Author Archives: dinahoverlien

The Voices Behind Me

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PB and I sit in the second row from the front most Sundays. Our church is out-growing its small meeting space, so we go early to get our seats. And have coffee. And mingle with people.

The worship team always brings its best. We’ve come to expect top-notch musicianship, outstanding vocals, and deeply meaningful worship. They are incredible.

But it’s not the voices singing from the front of the church that move me.

It’s the voices behind me.

Some weeks I come to worship full of joy—
eager and ready to praise.

Some weeks I drag myself in—
bedraggled and beaten down by the world.

Then we start to sing.

The pros in front nail it, but it’s the untrained, slightly off-key notes wafting up from the back rows that stir my soul. Some other people have had a hard week, too. Some are dealing with bad news. Some are grieving loss. Some are questioning their faith. Some are carrying disappointments.

But they sing.

So I sing, too.

God bless
all the voices behind me.

Through Jesus, therefore,
let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—
the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.
Hebrews 13:15

Minus One, Plus One

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Grandkid Lineup 2025

Grandkid #2 was home sick, so we were minus one this year. We missed her!

Grandkid #11 is holding a “?”, so we will be plus one next year. We can’t wait!

Twelve tribes. Twelve disciples. The Twelve. The dirty dozen.

Cousin Camp 2025

Eight of the most interesting, entertaining, delightful people in the universe.

Now you know why I needed August Break.

“If I had known how wonderful it would be to have grandchildren,
I’d have had them first.”
~ Lois Wyse

August Break

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I’ve heard that in France
they have a tradition
of taking the whole month of August off.

I think that’s a great idea.

I’m gonna try it.

Au revoir, mes amis!

See you in September!

Hummers

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PB put a hummingbird feeder on the kitchen window. The little hummers buzz around like dive-bombers in the back yard, but I wanted a little action in the front window.

I’ve been watching out the window to see what lessons I can learn from these avian wonders.

This little fella was my first sighting.

He didn’t know Who was providing the nectar or how it got there.
He didn’t know his Benefactor was waiting and watching his every move.
He didn’t know how much joy he was bringing to The One on the other side of the glass.

He knew there was nourishment there, free for the taking.
He knew that in order to receive it, he had to stop his constant movement.
He knew something instinctual was beckoning him toward the beautiful, good and true.

“Come all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!”
Isaiah 55:1

“Look at the birds of the air;
they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,
and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.
Are you not much more valuable than they?”
Matthew 6:26

Far and Away

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Do you know how far it is from the north pole to the south pole?

I’ll tell you how far it is from the north pole to the south pole—
approximately 12,430 miles.

A group of explorers actually made the trip.*
It took them through 42 countries and several oceans over a span of 475 days.

What about the distance from east to west?

That’s harder to calculate.
In fact, it cannot be measured.
There is no east pole or west pole.
The distance from east to west is immeasurable.
And I’m so glad.

David the psalmist wrote, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” Ps. 103:11-12

Even though David had incomplete knowledge of how vast the earth is, the inspired words are completely accurate. If he had written, “as far as the north is from the south, so far does he remove our transgressions from us,” we would be measuring and calculating our standing with God.  

But east from west—that is boundless, bottomless, limitless, measureless.
A forgiven sin is removed far away, beyond our reach.
Which is far and away the best news. 

Now, how high are the heavens above the earth?

*For more about the expedition, see transglobalcar.com

Old Faithful

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I have been faithful to PB for over 45 years.

I faithfully fed four children three meals a day over a 20 year span.

I have led women’s Bible studies, helped pull off Vacation Bible Schools and Christmas programs, provided music for funerals and weddings, and made oodles of Tater Tot hotdishes for church potlucks.

I have led a faithful life.
I have loved living a faithful life.

As I get older, I’m finding there is less on my plate,
and that’s a wonderful thing.
PB is perfectly content with scrambled eggs and toast for supper.
I can get a week’s worth of laundry done in an afternoon.
No one is depending on me to organize an event.
It’s a wonderful thing.

But I still want to live a faithful life.

So, here’s the truth:
I don’t post these little reflections every Thursday morning because I think I have anything brilliant to say. I don’t expect my words to go viral or even get noticed. There’s one reason I show up here week after week—it’s an exercise in faithfulness.

Some weeks I spend hours pondering a thought, shaping those thoughts into words, and then revising them over and over. Some weeks I throw it together just before hitting “Publish.”

This self-imposed assignment keeps me thinking, learning, growing. The fact that anybody actually reads it— that’s icing on the cake.

I don’t want to get older and fizzle out.
I want to grow old and be found faithful.
As faithful as Old Faithful.
It’s a wonderful thing.

“When the Son of Man comes,
will He find faith on the earth?”
Luke 18:8


Distracted

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The other evening I was playing Wordle on my phone,
while working on a blog post on my laptop,
while watching the Brewer game on TV.

Was I being “distracted from distraction by distraction”?
(T. S. Eliot, “The Four Quartets”)
Sure I was.

The only time the word “distracted” shows up in the Bible is in Luke 10:40. “But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.” In Greek, the word means “to be driven about or dragged all around.”

I wanted to know more.

So I put down my Wordle game and looked away from the ballgame so I could open up another tab on my laptop and look up the history of the word “distraction.”

One of the meanings of the word comes from a French term related to a cruel form of torture in the Middle Ages, reserved for the very worst of criminals. The offender’s four limbs were tied to four horses……and……well……they got dis-tracted.

The world tries to pull us in different directions
until we feel stretched and about to snap.

Jesus offers something different.
“In him all things hold together…
So that in everything He might have supremacy.”
Colossians 1:17-18

Lord, I invite You to rule and reign over my time today. Teach me to set aside worthless idols and be drawn to Your beauty, truth and goodness. Distract me away from distractions with Your loving-kindness. Help me keep my eyes on You.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

45

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This is what 45 Overliens look like.

They came from the east coast, from the west coast, and from down the road.

At the end of the day,
we ate 22 lbs. of pulled pork,
we finished off a DQ ice cream sheet cake and a jumbo box of Bomb Pops,
we drank gallons of lemonade and coolers full of soda,
we talked and talked and talked
(these ARE Overliens, after all).
Some of us swam in the lake.
Most of us sat in the shade.
It was a glorious day.

We were missing a few—27 to be exact.

I noticed that one name kept coming up in conversations—Gigi.
Great-grandma was the matriarch of the family until she passed in 2021.
She prayed for all of her children
and grandchildren
and great-grandchildren
every day.

She prayed for our sick babies and adventurous teenagers and prodigal rebels.
She prayed in four daughters-in-law and one son-in-law.
She brought down blessings on our families.

We’re still reaping the benefits from Gigi’s faithful prayers.
Now it’s our turn.

Ten Thousand Thunders

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One of the goals I set for myself this summer is to read “Paradise Lost” by John Milton. It’s an epic poem, first published in 1667 and considered to be Milton’s masterpiece. Written in blank verse, which means it doesn’t rhyme, every line has exactly ten syllables. And there are over 10,000 lines in this poem. I thought it would take me all summer to slog through this renowned classic.

But I can’t put it down.

The poem tells the story of the war in heaven, the expulsion of Lucifer with one-third of the rebellious angels, and the temptation and fall of humans in Eden.

The other day, I had to put it down because I was weeping.
I had no idea this archaic poem would move me so much.

Here’s the scene:

As the war in heaven between the holy angels and the fallen angels raged on, God called on the great Son to enter the fray. Jesus roared into the battle on a “fierce chariot” with “burning wheels” that shook all of heaven. In His right hand He grasped “ten thousand thunders.” With one look at the Son, the demons “withered all their strength.” They were driven like a herd of goats to the “crystal wall of heaven” where opening wide before them was the “wasteful deep, a monstrous sight that shook them with horror.” But with the Almighty Son closing in on them, they chose to jump—”headlong themselves they threw down to the bottomless pit. Nine days they fell.”

Here’s my thought:

Milton’s depiction of the Son of God in all His power and glory was breathtaking. His account of the decisive and complete victory over evil gave me goosebumps. But what brought me to tears was the realization that Jesus could have shaken earth with ten thousand thunders, but instead chose to withhold His power and submit to death, even death on a cross. For love of you and me.

I know what happens next, but I can’t wait to see how Milton describes it.