Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

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Five Minute Friday: It’s Beyond Me

July 27, 2012 By Sandra Heska King

 

I’m having one of those feelings.

 

I can’t put my finger on it, and I can’t describe it.

Like where part of me has separated from this body that houses me.

Does it ever happen to you?

I know it sounds weird.

And it’s beyond me.

 

The air is fresh this morning. The grass is damp. There’s a woodsy fragrance that reminds me of my childhood home. The corn tassels stretch for His tassels.

Thank you, but still more water please. 

And I’m thinking, “Who am I? What am I?”

I scoop some black oil seed from the metal trash can into an old Tupperware container and shuffle out to the feeder. I stop abruptly not five feet from a tiny chipping sparrow (hear it sing here) pecking on the ground. It’s not one bit startled. Does it see me? Does it sense me at all?

For a moment I feel one with this bird, with the scent of earth, with the breeze that whispers against my cheek.

Almost–other worldly.

But then we’re not of this world anyway, right?

I think of all the places I’ve been, all the people who’ve crossed my path and those who walk with me, and how He’s woven everything to bring me to this place at this time to do these things.

It’s all beyond me.

Speaking of beyond me, I’m feeling about as small as a chipping sparrow this week. I’ve been asked to fill some mighty big shoes and step in as the PRAY editor over at BibleDude.net. If you peek at the drop-down list over there under “Pray,” you’ll see that all the categories fall within my passion for seeing deep and learning to be still. This was not something I sought or that was even on my radar. It’s a beyond-me thing, definitely a God thing. I’ll be posting over there on Tuesdays. Will you pray for me?

P.S. I’ve also got kind of a “squirrely” post over at The Barn Door today. I’d love to see you there.

 Joining Lisa Jo today on her word prompt beyond

Five Minute Friday

And my Jennifer for God things

And Michelle for Graceful Summer things

 

And Duane because I’m claiming God’s promise to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 28:1-6 (MSG) that blessings will spread beyond when we respond to His voice. And they will be beyond what we imagine.

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Filed Under: stories and reflections, writing

Comments

  1. Brenna says

    July 27, 2012 at 11:36 am

    What a beautiful picture you paint this morning! So lovely!

  2. Sharon says

    July 27, 2012 at 11:56 am

    When I come to visit you my heart is always refreshed, it’s knitted together with a dear sister. I love to hear your heart…I love you.

  3. Jody Lee Collins says

    July 27, 2012 at 12:08 pm

    Sandy–privileged to pray for you. Privileged….and oh so blown away by this God honoring post–not because of the abundance of words but that the Creator speaks through the beauty of His Creation which you capture so magnificently.

    Bless you!

  4. Linda says

    July 27, 2012 at 12:35 pm

    I will be so happy to pray for you dear one. I think you are the perfect one for this – chosen.
    I know that feeling too – it’s a hard one to put into words. There are moments I look around me and wonder who I am and what I’m doing here – in this body where I’ve been at home for all of my life. Other wordly – that about covers it.

  5. Danelle says

    July 27, 2012 at 1:05 pm

    The moments we stop and think of the path God has given us. . the people He has placed in His perfect timing in His perfect way. . . I know. I know that other worldly feeling well.
    And I will be praying for you and your new opportunities to reach others. 🙂

  6. journeytoepiphany says

    July 27, 2012 at 1:24 pm

    Friend, I have missed your words…and I pray for your often. He continues to expand your reach!

  7. Denise says

    July 27, 2012 at 6:01 pm

    Praying for you.

  8. Elizabeth, wynnegraceappears says

    July 27, 2012 at 6:30 pm

    Oh this is soooooo amazing. I am sort of awe struck by the beauty of your words and your photographs, though I have not yet listened to the audio. Thanks for sharing beauty. And I share in your joy on your new Tuesday gig. How wonderful. I will look forward to reading words there from you too. Happy writing. I look forward to seeing you. Today I am visiting from Lisa-Jo’s.

  9. Jennifer@GDWJ says

    July 29, 2012 at 11:23 pm

    I am so excited to hear that you are joining the BibleDude crew. You will bring some great “Deep-Seeing” to an already incredible place!

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I’m Sandra, a camera-toting, recovering doer who’s learning to be. still. Read more…

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“Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous to “Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous to be understood. . . Let me keep company always with those who say “Look!” and laugh in astonishment and bow their heads.” ~ Mary Oliver in “Mysteries, Yes”
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No way could anyone ever convince me that this world in all its beauty and creativity and mysteries is here by accident.
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“Embrace this day knowing and showing the world “Embrace this day knowing and showing the world that your God is more than enough for you.”
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@tamiheim @tonibirdsong 
In @stickyJesus: How to Live Out Your Faith Online
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the str My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion.” Psalm 73:26 (ESV)
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I’d almost forgotten what quiet mornings on the patio were like. (Quiet except for the birds and the sound of the neighbor’s AC.)
So yesterday I saw my cardiologist. It was the fir So yesterday I saw my cardiologist. It was the first time he wanted to see me in 6 months instead of a year. He said my aortic stenosis had gotten worse. Like on the cusp of moderate to severe. 😬

So the first thing he asks me is, "How's you daughter?" Wait. Isn't this supposed to be about ME?

Then he asks if I've had any symptoms. "Well, I don't know. Maybe. I felt a little dizzy out of the blue a couple times. And felt like I couldn't catch my breath. I wouldn't have paid any attention if I didn't know I was supposed to be watching for symptoms. I DID walk all over Israel and up a bunch of steep hills, even all the way up to the Golan Heights--against the wind--without anything but normal fatigue.

He laughs. "I created a monster." Ummm, yeah.

"Have you been exercising?" 

"Well, yeah. We walk a couple miles a day. I'm back on my Nordictrack Strider." I didn't tell him I'd been lifting some light weights and some very heavy boxes and other items during this renovation, though I was told in December not to.

So he listens to the beating of my heart. Then he says, "Well, I don't think the valve is ripe yet. I don't expect you to have symptoms for three or four years. You don't need to come back for a year."

Wait! So you ask if I have symptoms. But you don't expect symptoms--yet. And when I do have symptoms, someone is gonna do something. And then I'll be older and maybe weaker. Or what if I have some sudden and silent symptom and boom! And now I have to worry about that. 

(In other news, my oldest grand texts me the other day, and our conversation runs like this...
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If not, take a peek at @mlivenews .

My great-nephew, not quite 12, had just gotten home from school when the EF-3 came down the street and left its mark on every home. My niece frantically tried to find her way from work through debris and blocked roads. My sister was 30 miles away visiting my dad in rehab. I don't want to know how fast my brother-in-law drove. 

The house and yard took a hit, worse than some, not as bad as others. A mobile home park was demolished--two deaths there. I heard one person is still missing. So many injured. So much awful. But the town is coming together for each other. Pray for them.

We plan to fly up Thursday--already planned to celebrate my dad's 95th birthday. 

Also, if anyone feels led to help, the Otsego Community Foundation and Otsego County United Way are accepting donations. Note “Tornado Relief.” Beware of any other fundraising requests.
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"This memorial commemorates the Jewish communities destroyed by Nazi Germany and its collaborators, and the few which suffered but survived in the shadow of the Holocaust."
#Israel2022 #HolocaustRemembranceDay
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"It happened, therefore it can happen again: this is the core of what we have to say. It can happen, and it can happen everywhere.” ~ Primo Levi

From a post I wrote for @tspoetry after a visit to the @holocaustcenter.

https://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/2016/07/27/regional-tour-holocaust-memorial-center-farmington-hills-michigan/
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Many wonder if this tomb, which lies just a few yards west of Golgotha could be the place where Jesus lay and rose. I wish we could have lingered longer here in this garden and in the tomb itself. It was easier for me to imagine the events of that weekend happening here than in the heavily incensed, decorated, dark and crowded Church of the Holy Sepulchre… though my hairdresser said her old boyfriend “got chills”’when he entered that tomb. We did not go inside that one because the line was way too long. 

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HAPPY EASTER!
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Garden of Gethsemane and Church of the Nations

#Israel2022
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"Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness." ~ Mary Oliver in "Why I Wake Early"
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