Singing praises from far away

CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON

“I believe in God as I believe in my friends, because I feel the

breath of his affection, feel his invisible and intangible hand,

drawing me, leading me, grasping me.”

-- MIGUEL DE UNAMUNO

My sister-in-law Kelly and I both have birthdays in October and we

always call to send our love and prayers to each other sometime

during the day. Over the years, we have also sung “Happy Birthday to

You” on the phone, sometimes by ourselves or, whenever possible,

accompanied by family members.

This year, I came home from a birthday brunch and had several

blinking lights on my answering machine. One was from my parents, who

sang to me, and the other was another singing greeting from Kelly and

two of her children. Two weeks later, I called Kelly on her birthday

and was surprised when she picked up the phone, instead of a machine.

I was ready to sing to a machine, but changed my mind when I

connected with her in person. I told her that part of my present to

her was that I wouldn’t sing, and we both chuckled that singing

wasn’t one of our strong suits. We proceeded to talk for quite some

time.

Kelly and her husband and children live in Atlanta, so we compared

the weather for a while. I told her about our recent rains, which

included thunder and lightening. Such intense weather is unusual for

us, but every time we have it, I think of God’s power and majesty.

I told Kelly about the clear skies after the rain, and that the

air was so clean that we could not only see Catalina one brisk

morning, but we could also see reflections from windows in Avalon.

Thunder and lightning are more common to those in Atlanta, but

Kelly agreed about the sense of God’s power.

I said that it was unusually cold out and she explained that

Georgia was having unusually warm weather. She was outside gardening

as we spoke and she said that there was a strong, steady breeze and

that it was raining leaves of every color. I told her it was raining

leaves in California too.

We both agreed that we love the changing leaves of fall. We also

talked a bit more about the diverse wonder of God’s creation in the

different places we lived. We shared what God had been teaching us

individually. Kelly expressed an excitement that was as fresh as the

morning.

“I can’t tell you how much I love God and all that he is doing in

my life, and all around me,” she said.

We talked more about that, and I told her God had been teaching me

more about trusting Him in all of life’s different events and

circumstances. We prayed for each other, and it felt as if God hugged

me through her prayers and the beauty everywhere I looked.

“We’re just about as far as we can be from each other in this

country, Cindy, but I feel close to you just the same,” she said and

I agreed.

Before we finished our phone conversation, we agreed that despite

different temperatures where we live, different skies up above and

our different time zones and zip codes, we clearly love the same God.

And you can quote me on that.

* CINDY TRANE CHRISTESON is a Newport Beach resident who speaks

frequently to parenting groups. She may be reached via e-mail at

cindy@onthegrow.com or through the mail at 537 Newport Center Drive,

Box 505, Newport Beach, CA 92660.