poor child for thee And ever mourn and may. For thy parting neither say nor sing, “Bye, bye, lully, lullay.”

Those are dark words for a child to sing. Why sing the words of darkness? For Christ’s sake. For Christ’s sake? Has it not always been for Christ to come to bring life? At the cost of death EVEN at HIS BIRTH? In a world of pandemic pandemonium there is life and LIFE and breath are threathen by a mean virus and a dark power. We have a choice in the life-giving song of Christ’s birth that radiates his light to the world. What lyric will you choose to remember? How does your life play a role in telling the story? Each person has a storehouse of what God has planted to share.

The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them light has shown. Isaiah 9:2

Thanks for reading as I practice my hand at writing. While I aim at fiction-novel writing, sometimes I share my own story as it comes to me “On the Air” of my day.

“Oh beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain.

For purple mountain majesty above the fruited plains.

America, America God shed his grace on thee. And crowned in good with brotherhood from seas to shining sea.”

Words from the song “America the Beautiful” written by Katherine Lee Bates it’s original name “Pikes Peak. It is performed beautifully on piano by Ray Charles Jr. (Listen if you haven’t.)

This Independence Day, I am reminded of the beauty of America. Having stood in the majesty of its mountains. I am thankful for the grace God gives in each valley to every one of us.

Will the Grand Tetons be any grander than they are today? For me, an encounter up close, amid a pandemic they stood out like the crown of a good God, as a blind Ray Charles soulfully sings, detailing beauty. As high are the peaks and as low as the valleys, America is a brotherhood. In route across America today I share this photo with my brothers and sisters. This beauty is what America is made of. Beauty within a glacier valley. Big sky high beauty. Beauty in the bowing glacier lilies to a greater beauty. Beauty freely given in grace from a merciful God to an underserving people. Beauty in snow capped mountains rising from the fog. Beauty in my upbeat heart, literally, for the strenuous hike and the sighting of moose.

Today as we mask our faces, let us eye in awe how truly beautiful America is. In ourselves and each other let us be guided to find also the beauty of America.

Lake Street of Minneapolis was a far cry and 20-mile drive from any suburban walks routined during the pandemic. For me I had to see how close I had been to where it came down. I had biked the midtown greenway just a few blocks from where many businesses were torched, ransacked and left for ruin. I had rode by myself or with my husband on a day a lot like today, yesterday or a few weeks ago.

Today we went to sense. In the aftermath of the destruction, we saw people there like ourselves. Curious of the occurrences of the last weeks yet taking steps and exercising faith. I took a few photos. I stepped a little too close to torched businesses left with barely any structure or framework. We walked by a deer who wandered into a cemetery -maybe a little like many of us. We cheered for people volunteering, showing unison. We made a turn and found the peacefulness of Powderhorn Park. We continued walking to the corner grocery, the Cup Foods where George Floyd’s memorial stands and crowds gathered. We read names and signs, left flowers, and took breath with others.

Nearby was a make shift cemetery. Someone had made white tombstones with the names of others killed. It represented the children and adults killed. On a hill, it said, “Say their names.” We said their names. We took notice of their ages and cities. We continued walking and enjoyed the smell of food trucks, a normalcy for Minneapolis. We saw owners in front of their boarded up restaurants and businesses, showing their presence, painting over words of hate.

We saw hope. We walked for miles. We asked for peace. We teared up. We bought tacos to go on the street and stopped and talked to people we knew. We looped back to the car and drove through more miles of neighborhoods that were hurting. I’m choosing to remember there are people there. There are people coming caring, carrying bags, sharing words. The helpers. The peacemakers. The people who do the one right thing and keep doing it. Taking steps. Steps on the broken places. Steps of assurance and hope and courage to mend.

““Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5:9‬ ‭

Who climbs 6468 flights of stairs in a day? 16 stairs=1 flight 6468 x 16 is equivalent to 7.2 miles of stairs?

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Somewhere in my day my watch glitched and unknowingly a 6 flight of stairs day turned into 6468? That’s superhero power – equivalent to the upper airspace of commercial planes. While I don’t see as many planes overhead these days, I’m certainly not sharing their flight paths either. I do glance at my watch, phone and media to get updates. Checking-in is what I do to see what’s going on in my gravity held atmosphere. Some days those check-ins are absurd, misleading and forecasted as preposterous! What if that’s the extent of what I had to go on was misleading information?

I would believe things about myself, others and the world that clog my senses.

What does a healthy check-in look like?

Normally, it begins with a morning whisper to rise and start a new day. I may glance in the mirror to recognize it’s still me, a little older, hopefully wiser. From there my biggest direction monitor is God’s imprint. I find this in his word. I also find it in nature. I open my Bible and somewhere in the quiet stillness, it awakens me. Nature has a way of finding itself in God’s word. I find it daily. Whether it be in sky, animal or garden variety. Those tools become the balance for me. I’m not overrun by the glitch-given world I encounter. I have what I need to stay on course. I have something to remind myself this isn’t real or trustworthy. I have the exercise routine to go to that keeps my mind fit and ready for what’s ahead. Given the amount of interference that tries to snag us, God has a way that frees us.

“For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭1:20‬ ‭WEB‬‬

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”
‭‭2 Peter‬ ‭1:3-4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I wrote this a few years ago. I’m always in awe of God’s handiwork. Each Mother’s Day I am astounded by the amazing miracle of life. As new mother’s celebrate and all mother’s are reminded of this incredible gift – life.

God must authentically and positively love mothers. Think about it. He could choose any place, any where to do his miracle. He chose her and created her for his purpose of bearing life. She, on the inside houses not only a womb, the formation of new life. She inevitably holds in that space the tender development of her baby’s heart. For nine months her womb is growing and God is forming a person that will change her life and others forever. When the gestation period is complete, labor pains occur and a child is birthed. I don’t know God’s mind in this. I wonder sometimes if women are given pain at birth to cover up for the heart pain of another heart leaving her body. Really. When else are mom and child’s hearts so protectantly enclosed? So it was in the garden with God with Adam and Eve. They walked and lived close, face to face. It wasn’t until Eve’s disobedience were they not permitted to stay in. God’s heart must of ACHED. He had created a beautiful home for humans to live in close communion with him only to be slighted. Thankfully, he doesn’t leave people out in the boonies forever. This magnificent God invites again, again and again. His premises takes on higher ground and meaning. First he gives up his only son nailed to a cross for each human’s sin and then he takes him where he is. Yeah! Forbearingly, isnt it like God to show his grace when all pain is forgotten and a mother’s arms cradle her baby so they are close again? Everyone of us whether we acknowledge or not have heard our mom’s heartbeat. We have felt the pulse of another human heart. Those first repeating sounds we heard in the womb could be amniotic fluid (like streams of water) or the chamber of another heart. Chamber in Greek means “inner room” and shares its origin with the heart. We have to remember there is more than a mother’s heart in the father’s heart for his children. ““Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” Isaiah 49:15-16.I have to remember this as a parent to turn over each of my children to His keeping and trust. His ways are higher. That is sufficent. This new place or crib God invites us to has no gates, no curse. It’s aligned with precious jewels and gold. There are no electricity bills. There is uninterrupted communion with the one on the throne in a NEWER garden. I invite you to read the last chapters of Revelation and take to heart the place he took his son and others who have chosen to ‘come’.
Happy Mother’s Day!

An example of good originating out of bad times.

What’s your ideal family room look like? Does it have comfy couch, a fireplace? May a wall displaying photos of loved ones? Possibly a shelf holding a heirloom from a family member passed down? What is it that makes it family?

In America 1945 the “family room” originated. God knows what families heard during the war. Gathered around the high-fi radio, were broadcasts of invasions, attacks, deaths and finally surrender. A room developed that would gather the family with a bit more space that would accommodate family togetherness. Its interesting and good this room came into existence at the end of the war at a time when families reunited and friends gathered socially. This space allowed much needed interaction. The touch and feel of a hug or embrace we can only imagine for today.

Fast forward to today’s pandemic, also ushering us in psychological, economic and political unrest. Once again the world is drawn to broadcasts that give us accounts of widespread disease. We are shocked, setback, isolated. In this crisis our dreams are filled of a time when we can socially interact. We are in a season of wait for birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, picnics, sports and much, much more, Much like the war, we have to find ways to unite, to come together, to believe for our best interest and the next generation, but in isolation.

In America Spring 2020, what does the room family look like? In these weeks, like you, our family rooms are computer screens with live face talks. We can plays games, discuss the news, share what we see from our windows and walks. We can see each other in our homes. We can check in and check out. We are managing our social isolated time with glimpses of one another. We are developing habits to touch without touching. In a real sense daily, whether we see it or not, we are developing faith. Faith that hopefully draws us in these uncertain times to something unseen. Faith that tomorrow will be better. To understand faith is to understand the unseen. Now fatih is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we cannot see. Keeping faith finds us in the family room before, during and after this pandemic. I pray you keep FAITH, FAMILY, FOOD and FUN going.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going. John 14:1-4