WOW Worship? Yes, I Will!

Reminded today, that I who have so MUCH,,  give so little. And my friends,who  had so little,,,  gave me SO MUCH.

My 20oth Blog Post since opening this site on October 4, 2010!

Dear Donna Hanner, those of us left behind yet a little while miss you something fierce.  I hug Jim every time I see him, and he clings to me. Almost a year has gone by, and he weeps still.

Today, it is  a new day full of hope and promise.  I have your cd.  I want to ask you, where you are in heaven?  Will you join me in a song today?  I will sing from here.  Between us?? 

"LET THE GLORY OF THE LORD RISE AMONG US, LET IT RISE!!!!"

Tuesday was a bit of a transition for me. I had to face the reality that, like it or not, a Change had taken place. I had to pick up with what I had available to me and go forward. This was an emotional time.

I’m referring to the time had come for me to shop to replace necessary items that had been taken in the theft. It’s been a couple of weeks. The theft itself has had time to sink in. I made peace with my insecurity fears. I made a list of missing items, sent it in via email to the Heartland Express Channels. It was swept under the rug. No one even wants to talk about it with me. My car is paid for, so I only carry FL requirements of liability. I don’t own a home or rent an apartment. No insurance in other words.

The Schrade Old Timer knife my Dad gave me upon my gradutaion from Electronics school, my daughter’s backpacks, and the digital camera card with Angel’s wedding and Jeremiah’s new birth? Will never be replaced.

Some items were important to the daily function of my truck. Tools, a Commercial Vehicle Operator’s atlas, cleaning supplies (those add up), even scissors and tape had to be replaced.

I work hard to keep a positive attitude. I don’t need much for myself of my money usually, so I give it away as people need it. To have to ring up a big ticket to replace what I already invested in once? Was painful.

After a nap, I went back to work. I was organizing my truck while I waited to be loaded at a Shaw’s plant in Andalusia, AL. I came across a gift. I write this now, abashed and humbled.

There was a middle aged couple from my church, Jim and Donna Hanner. They were both bent over with physical injuries. A bit hard to get to know, especially Donna was a bit of a crusty curmudegeon. Yet, Countless times, God led me to them to pray in the altar. I would request permission, and lay hands on Donna’s hip, knee, feet.

My church has an annual picnic in March. There is a photographic taken of Donna, leaning on her cane, talking to me as I manned the massive grill in 2010. Her husband, Jim, bent over almost in half and his neck crooked, stands, as he always does, right by Donna's side.

In May '10, Donna stumbled. She got back up, but had a “catch” in her abdomen area. On their way to church she told Jim, “You better take me to the ER. Something’s wrong.”

Donna had advanced cancer from her lungs, stomach, all the organs and linings in the front of her abdomen!!!!

For a week, I was OTR and unable to get in to town. Hospitals are NOT my thing at all!! Yet, God asked me to go see Donna. When I went,, she was making jokes with the nurses, drifting in and out of consciousness. Jim and I talked a lot that day. I knew he ADORED her. I found out there as a visitor to her bedside, that Jim and Donna both were pilots, and that Donna had been a competitive dancer, before she broke her hip and knee.

Jim cried a lot,,, I reached over to touch him a lot. I held them both a lot. Their 3 children were not there right then to visit them. Our church family and ministry had been in and out as they could.

I left that day glad I had obeyed God. It was the last time I ever saw Donna alive. She passed away at home less than 3 weeks later. I was OTR again and did not get another opportunity to say goodbye.

Jim is lost without his companion of almost 50 years. One day, he came to me at church, with a tattered bag in his hands. He wanted me to have Donna’s music collection. A scruffy, scratched collection of cds and cassette tapes. Most were very old style, not my type of music at all. I put them in a shoebox here on my truck and ,,,,, well, to be honest? I forgot about them. I kept them to honor my friends.

Tonight? While organizing and unpackaging my new supplies, my hand brushed a cd. I looked at it and fell apart into humbled tears. Here I was feeling down about the theft, and yet, here, on THIS DAY, my hand comes to a cd that once was loved by Donna.

The cd? A 2 cd-set called “WOW Worship”. Over 30 songs of worship and praise by contemporary Christian artists .. this set happened to be from 2004 when I was “backslid” and out of the church scene at all. Songs and some artists that I do not even recognize.

WHAT TIMING!!!! The cds were filthy and scratched,, just as they came to me from Jim in that torn plastic bag. After I lovingly wiped them down? Beautiful, like new condition.

As I go on my way today, from Andalusia to Ringgold, GA I will pop one into my player. Reconnecting with my friends, Jim and Donna Hanner, and obeying a call to WORSHIP GOD with all I have within me. No longer sad about my situations, they are so petty and pale in comparison. Jim still mourns his loss of his mate and best friend. I see it in his eyes every time I approach him at church to hug his frail body.

I who have so MUCH,,  give so little. And my friends,who  had so little,,,  gave me SO MUCH.

Thoroughly rocked my world tonight… from both sides of the clouds.

To Donna? I love you. Sing to the angels. I will join you from here.

To Jim? I love you too. May my hug infuse you as God himself would embrace you.

To myself? Loved and cherished by God and my church family, I go on up the road.

With a lump in my throat, ache in my heart, and smile on my lips,

Jan M. Olsen

~J~
As I began the travel with my loaded trailer? The worship songs filled my truck and daybreak's dawn began to glow through the Southern pines and oaks.  I am not alone. Angels and my friends join in a heavenly chorus,,,, LET THE GLORY OF THE LORD RISE AMONG US, LET IT RISE!!!