American Health Care

05/27/2008, 10:30 am -- by Connie | No Comments

Which of these scenarios was worst?

1– It’s 2 am in a strange large city, and I\’m with my elderly uncle, serving as his health care proxy. With us is his sister, my mother (also elderly), with whom he lives. We\’ve been in the ER for 7 hours. He has fallen and broken three ribs, one of the most painful injuries there is.

In walks a young resident; earlier he rudely told me that hospital policy only allows one visitor per patient. I confidently explained that security had bent that rule for us, only to be sarcastically told to leave immediately.

I look around for my mother and she has fled, using her terrible navigational skills to go hide, who-knows-where. I leave the doctor with a few words, and then go looking for her…

——————

2– 1:35 pm: we\’re still in the ER. I have buzzed the nurse three times. My uncle needs his morphine shot, but five minutes after my first buzz — which was almost an hour ago — Amy began discharging a patient. Paperwork takes time.

After 15 minutes, I asked her to come and give her attention as he was in enormous pain. That was my job. That was her job.

30 minutes later, she came in and asked what she could do. She spent five minutes arguing with me, then found his paperwork, and determined his pain shot had been due at 10 am. He hadn\’t had one since 8 am. She did paperwork for 45 minutes, while he went without pain relief for six hours.

——————

3– After 21 hours, my uncle finally gets a bed upstairs. It takes a few hours to get a PCA device hooked up so that he can get morphine on demand. His new nurse comes in and notices that he\’s slumped down in his bed, and decides he needs to be moved up or he won\’t be able to breathe well. As they begin, he is in such agony that he nearly passes out.

When he\’s finished, she wants him to do some deep breathing to help with his pain; I pass him his pain button. She snaps at me to not interfere, arguing that it\’s better for him to use it afterwards to calm down. Well, somebody better get me one then, because that’s not what pain relief is for. It\’s to relieve PAIN!!!

We have a serious talk about what she had just put him through, and to my surprise, she agreed and apologized, saying it won\’t happen again. In the meantime, my uncle was nearly in shock; by then, the pain relief couldn\’t even begin to help him.

——————

Unfortunately, all three of these things happened to us within 24 hours, and they were equally horrific. This is the state of health care today. Doctors and nurses at the hospital treat the elderly like just another job — a check box on a To-Do list, rather than people who are loved and cherished, who mean the world to someone.

These “professionals” had no compassion; they were punching in and getting through the day. If I was in their way, they made sure I knew about it. I can\’t remember the last time I had a dispute with someone, much less an argument. But here I had three in one day. Fortunately, this hospital had a patient advocate, to whom I could explain what went on, and ask for help and action about these and other things that happened.

But what about those patients without family, or the ones too weak to speak up, who must endure these indignities every day? Do they just suffer quietly?

Or do they just die?

This Week in Connie

04/17/2008, 10:14 am -- by Connie | 4 Comments

I know we’re all busy, but I thought I’d give you a glimpse into my life. Here’s some things I will and will not do this week:

I will help throw a fantastic shower for my son’s beautiful fiance Karen.
I will not listen to Barack or Billary attack each other.
I will stop eating junk for the next two weeks.
I will not buy a new car. This week or EVER! So shut up, Billy Fuccillo!

I will balance my checkbook.
I will research passive puppies for smaller homes.
I will not go on Spring Break.
I will not get a puppy . . . though this may change closer to April 28th.

I will not file my taxes on April 15. Extension time!
I will file Sarah’s taxes on April 15, and I will finish my taxes later this week. Really!

I will pray diligently for my friends with many needs, I will work at two different jobs this week (three if you count this one), and I will pick up my daughter’s amazing wedding dress with her.

I will also watch Survivor.

I will not go see Prom Night (sorry, Sarah), go to dinner anywhere until after the weddings, buy anything from an 800 number, or worry about facial lines and wrinkles.

And above all, I will not stress out over things I have no control over, like . . . NO! See the beginning of that sentence!

Bweinh! Goes to the Movies — Leatherheads

04/9/2008, 1:43 pm -- by Connie | 3 Comments

Read all our movie reviews here.

Sarah and I hit the local theater last night to see George, Renee, and — let\’s face it, John Krasinski (I really miss The Office) — in Leatherheads, which had been touted as a quick-witted romantic comedy. Sure enough, it scored some points.

The story follows the birth of professional football through a scruffy little team called the Duluth Bulldogs, headed up by George Clooney. But the team is headed for the exits until he gets the idea of featuring a star player, who happens to come along in the form of war hero/college star Bullet Rutherford (Krasinski) who may be hiding some secrets from the war. Renee Zellweger plays an ambitious reporter expecting a promotion if she can uncover those secrets, and there\’s our love triangle. Let\’s set our pinball game into motion and see if we rack up any fun.

The main characters were fine; you just cannot go wrong with George and Renee and their dialogue. It was well-written and fast paced, taking me back to the Groucho Marx/Cary Grant era of verbal sparring that was just so much fun to experience. Cool! Extra ball!

But there was something lacking in the Rutherford character. Krasinski lacks the charisma of a true movie star; when he\’s not smiling, he tends to disappear into the background, something that just doesn\’t happen with Clooney. Still like John better, though. Even worse, when it came to the climax of the story, we couldn\’t decide who to root for! Bullet hadn\’t really done anything wrong, but the reporter hadn\’t either — so what were we to do? This whole part needed a rewrite. Sarah and I are available. Lose a turn…

Ultimately, we enjoyed the movie a lot, although at 1:54, it could have been about 15 or 20 minutes shorter. So I\’m taking the letters E and I from “edit” out of Bweinh!, and only giving it a five out of seven for a final rating of “Bwnh!” Game over.

Year of Jubilee

04/2/2008, 2:30 pm -- by Connie | 1 Comment

“Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you . . .” — Leviticus 25:10

Last Friday was my birthday, and not just any birthday — my year of jubilee. It\’s a gift God gave to the Israelites: a Sabbath of Sabbaths. It restored lands and other property to people, so that once in a lifetime they\’d have a chance to start over, perhaps retire, without overwhelming debt and despair. Unfortunately, greed and other factors prevented anyone from actually ever experiencing Jubilee, except on some weird old Star Trek episode once. The gift was offered but never received.

A few years ago I began to notice that the weather on my birthday was unseasonably beautiful, and I found myself thanking God each year for the extra birthday gift. It would be sunny and 50-60 with unusual warm breezes, I\’d be grabbing a coffee, and the clerk would say, “What a great day, huh?” I\’d reply, “Oh you\’re welcome. It was just a little birthday gift from God for me today.”

My daughter has a sweet friend who challenges me on this point every year and he “wrote on my wall” last Friday, pointing out that the weather was not up to its usual standard. Boy, he was right about that.

But as I passed by a window first thing that morning, knowing that the weather forecast wasn\’t backing up my usual claims, and wishing I\’d kept my extra birthday gift secret — just between me and God — suddenly, He took my breath away. The tree branches were lined perfectly with an overnight snow that was so beautiful, I didn\’t even mind that it wasn\’t 50. We stepped outside to a sunny morning where everything was sparkling so brilliantly that I couldn\’t begin to ask for a different gift. He did it just right. And I took it, and loved it.

Thank you, Father. Bring on my Jubilee.

March Madness?

03/19/2008, 6:00 pm -- by Connie | 5 Comments

Few things interest me less than the spring frenzy surrounding college basketball. Despite the fact that I was 5\’11” all through high school (oh yeah — that was fun), basketball never interested me — until, that is, my daughters began to play.

My eldest daughter\’s team won a sectional title and made it to the regional state quarterfinals, the first team in school history to make it that far. As a senior the next year, Rose scored her 1500th point and her team was poised to go all the way, until they were knocked out by one point in their first, last and only loss of an amazing season. What a terrible disappointment. Nothing can bring me to laughter quicker than when one of my children is laughing — and nothing brings me to tears faster than when one of them is hurting. We mourned this death.

Three years passed and it\’s my other daughter’s senior year. Sarah’s team started the season with a one-point loss in a preseason tournament hundreds of miles away. Continued here!

Best of Connie — Bweinh!kat Manor

03/5/2008, 4:00 pm -- by Connie | No Comments

Originally published November 7, 2007.

I’ve avoided writing articles thus far, partly because I was convinced no one here is interested in the same things I am. But Steve’s rankings and a rant last weekend have loosened my tongue, so you’re in for a treat — or not. If the stats are right, and nearly 2000 folks are traipsing through our backyard each week, someone’ll care about my musings. If not, I’ll just go find a Meerkat Manor latte bar to drown my sorrows, for yes, today’s article is about the popular Animal Planet show.

I started watching the Manor last summer (season 2) and caught up quite quickly. It features a family of meerkats (the Whiskers) in the Kalahari Desert who have been studied for years now. There are dozens of mounted cameras everywhere, even in their burrows, and their whole lives are edited and spliced together for our amusement.

Let me assign the show’s roles to Bweinh!tributors so you can better relate, then I’ll share a little about what’s bothering me this year.

The leader of the clan is Flower. In Meerkat society, females rule the roost, but for today, we’ll call her Steve. Steve is a good leader and takes good care of her group, but life is tough out in the desert, and the rest of the family doesn’t always do what they’re supposed to do. For example, poll answers don’t come in on time and she has to email reminders two or three times — not easy with those claws — or clashes are assigned, but only one side comes in. Heavy is the head…poor Flower/Steve.

Some of the other adult females vying for the crown in our drama are Flower’s daughters Mozart (Djere), Daisy (Tom), and Kinkajou (MC-B). She also has a mate Zaphod (Chloe), his brother Youssarian (Josh), and sons Shakespeare (Mike) and Mitch (Hoss). There are also neighbors, with whom turf wars spring up regularly, named Frank Zappa (David), Lola (Erin), Hannibal (Dave), his son Wilson (Karen) — and Houdini, a roving rogue male who travels around scoring with the ladies (here’s where we put Job, though I mean no disrespect on his upstanding character). I am narrator Sean Austin.

Last year the shows were exciting. Life was precarious, and death always imminent, but somehow the Whiskers were always able to fight back the odds. When Mike was bitten by a snake, we followed his every move for a week, as he slowly recovered his strength and rejoined the Bweinh! staff to Clash again. When the clan got separated, and the newborn pups were about to get eaten by David and Erin’s gang, back came the rest of the Whiskers just in time! Josh J. even tried to move newborn pups, nearly resulting in their demise — but did they die? No! Was there ever any doubt? No! Not until this year.

This season, Steve, protecting her pups, went down into the burrow to confront a cobra, and the next thing we saw was a 30-second shot of her horribly swollen, snakebitten face, as a voice over by Sean described her imminent death. EXCUSE ME??? FLOWER CAN’T DIE! SHAKESPEARE DIDN’T! Where’s all the footage of the action? What happened to the pups? Where did the snake go? Did the other meerkats die too? Why the cover-up???

“THE DESERT HAS LOST HER FAVORITE ROSE”?? HOW ABOUT A LITTLE EXPLANATION, SEAN???

To make matters worse, on the next show, they chose a new dominant named Rocketdog. ROCKETDOG??? WHO THE HECK IS ROCKETDOG??? It’s like loading up Bweinh! one day and finding a new guy in charge, everyone just pretending like he’s always been here. “Oh yeah,” they say, “That’s, um, Bob-Hamster. Don’t you know him?” SHUT UP! There is no Rocketdog! But there she is, with the stupid collar on her neck. I never saw her before this season, but we’re supposed to believe she belongs…

How much worse could it get with only two shows left? Two weeks after Steve is killed, they follow with a tender love story with Djere and Karen — and after this, we all needed it. Poor Djere was expelled from the group by Steve for arguing over issues of dominance, and had to find a new place to live; his mate died, he and sister MC-B were chased away, then MC-B died, leaving Djere all alone. As Karen and Djere get together, Sean announces that Djere’s problems are possibly all behind him. But wait! A sudden storm starts a lightning fire and leaves our couple homeless.

Karen takes Djere home to meet the folks (Erin and Dave). Unfortunately, when they get there, they find them in a giant battle with BobHamster, Chloe and Tom. Karen, being her father’s son, joins in, and Djere is forced to retire to the sidelines and wait it out until morning. Karen cannot sleep, Sean assures us, as all he can think of is Djere, and as soon as the dawn arrives, he sets out in search of his love. Sean then describes the harsh conditions once again, which should have given us fair warning, but enough is enough, right? Nope.

Djere’s lifeless little body is the next shot. Our reward for the loyalty we’ve given this show is that in two weeks, we lost Steve, Djere and MC-B — and gained some idiot named Bob-Hamster who we don’t care about. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to bail.

Hey, thanks for listening. Barkeep? I’ll have another Decaf Caramel Turtle please.

Actually, just keep ’em coming…

Bweinh! Goes to the Movies: Chick Flicks

02/5/2008, 2:00 pm -- by Connie | 7 Comments

As a preface, I am in no way officially recommending any particular movie to anyone, just sharing the experiences of my last two visits to the cinema with my girls (Karen [24], my soon-to-be daughter-in-law, and my daughters Rose [21] and Sarah [17]).

In mid-December, I heard Rose say sheepishly, “I kinda wanna see that…” I looked up to catch the end of a trailer for Juno, a new teen pregnancy movie, pitched as a smart, funny, gets-into-your-heart-and-head kind of film. As Pentecostal Christians, we generally don’t support many teen sex movies, which is probably why she sounded sheepish. I watched the last few scenes with little interest, but tucked it away. Around the same time, 27 Dresses trailers were on every day, constantly reminding me of our two upcoming weddings. My girls and I had already made a date to see that one; I was hoping it might give me some ideas for the reception and rehearsal dinner.

But frankly, Dresses was forgetful and predictable, giving me plenty of time to check out gowns and cakes, and take mental notes on bouquet arrangements, centerpieces and lighting. I mean, James Marden was okay, but he’s no Mark Ruffalo. You knew who the girl was going home with — there was no “OH NO!!!!” moment like in How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days or Just Like Heaven. Discussing the movie afterwards, we quickly ran out of things to say.

Reviews began trickling in on Juno. “Fast-paced, witty dialogue. Candid, funny, real.” It began to sound like the Gilmore Girls, and we sure missed that show. We miss a lot of things; stupid writer’s strike. When the Oscar nominations were announced and Juno stuck gold, I fired off texts to the girls and a date was on. I remained afraid it might portray teenage pregnancy in a sympathetic way or trample over our values — and I wondered if it could stand up to all the hype.

Well, Juno delivered! Sorry, no pun intended. I think the girls enjoyed it from the start, and I liked it too. For those who don’t know, Juno is the story of a pregnant 16-year-old girl who decides to keep the child, after visiting a hilariously unsympathetic abortion clinic, and gives the baby up for adoption to a young couple who cannot have children. The parents she chooses are as human as the rest of her world (she finds them through a Pennysaver ad!), and she must decide what to do when the deal doesn’t work out as she expects.

Roger Ebert’s review says he found a lot of “unexpected laughter.” That happened to us a lot too; there were jokes everywhere, especially during the serious scenes, like when Juno tells her dad and stepmom about her pregnancy. This is real life — at least it’s real life at our house. I felt at home. The dialogue was two parts intelligence, two parts humor and (unfortunately) one part mild vulgarity, teenage-girl style.

My favorite parts were when Juno went to her parents and found support, wisdom and love. No anger or resignation, no “Here we go again,” but true wisdom and support. Her father was not a stereotypical doofus — he has lived and learned, and helps her to process her confusion. He’s the one who teaches her what love really is, and makes it possible for her to make the right decisions in the end. Her stepmother is not a “witch” — she’s a loving, fiercely protective mom, who sacrifices a lot for her stepdaughter, but isn’t above complaining about it during an argument. The girls and I found a lot to discuss after this one. We learned some new vocabulary words too — but of course we won’t be using them…

I was uncomfortable with the vulgarity level, especially because the parental audience at the Sunday matinee did not honor the PG-13 rating, and chose to bring their small children. For the love of all that’s good, hire a babysitter and keep your young kids at home — especially the 8 to 10-year-olds!

Guys, you could do worse than to occasionally stumble into a chick flick with your special someone. You might actually discover something about your relationship. You could share a laugh or an inside joke to remember for years to come — who knows? I don’t know if Rambo or Die Hard or The Singing Killing Barber could do that for you — but, of course, I could be wrong.

Bweinh!’s Week Before Christmas

12/19/2007, 4:00 pm -- by Connie | 3 Comments

With apologies to Clement Moore or Henry Livingston or whoever else might have written the original…

‘Twas the week before Christmas and over at Bweinh!
not a comment was postin’, not even an “ehhhh.”
The stockings were hung in the boardroom with care
in hopes that Steve Maxon would fill them up there.

The presses were quiet, all articles stilled,
Clash-debating suspended — the quotas were filled.
Council rulings abandoned, no polls to submit,
Chick Tracts on vacation, all cartoons even quit.

The football results, however, were new;
you can’t stop them now, since the games left are few!
But the Bible Discussion was set on “delay,”
in hopes our attention on Christ would then stay.

But down by the washrooms, Dave Sweet worked away.
Making copies of keys to pass out Christmas Day.
All sanctions forgotten, or now put on hold,
and these keys were not silver — oh no! — they were gold!

One for Chloe and Erin and Michael C-B,
even Job just back from his ap-pen-dec-to-my.
One for Connie, and Tom, and for crusty old Djere,
for Josh and Mike Jordan were Dave’s final pair.

Finally done, he called out for ol’ Steve to help lift
the huge box of gold keys (we would all just re-gift).
For what do we need with a key to that room?
It still costs a dollar to enter and groom!

We’ll pass them out quickly, for not all have yet learned,
what’s a gift and a dud — only we have been burned.
So as we pass out all our useless john-keys,
just remember the thought counts here, not just the deeds.

So to James, and to Ethan, for we like what you share,
so reward you we shall — the first re-gifted pair!
Then to Marcus, to Emily, and good old M. Chase,
’cause the comments you leave really spark up the place.

To share, we’ll give one to our Bweinh! newlyweds,
so dear Missy and Beaty — thanks for all your great threads.
To Rose, Brian, David, sometimes clueless old Hoss,
And to everyone else, signed A-non-y-mous.

We love that you visit and lend your support,
to our little production of newsworthy retort —
we’re really just saying, to one and to all,
“Thanks for coming! We love you! You make it a ball!”

Bweinh!kat Manor

11/7/2007, 6:00 pm -- by Connie | 16 Comments

Let me assign the show’s roles to Bweinh!tributors so you can better relate, then I’ll share a little about what’s bothering me this year.

“THE DESERT HAS LOST HER FAVORITE ROSE”?? HOW ABOUT A LITTLE EXPLANATION, SEAN???

Hey, thanks for listening. Barkeep? I’ll have another Decaf Caramel Turtle please.

Actually, just keep ’em coming…

Why We Believe: Vol. 4

11/3/2007, 12:00 pm -- by Connie | 6 Comments

This and following weekends, we will share the brief salvation testimony of each Bweinh!tributor. So far we’ve heard from David, Steve, and Tom. Next in line is Connie.

Looking back I can see God’s hand on my life all throughout. But our family moved a lot (I went to six second grades between Texas and New York), most of the time to avoid landlords. My dad died in my junior year, forcing us to move to yet another school for my senior year. But I discovered I could actually finish high school in just six weeks with a summer English class. Pointing out my perfect PSAT scores and difficult family situation, my guidance counselor encouraged me to go to community college that fall — it would help with finances and give me a better future. And it did.

College is where I met my husband David. He and his family attended church every Sunday; I had gone off and on, but never for very long. They were the very definition of stability, something I was very drawn to. One Sunday, after a few years of dating, Dave and I were in the family pew, playing our usual game of Dots on the bulletin, when I looked up at Pastor Polly. She had hesitated during her sermon, and I wondered why. As I looked up, she was gazing directly at me, with the saddest look on her face. Busted. I put the game down, and we started paying attention.

I didn’t think about it again until I was alone, on my way back the next Sunday, replaying the incident in my mind. I realized how sad she had looked and wondered what caused that deep emotion. I guess she believes in what she is saying and doing, I thought. Immediately, I felt a question form in my mind — “Do you believe in Me?”

I instantly realized I was not just having a flashback — God was asking me that question. Then I heard Him distinctly ask me to make a choice right then — and after a slight hesitation, I said “Yes!”

As soon as I did, He filled me with a joy and love that was nearly indescribable. It was fall and the leaves were changing, and I saw it all like my first time wearing glasses. The sky was bluer, the leaves were amazing. I went to pick Dave up, but he was sick, so I got to go to church alone! YES! I was a different parishioner that week, let me tell you. I’m a loud singer anyway, but that day all the songs made sense — even the Doxology! Everyone looked at me funny, but I didn’t care. The GOD of the UNIVERSE had talked to me that day, and I think my face was glowing!

A few weeks later, my husband rededicated his life to the Lord. Within a year my mom, two brothers, sister, and sister-in-law all got saved and started attending our new church. 30 years later, we all worship together whenever we can. Joshua 24:15 is our promise: “…as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

In our home we’ve raised six children. You’ve read two of their testimonies already. Two are worship leaders, and one of those is also a prophet. One was called to be like Nicodemus — a man of knowledge among the learned. The two girls have the call of missions on their lives; one also has worship leading in her future. My youngest is called to be a pastor.

And it all started by simply saying “Yes” — 29 years ago next Sunday.

Best of Bweinh! — A Third Son?

07/24/2007, 2:00 pm -- by Connie | No Comments

Originally published on June 6, 2007.

Tell me what you think of this story: A man had two sons. He went up to the first and said, ‘Son, go out for the day and work in the vineyard.’ The son answered, ‘I don’t want to.’ Later on he thought better of it and went. The father gave the same command to the second son. He answered, ‘Sure, glad to.’ But he never went. Which of the two sons did what the father asked? They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said, ‘Yes, and I tell you that crooks and whores are going to precede you into God’s kingdom. John came to you showing you the right road. You turned up your noses at him, but the crooks and whores believed him. Even when you saw their changed lives, you didn’t care enough to change and believe him.’

I’m sharing this story from Matthew because Steve asked me if I wanted to write something in my recent free time, and this is how God has been challenging me lately. As you can see, it’s the parable of the two sons, who, when asked by their father to go work for him for the day, ironically responded opposite to their eventual decision.

Matthew Henry tells us it speaks of the response to God of John’s ministry of baptism by the sinners as opposed to the religious Pharisees and Sadducees. Everyone was suspicious at first, but the sinners ended up coming and receiving, whereas the religious people of the day said one thing, then did quite another by hardening their hearts toward God’s mercy.

Oddly enough, God didn’t give me that insight, seeing as how He’d already given it to Mr. Henry and all. I did glean from it that we need to be careful as longtime Christians not to assume that we know everything already, thereby missing what God is trying to say to us. Maybe we should spend some time around newbies, to make sure we’re not getting hard-hearted and crusty. Maybe we need to go through a few verses of Keith Green’s “My Eyes Are Dry,” and get our hearts softened up again.

But anyhoo, the point He impressed on me was that maybe there was a third son. And if not, there should be. That child should be the one who says, “Yes, I’ll go,” and then goes and does it. What could God do with a church filled with obedient children like that?

Does that challenge you? I know it challenged me. If you need a song or verse to start you off, try this one: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

Bweinh! Soundtrack — Sara Groves

06/30/2007, 9:00 pm -- by Connie | 4 Comments

Every weekend, a different Bweinh!tributor will discuss a song or songwriter that inspires or interests them. Read the first nine soundtrack entries here.

The Other Side of Something
Sara Groves is one of my all-time favorite singers; she’s an excellent singer and lyricist. Her lyrics are simple, yet in places provocatively deep. She writes about fights with her husband, funny songs with her kids, then hits you with amazing rewrites of old hymns. And she sings of freedom — one of my favorite subjects — and about getting stuck and unstuck and the processes involved, in case you need more than a placebo in your current walk. She’s brutally honest in her self-assessments at times; maybe that’s why she’s found the freedom that she has.

I was introduced to her at, of all places, a dear, dear friend’s funeral — Tim Grant. One of his daughters shared a story that day of how he had driven out to Rochester a few weeks earlier to bring her Sara’s Conversations CD because of how much it had affected him. He even kept calling her, all the way back to Watertown, to see what she thought of it. Even with that testimonial she was not overly impressed, although it did grow on her a bit.

When circumstances turned out as they did, she felt it was something we all should hear. So she played it. I loved it and looked for it right away. This was early winter, and when I relayed the story at Christmas, my sister-in-law mentioned that Sara actually attends their (mega)church! She told us how she was a school teacher, how “Conversations” came out of her many talks with a fellow teacher, and how she’d made the decision to quit teaching for a Christian recording career just recently. I felt so connected! First because of Tim, then because of Don and Jan actually going to church with her.

The CD I chose to talk about here was her fourth, “The Other Side of Something.” I believe it was birthed out of her deliverance experiences — either personal or ministerial. This is another connection because my husband and I work in this ministry in our church. I recognized her revelatory tone in “The One Thing I Know.” I know what she’s talking about when she says, “The clouds just parted, on a corner of my life, and I can see for miles. And the things I was stuck on, the things I thought would never change, they just broke open wide.” When God healed my fear, I had no idea where it went, I just knew it was gone. And with this song, she manages to connect even more with me, making her feel like an old friend I haven’t met yet.

The last thing I really like about her style is that she’s really in the Word. She sings about real characters and places, exploring and comparing her struggles with Jeremiah and Job, finding both strength and camaraderie with her brothers. Sometimes we think of our struggles as unique to today, and of the Bible as just stories, but she sees the Scripture as real-life practical help. It gives her hope and strength, which she in turn shares with us. And when she gets to heaven she’s going looking for Job, because she’s got some questions for him — like he’s an old friend, along the lines of Rich Mullins or Tim Grant perhaps? I love it. I just love it.

If you haven’t listened to this CD, give it a listen; I even have an extra copy if you need it.

And thanks for the tip, Tim. I miss you, friend.

A Third Son?

06/6/2007, 7:00 pm -- by Connie | 2 Comments

Please welcome Connie, a guest poster (at least for now) to Bweinh.com!

Tell me what you think of this story: A man had two sons. He went up to the first and said, ‘Son, go out for the day and work in the vineyard.’ The son answered, ‘I don’t want to.’ Later on he thought better of it and went. The father gave the same command to the second son. He answered, ‘Sure, glad to.’ But he never went. Which of the two sons did what the father asked? They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said, ‘Yes, and I tell you that crooks and whores are going to precede you into God’s kingdom. John came to you showing you the right road. You turned up your noses at him, but the crooks and whores believed him. Even when you saw their changed lives, you didn’t care enough to change and believe him.’

Does that challenge you? I know it challenged me. If you need a song or verse to start you off, try this one: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

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