Jill Pearson: Blog

 
When I wrote the song Empty Chair, I had no idea there would be a new one in my own family this year. Grandpa Hamor passed away last week at the age of 95. Shortly before his death he drove (yes, drove!) to lunch with his good friend Don, he mowed his own lawn, and he bought a new pole saw so he could cut some branches off a tree in his backyard. A stroke took this gentle old man who was pretty much done with this life and all its aches and shakes. I am happy for him.
 
I had never been to a military funeral, but at the words of the dear old chaplain, at the report of a 21-gun salute, and at the tender playing of Taps, my heart was moved. A tear slipped down when they presented my mother with the flag, folded in a tight triangle.  I loved how the officer hailed Grandpa's contribution to country. Grandpa was more likely to talk about the weather than the war. He never met a stranger, and he regularly called me up to check in on the kids and husband and our life in Minnesota.
 
As [...]

 
I am learning, inch by inch, that the key to contentment is in seeking God and not His benefits. Disappointment, pain, and brushes with failure are essential to the formula. Mathematically, it doesn't make sense. I have to be dissatisfied to be satisfied? What?
 
God exists outside equations. That is why math and science can't figure Him out. That's why the human heart is not a calculator. It is a sum of all things. We are carefully, tenderly knit together. Not manufactured. I have walked through the enormous IBM campus where my husband works and have peeked onto the manufacturing floor where million-dollar components are assembled into multi-million dollar computers. Impressive. Yet it is child's play compared to the workings within me. And I am not even a molecule of what I WILL be!
 
My eyes fell today on this scripture... Hosea 13:6
 
When I fed them they were satisfied.
When the were satisfied, they became proud;
Then they forgot me.
 
Hmmmm. Do you [...]

 
Many are the plans of a man's heart, but the Lord's purposes prevail. Prov. 19:21
 
This weekend was much anticipated. My band and I, eight in all, were hired by a church in Iowa to lead worship and present a concert during the NW Iowa Women's Conference. We enjoyed it so much last year that we couldn't wait to do it again. We arrived on Friday night, no problem. But as we set up our equipment and rehearsed, there was meteorological chaos outside the doors. The rain had turned to snow, whipping and whirling into a frenzy. That area of Iowa had a big bullseye on it and accumulated 6-14 inches of heavy, wet snow throughout the night.
 
We barely made it to the first town on the slippery country roads. Rosie prayed for us the whole way. It took nearly an hour to go 7 miles, there was “no room at the inn,” and some very kind strangers (relatives of someone from the church) put 4 of us up for the night. The rest went on another 20 miles in 2 hours to the place we [...]

When a girl spends most of her days teaching math facts and picking up stray toys, doing laundry, and wiping up spills, she is rightly amazed when she is sitting in the wings of the stage, waiting for the concert to begin, and waiting some more because the ushers have to scrounge up 100 more chairs for the audience in the packed house, she begins to think she is in the Twilight Zone. She hears the still, small voice say, “I told you, child, to do this and trust Me. You are my instrument. You are my Herald. Now go sing!”
 
I really thought that people might avoid coming to a Christmas concert on Halloween weekend. It seemed so painfully early to be singing about the Christ child. But who am I to limit the Timeless Story? Who am I to underestimate these lovely people who came to support me and see what I had up my sleeve this time? Over 500 people showed up.
 
I stepped out on the stage to sing the opener, “Herald.” My 3 kids were by me, ready to quote Scripture [...]

My worst fear for Sam came true. The lower level of his home, including his recording studio, filled with 8 feet of water last week. One day you have a scenic view of a lovely river...the next day it has stolen half your house. We helped him gut the lower level to the studs on Sunday, and we washed the mud off anything we thought might be salvagable.

Right before the water overtook his basement, Sam's wife said, "You better grab your computer." That split second decision saved "Herald," the nearly completely CD that Sam and I and many musician had spent the last year recording. You can imagine our relief. And if you read my prior blog, "The Herald will Run with It," then you know that I am yet again AMAZED by the God Who Speaks. Selah.