When we placed my mom, who has Alzheimer's, into
nursing home care in August of 2016, I grieved. To make matters worse, Mom's new home is in the middle
of a wind farm, and this was difficult for me because since childhood I have
had a fear of large, manmade objects. From base to the tip of an outstretched
wing, these turbines stretch 500 feet into the sky.
I was praying about this one day as I drove to
the nursing home, and a thought came into my mind: "Think of them as
sentinels." Just this one idea changed the way I felt about those
huge machines. The turbines no longer seemed threatening, but benevolent; like
guardian angels keeping watch over my mother. My acceptance of the wind
turbines was mirrored in a gradually increasing ability to see God's wisdom and provision at
work as He helped me release my mom into the care of others.
On my drives to visit Mom, a story idea began to form in my mind about an angel who inhabits the tower of a wind turbine, keeping watch
over the people below. I began taking back roads on my daily trips
to the nursing home in order to drive closer to the turbines, eventually gaining
courage to stop my car and stand behind the gate to an access road only about two
hundred feet from one of the huge machines. Over a period of months, I took the
photos at the beginning of this post, and many more.
In early March, as I finished writing the novella
length ebook, Wind Sentinel, the
horrific wildfires had begun burning through Texas, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Kansas.
A story about a wildfire became interwoven into Wind Sentinel, and when I completed the story I knew I wanted to
use it to donate to farmers and ranchers who suffered such heartbreaking loss
in Clark County near Ashland, Kansas.
100% of my first days’ proceeds (including
preorders) from Wind Sentinel will go
to the Ashland Community Wildfire Relief Fund.
Order your copy now for just $3.99, and share this information with
anyone who enjoys reading with the Kindle app. The book will be delivered to your Kindle device April 21.
The Lord can bring beauty from ashes.
I’ve seen this during my 13 year and counting Alzheimer’s journey with my mom. Whenever
life delivers blows we might not think we can survive, we can look for the Lord’s
provision. He always comes through for us.
Blessed be His Name!
*********
To
make individual contributions:
Go
to Ashlandcf.com or
Bring
checks to Stockgrowers State Bank or
Mail
to: Ashland Community Foundation/Wildfire Relief Fund
P.O.
Box 276
Ashland,
KS 67831
Please
note: Wildfire Relief Fund in the memo line
A
touching video that describes the losses endured from the wildfires of 2017
along with accounts of heartwarming relief efforts can be found here:
If
you would like to donate to help others who faced devastating losses from the
2017 fires, go to http://www.beefusa.org/ and
follow the fire relief resources link.
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Oh interesting...I am no fan of those things at all. Had not realized that there was so much devastation in Oklahoma and Kansas.
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