Transitions: Loose ChangeCalling the New Place Home

Adjust & Trust

2

You may have been introduced to THE HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME ministry through one of several entrances:

Front door—The radio broadcast is now heard on 19 radio stations and one cable television station across the United States and around the world through on-line broadcasts from some of those stations. March 2007 marked the beginning of the broadcast’s 28th year. (Check out the station log on page 19 for stations and times. The same info is found on the website: www.heartbeatofthehome.org ).

Mailbox—The print ministry includes transcripts of individual broadcasts (nearly 1500 on fi le at the moment) and at least 95 books on a wide variety of topics of relevance to people wanting to live their daily lives God’s way.

Side door—Personal appearances aff ord an opportunity for the HEARTBEAT staff to meet listeners and readers face to face at mother-daughter banquets, women’s refresher days, and retreats. (Check out the speaker information on page 17).

Window—The HEARTBEAT website—www.heartbeatofthehome.org—is the route through which many fi rst connect with this ministry. On the website you can access Jackie and Cindy through an email link, read about the min-istry’s beginnings and what it stands for, or browse through the resources off ered.

Backyard—The magazine in your hands was born out of the desire to keep in contact with relevant teaching, inspiration, and news about what the Lord is doing through this work. If you appreciate this magazine format, please let us know. And consider securing additional copies for your friends—our gift to you. You can contact us by email: heartbeatofthehome@gmail.com or by mail:

THE HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME6641 County Rd B

Pittsville, WI 54466

Please remember to inform our offi ces when you have a name change or change of address. It helps us be good stewards of the resources the Lord has given us when we’re able to keep our mailing list

up-to-date and accurate. AND…it keeps this kind of encouragement coming to your mailbox!

Backyard Friends is a communication arm of THE HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME, Inc.

3

Practically before the ink was dry on our fi rst issue of Backyard Friends, we were ordering more copies from our gracious printer (the print shop of Victory In Grace ministries near Chicago). Response to this new branch of the ministry truly overwhelmed us. It thrilled us to think about how many miles the magazines traveled and the hands into which they found themselves. Doctors’ offi ce waiting rooms. Hospitals. Hospices. Assisted living facilities. Prisons. Churches. Small groups.

It is our fervent prayer that this second issue will meet needs in a uniquely encouraging way. You were on our minds and hearts when we prepared its contents.

At this point, we’re still able to provide this magazine without charging a subscription fee, counting on people who see its value and purpose and choose to invest in the ministry so we can provide materials like this to those who need its life-giving truths.

Some of you have asked how you can help. We have a practical, much-needed idea for you. Station managers and program directors lean heavily on the response of listeners to make decisions about which programs to carry on their stations. One of the managers with whom we spoke recently blessed us so deeply with his comment that in their area, HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME has a strong listener base. The station personnel talk to people. They listen when their constituents make comments about their favorite programs.

Because HEARTBEAT is carried as a public service on many of our stations, it is especially important that management hears positive things about the program. Our hearts are strengthened and encouraged when you tell us. It blesses this ministry even more when you tell them.

So if you have a chance and have genuinely benefited from listening to THE HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME, please take a moment to write a note, make a phone call, or send an email to your local Christian radio station if it carries the program. If it doesn’t, write anyway and ask them to consider adding HEARTBEAT to its program line-up!

Now, sit back and journey with us through the pages of this issue to a deeper understanding of our amazing God.

Devoted to Him and to you,

From the desks…and hearts…of Jackie and Cindy—

understanding of our amazing God.

Loose Change—Surviving

boat-rocking, board-tipping transitions

by Cynthia Ruchti Change can be invigorating. But many times it feels threatening, as if all the playing pieces of our lives are tossed onto the fl oor. Hope picks up the pieces.

Have you made a recent church change? Did the search put you in the lurch or in learning mode?

Calling a New Church “Home”

by Dawn Kinzer

T a b l e o f C o n t e n t s

From the Mailbox

News and Notes

Final Word of

Encouragement

Station Log19

18

17

16

10

6

V o l u m e 2V o l u m e 2

It’s not just a catch-phrase. It’s a God-honoring philosophy for survival.

Adjust and Trust

by Cynthia Ruchti13

6

nstead of setting up the Scrabble® board tonight, Dane and Anya are rearranging the letters of their lives. No matter how they shift things around, it seems inevitable that their financial picture leaves no other option. Anya will have to get a job outside the home to help them strug-gle back from the minus column. Their greatest heartache is linked to the fact that her job will mean Anya can no longer homeschool their three children, a decision they’d agreed was best for their kids

heila’s high-energy, open-hearted mother used to stir up dust-devils as she swirled through the neighbor-hood and around the family, blessing people and leaving joy in her wake. Now she spends the largest portion of her days in bed, relying on Sheila to count out her vitamins and remind her to eat.

hen the boss mentioned a promo-tion, Larry’s heart skipped a beat, which at his age is no small thing. Then the boss explained that the “promotion” meant a move across the country, uprooting Larry and his wife from a home and community in which they fi nally felt settled. The small salary increase wouldn’t begin to cover the higher cost of living in the new area. But refusal wasn’t an option. Take the transfer or take a hike.

rene’s son and daughter-in-law are coming home. Not for a short visit. For who knows how long. His cancer treatment is best administered at the medical facility near Irene. Let-ting two more adults and their two toddlers into her once quiet, orderly, tranquil home will increase the love level and threaten to break the sound barrier at the same time. And it won’t

Surviving  Life’s  Boat-­Rocking,  Board-­Tipping  Transitions

hen the boss mentioned a promo-tion, Larry’s heart skipped a beat,

was best for their kidsheila’s high-energy, open-hearted

mother used to stir up dust-devils as

nstead of setting up the Scrabble® board tonight, Dane and Anya are

a hike.rene’s son and daughter-in-law are

coming home. Not for a short visit.

7

be just party-time at Grandma’s. Chemo and its aftereffects will take up residence in the guest room, too.

When circumstances or people smother our ability to breathe, when disasters trip over each other in their race toward our family, when the idea of joy is laughable and the concept of peace seems disturbing, we may feel as if some unkind hand tipped the board game we were playing and spilled all our efforts and plans onto the ground.

The Land of TransitionsWhen we open our Bibles, we

read that some stories of transi-tions from one way of thinking or living to another held nothing but joy—mourning parents who had their child restored to them, infer-tile women who found themselves miraculously pregnant, those born blind who discovered a sighted world and delighted in adjusting to it, those who’d long been troubled by illness or distress or disability or demons free for the first time.

What must it have been like for them to wake up in the morning with a song on their hearts? What must it have been like for the lame to reach for their crutches and then remember that they didn’t need them anymore? Imagine the joy of a person once bur-dened by leprosy who is startled by his or her own clear-skinned, whole reflection in a mirror! continued  on  next  page

But don’t we most closely identify with those whose transitions were more like the ones we witness in the lives of people we care about around us? Those who have to sell their charming home to pay for unrelent-ing debts. Those who are forced to say goodbye forever to a loved one. Those who have to learn how to live as a single when all they wanted out of life was a happy family. Those who planned and prepared and prayed and purposed for a life of ministry but whose plans were diverted or dis-armed by illness or a family crisis.

How do we survive those transi-tion times? What did Abraham do when the Lord told him to pull up stakes and move on? Abraham said, “Where are you taking me?” And God answered, “That’s on a need-to-know basis, and right now all you need-to-know is who, not where. The who is Me. The where is Mine to reveal when the time is right.”

Does that sound like an answer you may have heard recently?

Hannah prayed long and hard for a baby. She’d lived most of her adult life with a scarlet letter “I” on her chest: Infertile. She walked stooped in spirit as well as body. But then God answered her prayer and gave her Samuel. What an adjustment that must have required! An infant child in the house. Diapers and feedings

Surviving  Life’s  Boat-­Rocking,  Board-­Tipping  Transitions

When  circumstances  or  people  smother  our  ability  to  breathe,    when  disasters  trip  over  each  other  in  their  race  toward  our  family,    when  the  idea  of  joy  is  laughable  and  the  concept  of  peace  seems  disturbing,  we  may  feel  as  if  some  unkind  hand  tipped  the  board    

and  spilled  our  efforts  and  plans  onto  the  ground.

8

 continued  from  previous  page

and goatskin diaper bags to haul to the market with her.

She’d promised to give her child to the Lord’s service—her hard-fought, cherished child. So she stepped into an amazingly challenging transition time. She gave her son to the care of the priest in the temple. Once barren, she returned home again childless, in a way. Only the assurance that she was obeying God could have sus-tained her through the transition of an again-quiet home devoid of child-ish laughter and sloppy kisses.

Take a look at other examples from the Bible. During your study times, take a careful look at people whom the Lord asked to walk through radical times of transition. How did they handle it? How did the Lord meet their needs? And what can you and I gain for our own lives and circumstances?

The Lord knew we would face many challenges in this life. He knew that at times we would feel as if the earth were splitting open beneath our feet.

So He repeatedly assured us that during times of knee-rattling tran-sition, He would accompany us. He comforted us with the truth that every transition period is by nature temporary. We grow. We adjust. We adapt because He gave us the power and means to do so.

This is the true context of that well-known but less-understood verse: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).

The Apostle Paul wasn’t talking about going without food for a year or fl apping his arms and fl ying off the barn roof or reciting the whole Book of the Law in thirty seconds or less. The “all things” to which he referred meant the unexpected changes, the diffi culties, the lacks or excesses and everything in between.

“I can survive it all…with His help.”

Were you hoping for a short-list of God-honoring ideas to help you sur-vive the transition in which you’re embroiled right now?

1. Take God at His Word and take His Word with you through your transition. “Great peace have they who love Your (Word), O Lord; noth-ing shall off end them or make them stumble” (Psalm 119:165, Ampli-fi ed).

2. Resist presuming change equals disaster. The Lord did (and still does) amazing things through what at fi rst seems ugly or impossible.

3. Walk with the confi dence that if you are acting in obedience to the Lord, the end result WILL be glorious. The middle may be a muddle, but the end will be glorious.

4. Throw off the cloak of mourning about your circumstances and put on the garment of praise for what the Lord is going to do through them.

5. Don’t mark time simply waiting for the waiting to be over. USE the transition to bring God glory and to grow in your faith. transition to bring God glory and to

9

10

y daughters were ten and twelve when we moved from Minneapolis to Seattle. We hugged our friends and said our last goodbyes before tearfully driving off in a large U-haul truck toward the west coast. We weren’t only leaving family, friends, and schools, we were leav-ing a church that we loved. The only one the girls had known. A faith community where we’d invested our time and hearts.

After reaching Seattle, the hunt for a new church began. But as weeks passed, we grew discouraged. Nothing seemed to fi t. No church could compare to the one we’d left behind.

The youth program offered at one church appeared to be vibrant, but worship was dry, and we fought

to stay awake. The look in the girls’ eyes said it all.

As it is with many other families, we sought to fi nd a balance in the style of worship that appealed to us. Above all, we wanted to attend and link arms with a church that clearly taught the Word of God, reached out to those who need Jesus, and worshiped the Lord with their whole hearts and souls and minds and strength no matter what the choice of music or other details of structure.

One Sunday we returned to a small church we’d visited weeks before. A staff member from our former church had met the pastor and several members of his staff at a national conference. She knew they were highly motivated to develop

CcAaLlLlIiıNnGg Aa NnEeWw CcHhUuRrCcHh

“HOME”

11

God-honoring, engaging worship services and had suggested that we check the place out.

Although the friendliest church we’d visited, it was much smaller than what we were used to, and the youth program was almost non-exis-tent. But, we gave it another chance and found home. The church body was interested in us as individu-als, and it was also clear they were open to hear about our experiences at our previous church and what we could off er.

After thirteen years, the small congregation isn’t so small any-more. The church has expanded in attendance, ministries, and buildings…and we’ve grown along with it.

Inter-generational and teen continued  on  next  page

Put eff ort into maintaining a healthy, growing relationship with the Lord during the time period in which you don’t have a “home” church. He speaks to those who stay close enough to hear His still, small voice.

Take the time to visit as many churches as you need to before making a decision.

Try to avoid making comparisons between the new church and what you loved about the old church. Look for and appreciate all that is good.

If you search for the “perfect” church, you’ll always be disappointed. There aren’t any.

Take into account not only what the church has to off er, but also what you can contribute.

Be open to involvement in ministries you’ve never tried before. But, more importantly,

GET INVOLVED! It’s the best way to make friends and feel a part of the church community.

Be sensitive to what you may perceive as faults.

Focus on developing relationships and credibility before sharing ideas of how things could and need to be changed.

Trust that God is there with you through the search and the period of adjustment.

drama programs became an impor-tant part of ministry. Simple skits as well as elaborate, high caliber productions. My oldest daughter found her passion through church drama and it changed her life. With a degree in theater, she’s currently acting and singing in various venues in the Seattle area.

I became involved with develop-ing the teen drama program, which put me in a position to write plays for the group. I rediscovered a love for crafting meaningful words. The return to writing revitalized my own life. For years I sought God for direction. It took my involvement in a ministry that needed something I could offer in order for me to discover the path God had chosen for me.

12

 continued  from  previous  page

Dawn  Kinzer  is  a  guest  writer  for  the  HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME  broadcast  and  an  aspiring  novelist.  She  and  her  husband  live  in  the  Pacifi  c  Northwest.  Connect  with  her  through  www.dawnkinzer.com  or  http://dawnkinzer.blogspot.com.

Our new church needed singers, especially in the eff ort to transition to a more contemporary worship style. I’ve now served with a wor-ship team as a vocalist for thirteen years. I’m so grateful for the oppor-tunity to use my passion for music in sharing my love for Christ.

Our family needed to fi nd a new church home because of relocating to another state. Some feel the tug in their heart and spirit to attend a diff erent one in their current com-munity for one reason or another. Those transitions are never easy. But they can be God-blessed, enlighten-ing, and invigorating.

We learned that as we prayed about it and sought the Lord’s input,

and as we set aside our preconceived notions for the new thing the Lord might want to do in our lives, we could trust the Lord to guide our search, to calm our natural fears, and to reveal His purposes for this new phase in our faith walk. and to reveal His purposes for this

13

iz opened the patio door and stepped out onto the 4’x 6’ slab of concrete that was her apartment’s connection with the outdoors. She leaned against the wrought iron railing and stretched her night weary limbs. Sleeping on a futon was not an ideal situation for her aging body. There might have to be some adjustments made. The theme of her life.

Liz turned away from the out-door scene to face her combination living room/bedroom/dining room. She sighed, allowing herself just a moment of longing. This was her new home...and she would adjust. Right now, it was time for coff ee.

The coffee maker took up half the counter space in her “cook-ing corner.” She refused to call it a kitchen, not wanting to demean all the other real kitchens in the world

by lumping her miniature work-space in with them.

With the coffee started and the apartment filling with its intoxicating aroma, Liz set about converting her bedroom back into a living space.

She folded the comforter and sheets from the futon and tucked them into the antique trunk that served as a coff ee table in the day-light hours. With little eff ort, the futon was transformed back into its upright position. A throw pillow here and a throw pillow there, and no one would know that a few min-utes earlier she’d been deep in sleep in that very spot.

The doorbell rang just as Liz fi n-ished her short list of household chores. A young woman from down the hall, Rhonda, needed to borrow, of all things, a cup of sugar.

ADJUST&ADJUST&ADJUSTTRUST

continued  on  next  page

14

Liz opened the door wide. “Come on in to the…uh...cooking area.”

“I’m in the middle of making a batch of cookies,” Rhonda said. “But I’m short on sugar. When I fi nally get the cookies fi nished, I’m going to read a book. And nothing related to work, either. Just for fun. It’s the best I can do for a vacation on a tight budget.”

“You may be able to sit outside on your patio to read today. The sun is nice and warm.”

“By the time I get done with my baking project, the sun will be on the other side of the building.”

“Sometimes one has to adjust. One can bake cookies at night, but the sunshine is only with us for so long.”

“Adjust? Good advice.”As the women spoke, Rhonda

soon realized that Liz had paid her dues to give advice on the subject of adjusting to life’s upheavals. She’d downsized from a four-bedroom farmhouse to her petite apartment. She’d learned to cope following the death of her spouse, and to cope with the additional grief of discovering her husband’s secret gambling habit left her almost nothing to live on.

“Liz, I can’t imagine what that

must be like for you. Did you have to go back to work?”

“I will. There’s no avoiding it.”“This is sure not how you expected

things to turn out, I’ll bet.”“Bet. I try not to use that word

anymore.”“Oh, sorry.”Liz handed Rhonda a cup of coff ee

and said, “It’s been my experience that it doesn’t matter what the dis-appointment in life, or to whom it happens, we all need to learn how to adjust and trust. That’s the secret. Adjust to life’s circumstances and trust the God who cares about you.”

“I don’t imagine it’s as easy as it sounds.”

“No. I have to work at it. There’s hardly a day goes by in which I don’t fi nd some new challenge. It’s down-right hard to change when you don’t want to.”

“Amen to that.”“But I’ve found that I’ll be miser-

able if I resist adjusting to changing circumstances. I now know how important it is for me to nip com-plaining in the bud, avoid feeling sorry for myself, and determine to make the most of whatever situa-tion in which I fi nd myself. God has proven to me over the years that He will take care of me. He always has my best interests at heart. I can trust my life into His hands. They are good hands.”

* * *How do we master the art of adjusting and trusting, of weath-ering unwanted changes without losing our focus or our faith?

 continued  from  previous  page

he   people   the   Lord   can  

best   use   for   His   divine   pur-­

poses  are  those  who  feel  the  

earth  shake  beneath  them  and  

adjust  their  posture  to  remain  

standing.

15

Dropping our preconceived notions about what life should look like helps. A friend of mine talks about fi nding a “new normal” as she learns to deal with her husband’s ill-ness.

Resisting the temptation to see only the difficult aspects and not the positive elements of the change can help us adjust when we’re asked to walk through a major, life-alter-ing transition. Your last child just left the nest? Your home seems too quiet? Rejoice that you’ve been given a rare gift of quiet! No one is making a mess of the family room? And that’s a bad thing how?

Remembering that the Lord always equips those He calls—He gives us what we need to carry out His assignments for us—feeds our courage when we’re asked to serve in a challenging position, live in an uncomfortable environment, negotiate a difficult relationship, sacrifi ce a long-held dream.

The people the Lord can best use for His divine purposes are those who feel the earth shake beneath them but remain standing, those who know how to lean against the gale to remain upright, those who determine to glorify Him whether He plants them in a desert, a rain forest, or on an iceberg afl oat in a sea of uncertainty.

Author T.D. Jakes uses his gift of imagination to ponder what God might be saying to us when we are required to adjust and trust. In his words, God might ask us, “Can I trust you to go through changes and still not change? Can I trust you to relocate and never move? Can I trust you to be altered and never be diff erent?”

ill  you  determine   to  glo-­

rify  the  Lord  whether  He  plants  

you  in  a  desert,  a  rain  forest,  

or  on  an  iceberg  afl  oat  in  a  sea  

of  uncertainty?

OUR STABILITY SOURCE By far the most unsettling

upheavals in life can come from feeling insecure about our relationship with God. Who is He? What does He want from me? Is there a purpose for my existence? Is there any hope for someone like me? How can I fi nd freedom from guilt over things I’ve done or said? What happens after I die?

If you have yet to make a sure, permanent, rock-solid connection with God through His Son Jesus, please allow us to walk you through the process of discovering who He is and how much He loves you. We encourage you to start by reading the Gospel of John in the Bible and then turning to Romans 10:8-11 for confi rmation that it is as simple as trusting Jesus and confessing Him as Lord of your life. You can contact us with any faith-related questions by mail or through the email link on the website. Please know we’re praying for you.

trust you to be altered and never be

Celebrating the power of God to turn simple words into messages of Hope that penetrate hearts and draw them closer to Him…

Dear Jackie and Cindy,

Have you been reading my journal entries? Your

broadcast today sounded as if it was lifted from my

pages and my tears. It’s so good to know I’m not alone

and that God cares about what I’m facing.

Dear friends at HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME,I stumbled onto your program today. I don’t usually listen to Christian radio, but the Lord knew I needed to hear what you had to say. It’s a subject I’ve wrestled with for a long time and finally feel like I understand better what I’m supposed to do to get back into a right relationship with the Lord.

Dear HEARTBEAT,Just when I thought there wasn’t any hope for someone like me, you taught me how wrong I was. Thank you for pushing me back into God’s Word for the answers I was seeking in all the wrong places. Keep up the good work. Please send me several copies of the Backyard Friends magazine for my small group.

Dear Jackie and Cindy,I used to wonder where you get all your ideas. Now I know they must come straight from heaven, because today’s message was exactly what I needed. And only God could have told you how to make it zing into my heart.

Listeners and readers, please know how much it means to us and to those who help support HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME when you take time to write or email how the Lord uses this ministry in your lives.

16

17

New ownership for a family of fi ve of our long-cherished stations now has a standardized format that at this time does not carry many familiar programs like HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME. Our greatest loss is listeners with whom we’ve connected over the years.

If you used to listen but can no longer hear the broadcast in your area, it might encourage you to know that if you have Internet access, you can still hear HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME through the websites of other stations

carrying the broadcast. Some listeners choose to stay

connected another way. They opt to become part of our Life Support team by contributing on a regu-lar basis or signifi cantly once a year. Life Support team members receive a printed (or electronic via email) transcript and prayer request bookmark once a month.

Please join us in praying for new radio outlets across the country, as the Lord gives opportunity.

As a representative of the ministry, Cindy is open to an itin-erary of speaking engagements, mother/daughter banquets, women’s events, writers’ groups, open houses, or “An Evening with THE HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME” events.

If you serve in leadership with an organization that might be inter-ested in scheduling an event like this in your area, please contact us via email: heartbeatofthehome@gmail.com or by tucking a note into the mail. If the envelope sent with this magazine is gone, you can find our mailing address on the back of the magazine or through the website: www.heartbeatofthehome.org

News  and  NotesNews  and  Notes

From our own website (www.heart-beatofthehome.org), go to our “Related Links” page and click on the KFSI (Roches-ter, MN) station website. Then on the left, click “Listen Now” and follow the directions. HEARTBEAT airs at 8:30 in the morning (CST) on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on that station. Or from the “Related Links” page, click on the WWJC station website. On the left of their home page, click on the “Media” section, then click on “Live Stream” and

then “Tune In.” HEARTBEAT airs at 11:15am (CST) Monday through

Friday on WWJC (Duluth, MN).

1818

AND LAID THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE EARTH;THE HEAVENS ARE THE WORK OF YOUR HANDS…

THOUGH EVERYTHING ELSE CHANGES, LORD,YOU REMAIN THE SAME,

AND YOUR YEARS SHALL HAVE NO END.”—PSALM 102:25, 27, AMPLIFIED BIBLE, REVISED

IOWA

KENTUCKY

MINNESOTA

WEST  VIRGINIA

WISCONSIN

If the HEARTBEAT broadcasts are not carried on your local Christian radio station, you can direct the station manager to our website, or contact us with the name and address of the station and contact person and we’ll prepare an audition package.

STATION  LOG

If you received this magazine by some means other than through our mailing list and want to continue to receive it...or if you want to make a contribution to enable us to keep off ering this resource free of charge...

please contact us through the enclosed envelope or through our email address: heartbeatofthehome@gmail.com

STATION  

19