JP: Centered

JP Writes:
The weekend of May 15th, we found ourselves in the middle of our beautiful country, LITERALLY! One of our "Intro family" members was getting married in her hometown of Hesston, KS. Chastity has been a big sister and tremendous role model for Ashton and Mallory since that first week that we arrived in Kansas City. So, we loaded up and made the 3 plus hour drive to the beginning of nowhere for the Saturday afternoon event. The wedding itself was absolutely beautiful, the perfect picture of the bridegroom-bride relationship that God desires for us to enjoy with Him. But, that is a blog for another day.

What struck us during our trip over to Hesston and all day Sunday as we explored the Heart of America was the simplistic beauty of the land, the vast emptiness, the pace of life in the towns that we passed through, and the peace and quiet of the landscape. Especially the quietness. It seemed as though the quietness screamed at us at times.

As we stood at the top of the 40 foot high tower at the Maxwell Wildlife Reserve scanning the 2,400 acres for the ever elusive buffalo and elk somewhere (anywhere!), we couldn't help notice the sound of nothing. No cars, no planes, no music, only the wind blowing through the tall grass and wheat. At times we couldn't handle it and somebody had to speak.

Same thing at Coronado Heights where as legend has it after scanning the horizon for the Seven Cities of Gold and finding nothing Spanish explorer Francisco Coronado gave up his search. In his search for man's riches, he failed to notice the beauty and riches that extended to the horizons right in front of his eyes. As we looked out over this gift from God, we couldn't help but enjoy the peace and quietness as we "explored" this hilltop .
The pinnacle of our trip, at least to me, was standing in the geographical of the center of the United States just outside of Lebanon, KS. Again, the quietness and remoteness jumped out at us. Here, in the middle of farms was a stone marker, a small abandoned motel, a picnic area, an 8 seat chapel and three very large crosses. The thought hit me, "why do we cram into cities of millions of people, racing from here to there, busy, busy, busy?" These people had the right idea. Slow down and enjoy what God had placed around you.

A newspaper article at the picnic area indicated that only about 2,000 people visit this site each year. How sad. But this place spoke volumes about the spiritual atmosphere of our country. Here in the dead center of our country stood that chapel and 3 crosses. Just like God, whether anyone noticed or not, they were there in the heart of America. Symbols of why our country has been blessed as it is has been. Politicians and others can say what they might, but these are symbols of what made our nation great.

We tend to take for granted what a privilege it is to live here. Luke 17 records the story of Jesus healing ten men of leprosy. Even though all ten were healed only one returned (the non-Jew) to give glory to God for the blessing. Very few of us tend to turn back to God and thank Him for blessing us and the country in which we live. In this story Jesus even responded to the one that came back to thank Him. In essence Jesus said "Uh, I blessed 10. What's up with the others? Aren't they thankful? Where are they?" They were too focused on themselves and their vanity. They were too eager to show off how good they looked to the leaders of their day and to everyone else. The same can be said of today. Too often we are to focused on showing everyone how good our ministry/occupation/lifestyle looks rather than focusing on thanking and worshiping the One who blessed us with these things.


The quietness at the center of the United States was a prophetic reminder of the quietness that comes forth from America to the heavenly throne room. We are no longer centered. Like the Israelites of the Old Testament we have ceased to see the need for God. I am thankful that the Lord allowed me to stand in the heart of our country and intercede for the turning of our hearts back to Him. Will you join me in praying that the U.S. church body will wake up and break it's silence? Blessings.

Be joyful always, pray continuously, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus

1 Thess 5:16-17