Hearing God's voice

At my church this past Sunday, the sermon topic was about hearing God's voice. The pastor prefaced his talk by saying that we need to learn to listen and make space for God in our busy lives.

The four key points from the sermon were:

• People hear from God when they're willing to listen to him about issues of obedience. Rather than focusing on hearing about something new, do we need to revisit something old to align with God?
• People hear from God when they take time to listen to God. We need to reduce the noise in our lives and partner with God each day.
• People hear from God as they begin to identify what God sounds like. God's voice tells us to be more like Jesus; he doesn't appeal to our pride, greed or addictions.
• People hear from God when they have confidence that God is committed to speaking to them. As I have seen through this blog, God has creative ways of speaking to us. He is a great speaker and leader, and is committed to speaking to each one of us.

One of the worship songs this past Sunday was "Full Attention" by Jeremy Riddle, which has some very notable lyrics:

May Your voice be louder

And may Your voice be clearer

Than all the others

Than all the others

God wants to talk to us, but we need to listen.

Medal of Honor winner escapes haunting images

Medal of Honor winner Hershel "Woody" Williams (l) with fellow veteran Darol "Lefty" Lee (r).

Hershel "Woody" Williams won a Medal of Honor for his actions during World War II.

He took a 70-pound flamethrower to seven Japanese pillbox bunkers on Iwo Jima, clearing them out.

According to an article in the Winona Daily News, the war had a residual effect on Williams:

Williams has no idea how many people he killed that day, but images of the fighting haunted him. In the years that followed the war, he suffered sleepless nights as the medal changed his life’s course.

'I was bothered a bit by the residuals of war,' Williams said.

He had new responsibilities — a new role he didn’t anticipate when he was growing up on a farm in West Virginia.

After years of bitter independence, Williams said God spoke to him in a church in 1962. The dark visions of war dissipated, and he became chaplain for the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, a position he held for 35 years.

Williams is one of 19 Medal of Honor recipients from World War II still living today.

Annie Moses Band: all in the family

Annie Moses Band

The Annie Moses Band is a family ensemble, whose members include parents Bill (composer/arranger/pianist) and Robin (lyricist/vocalist) Wolaver and their children: Annie, Alex, Benjamin, Gretchen, Camille, and Jeremiah, in ages ranging from 24 down to 10.

According to a press release, the band's roots originated in God speaking to Robin while she was in college:

'We had some Suzuki violinists that came and played in our music survey class. There was a little-bitty girl from Asia, and she was so tiny and cute. She had a violin… God spoke to me at that point and said, ‘When you have a little girl, they should do that.’ And, Robin did give birth to a beautiful little girl and named her….Annie. Five more children followed but having a band with six kids certainly wasn’t in their plans.

'We didn’t have any idea this would happen,' says Bill Wolaver. 'We did want a large family and wanted to have children.'

Annie says, 'As each child came of age, our parents really prayed and considered our talents and our personalities to determine what the best instrument would be. Things just kind of grew gradually from there.'

The band's name comes from Robin's grandmother. For more on the Annie Moses Band, visit their website.

On the road again

I love traveling. In fact, I just returned from Ireland for my brother's wedding. (Here's a photo of me in a kilt reading at the event.)

In 2006, I spent time in Fairbanks, Alaska, to build homes for Habitat for Humanity. That was my one experience with a volunteering vacation.

Jay Loecken and his family have taken the idea of traveling for a higher purpose a lot further than that. Since April 18, 2008, they have been driving around the country in an RV looking for people to help. In the process, they have visited 44 states.

According to a recent Star Tribune article, God showed them the way:

'My wife and I always dreamed of traveling, but then God showed us that we don't need to just travel for adventure,' he said. 'We travel for a purpose.'

The Loeckens' journey started when they took a mission trip to Africa in 2007 and discovered the extreme poverty. When returning to the U.S., the Loeckens discovered that there was poverty nearby, and decided to make a difference here.

God's Gardens by Claire

CHAMPLIN, Minn. -- In 2003, Claire Lichy was facing tremendous health problems after having abdominal surgery. She had excruciating pain through the right side of her back. During the surgery, several nerves leading to her back were nicked, and scar tissue from a previous operation was damaged.

Lichy found peace during her recovery time through flowers. Gardening always had been a passion of hers, and she transformed her backyard into an amazing garden when she fully recovered. At first, she called it "Claire's Gardens." Then God spoke to her, according to a Star Tribune article:

'I was out here one day and I felt God tugging at my arm,' she said. 'It just hit me: This isn't about me: it's about God. I feel so grateful that he has given me this talent to make things pretty.'

So, she changed the name to "God's Gardens by Claire." She opens up the gardens (by appointment only; call 763-427-2644) to everything from garden clubs to Bible study groups.