Peace and Grace

Good morning, Friends!

I’m excited to tell you that my friend, Katie Reid, has honored me with an invitation to share about a time I felt God speak to me for an episode of her Listen Close, Listen Well: Lean in, My Daughters series of blog posts.

I’ve been blessed many times through my life to hear the whisperings of the Lord in my spirit.  Usually it’s thing of subtly, manifesting as a resonance, as a sense of peace, as an assurance I’m on the right track.  Other times I feel it as a check, as a warning to alter my course.  Rarely, it comes with strength and stunning specificity.

I believe God speaks to us all, though I recognize we translate what we hear according to each our own views of life, and we call what we hear by a variety of names:  intuition, instinct, premonition, even sixth-sense.  But I know to my very depths those whisperings are the Voice of my Unfailing Friend, my Maker, my God.

In the wake of my first husband’s death, I was quickened afresh to the sense of God’s continual presence when taken unawares by a spectacular sunset.  I was by myself, driving home between visitations at the funeral home, lost in thought and the quagmire of my grief.  I crested a little hill upon the road, and there it was – the sky, a wild abandon of hue – the sun, pulsing with a brilliant vitality as it hovered just above the horizon.  I gasped, and said, “Oh, God!  Oh, God!  Oh, how glorious!  Oh, thank You!  Thank You!”  And I realized in that flash of exaltation, for however I loved Brent, for however close we’d been, for however I’d depended upon him, needed him, wanted him – only God Himself ever had been and ever could be my constant companion.

His presence with me – His nudgings, His encouragements, His cautions – and, yes, even His Voice, is a thing I’ve come to treasure and depend upon.  Will you join me at Katie’s today for a little tale of Peace and Grace, of Fear and Doorknobs, of the “still, small voice” of my Beloved Friend as it rang and reverberated within my soul?

All photos taken by Kim Woodard Osterholzer

Thank you so much for the gift of your time!

If you enjoyed this article, let’s stay connected! I welcome you to subscribe to my blog, and to join in the conversation by commenting below! And be sure to poke around here a bit, as there are lots more stories awaiting you.

Kim Woodard Osterholzer, Colorado Springs Homebirth Midwife and Author

Books by Kim:

Homebirth: Safe & Sacred

Homebirth: Commonly Asked Questions

A Midwife in Amish Country: Celebrating God’s Gift of Life

Nourish + Thrive: Happy, Healthy Childbearing

One Little Life at a Time: Recommendations + Record Keeping for Aspiring Homebirth Midwives