Lisa Rogers
lisa_rogers47167 yahoo.com
 

Writings by Lisa:
Food for Thought
God Pushed Me
Quit Striving

Note from Kay:   Lisa wrote to me when she did a search for things relating to Clarion Call.  God has given her, too, the command to sound the clarion!  Lisa responded when God laid it on her heart to share with YOU what He has given her.

Jan Curtis
jcurtis uwyo.edu
 

Pictures by Jan:
Northern Lights, Beauty from God

Jan is a photographer who was very generous and allowed me to use some pictures of the aurora borealis that she took to bless you.

Note from Kay:   I don't remember exactly how I found Jan.  I do remember asking her if I could use her pictures at the Clarion Call.  They really are BEAUTIFUL!

Debbie Larkin
singlikealark gmail.com
 

Writing by Debbie:
I Am the Answer, A Devotional

Debbie's testimony:
I am God's beloved! You are, too, if you have accepted His gift of eternal life.

This gift of life that He has given me includes growing up in Dallas, Texas, being raised by a divorced Christian mother, experiencing much shame and fear, yet being raised in a large church that ministered the Word of God greatly through music. Now, years later, that gift of music is still in my heart, and I have been able to share it and pass it on to all that I meet.

My husband and I have been married for almost 32 years, and our daughter is carrying that gift of music through her voice and pursuing a masters degree in music, and our son is becoming an audio-engineer (he could produce his sister's CD!)

The gift of music was exceptional, and gave me the opportunity to sing in our church choirs from age five through high school, including concert tours throughout the US and Canada  I had two years of voice lessons taught by church members.  I participated in seven LP albums of our Westminster Youth Choir and bi-weekly recording sessions for KRLD radio's the Protestant Hour.  I had the honor of particpating annually on Christmas Eve in live broadcasts of Handel's oratorio, The Messiah, with a 20-piece orchestra from the Dallas Symphony Orchestra! Our minister of music owned an international music company, and we had a very large repertoire of music, from sacred classical to patriotic to spirituals.
We sang the Word, and I am forever grateful to how deeply the Lord wrote His Word upon my heart through the many Scripture songs we memorized and sang in those choirs.

The concert tours were primarily accapella, so listening very closely for pitch and blend was excellent training for listening to hear the still small voice of God! Now, years later, not only do I remember the songs, but also I am still willing to yield to listen closely to the Lord, especially realizing that He speaks to us in many ways, even through other people.

The two poems in the devotional here at the Clarion Call were put on my heart during a long season of health struggles. An unrecognized hemorrhaging problem, that lasted for over seven years, caused me to be very weak and needing much rest, up to 16 hours of sleep per day. Through this, the Lord drew me closer and closer to Him, and He would speak to my heart, and I kept a spiral tablet nearby to write down His words. I was amazed to see that they came out in rhyme! Years before, I had written poetry, some with humor, but many with philosophical ideas of love and life and purpose. I had not written poetry for 20 years, and when I began writing down these words from the Father's heart, I saw how deeply His poetry penetrated my heart, healing wounds that I could not even describe.

Truly, the Lord binds up the broken-hearted. I no longer had shame, fear, or anger that had been deep inside. Through His healing process inside of me, He enabled and continues to enable me to share His healing with others. And He has given me great boldness to proclaim His healing love. That is His love as I cannot love like this on my own.

But even greater still, He has given me a deep desire to serve Him in all I do, say or think and to truly rejoice during times of loss. Through Him I can rejoice, realizing that He is removing more of me, and replacing that with more of Jesus!

May you be strengthened and encouraged by His Words, even those coming through this vessel.

Note from Kay:   Debbie and I have been corresponding for a while.  How did we find each other?  Good question.  God is the answer!

Donald Eilers
gae44dre cox.net
 

Articles by Don:
Death of Self
Trust
A Relationship With Papa
Papa God
God's Leading
Dependence

Donald's testimony:
This is a story of Don’s life from August 5, 1970.

I was a normal American boy and young man up until that time. I didn’t care much about God or His Son and thought only of myself. Up until that time, life was just what I had to do to enjoy myself. There was a lot of “booze” which worked into other drugs.

I joined the Air Force in August, 1966 to keep from being drafted into the Army. I spent 3 years stationed in England as a Security Police Officer, canine patrol. I was reassigned to the United States, Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. All four years of my off time I spent “partying” with the guys. Then on August 4, 1970, 10 days before I was supposed to get out of the service, I was out with some friends. We started drinking before noon and had a car accident the next morning around 1:00 or 2:00 A.M.

The car went off the road and when we tried to get back on the road, the front axle snapped and from what I’ve been told, the car rolled 3 times and went end over end 3 times and ended up against a tree. That was the start of my road back to God.

All I know is what I hear which is that I was shipped to Fitzsimons Hospital in Denver, CO.  My folks were called and told about the accident, where I was, but were told not to hurry out because I probably wouldn’t be alive when they got there, but my God had other plans for me.

I spent 2 months unconscious, with a refrigerator blanket on top of me as well as under me to keep my temperature under control. They had me strapped in bed so I wouldn’t pull my IV’s out and was fed through tubes.

This whole time the doctors kept telling my Mom that I probably wouldn’t live, but if I did, I would be a vegetable. In October I came out of it but knew very little of the accident or anything else in my life. I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t talk very good. That was the start of my recovery. From Fitzsimons I was shipped to the VA Hospital in Omaha, NE so I would be closer to home. I spent almost 2 months there before they let me go home in a wheelchair.

The next 3½ years were spent trying to get better, learning to walk, talk and finally meeting the best woman in my life. Every year I had to go back to the VA hospital for an exam to see if I had gotten any better. At my yearly exam in 1974, the Air Force decided I was fit for world wide duty and gave me the option to come back in or they would give me an honorable discharge.

Thank goodness I had a father that told me I could never get any insurance for myself, so I would be best off to go back into the Air Force. I went back in and was retrained into procurement, where I spent another 3½ years at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland. I had a Master Sergeant who worked to get me permanently discharged for medical reasons. A doctor on base agreed and said he would do all he could to help me.

After they gave me my medical discharge, I came back to my home town with my wife and two boys. That’s when God really started working. I accepted Christ as my savior in 1980. Things didn’t change much.  In the meantime, I tried to do as much as I could and did not think of or depend on God as I should.

From 1980 until 2000, I had had seven operations. One operation for plastic surgery on my tracheotomy scar, three operations for an abscess in my abdomen, one operation just to see where all the drainage was coming from;,one operation removing my left kneecap, and one back operation. On February 18, 2000, I had my left knee replaced but it didn’t work out very well and 1½ years later I had to have it replaced again because I was falling down too many times. Sometime during those two years between knee replacements, Papa God really started working on me, breaking me down to where I had to be totally dependent on Him.

He became my Papa, my Savior, and my Guide. I still have a lot of problems, but He has given me a peace that goes beyond anything I can tell you. It has become a relationship that grows with every minute of my life.

There are a lot more things I could tell, like taking a 34 year smoker and helping him quit in one night or the things He has told me. These things should be enough for anyone to see my God and the kind of relationship He wants with each and every person.

I hope this helps explain where I am at with my Papa and as far as writing the story, I don’t think most would believe it anyway, but if I can convince just one person to trust Christ as savior then all I go through is worth it.

With Love in Christ

Don

P.S. This has happened to me since I wrote this. On September 11th 2004 while I sat here at this computer my wife of 32 years had a grand maul seizure in another room and died. That whole night I kept asking the Lord how much more I had to give, but God is faithful and did answer me in His time to show me why and bring a peace back in me. I still mourn my loss, but He has helped me greatly.

Note from Kay:   I "met" Don when he emailed me in 2005 saying he had a great testimony and had written something about "Death to Self".  That email arrived shortly after God had let me know He was sending more people to write things for the Clarion Call.  I read his email and was overjoyed at God's faithfulness.  I hadn't replied to Don when my computer crashed and took my email with it.

A couple of months later Don wrote again because he hadn't heard from me.  Hooray!!