Flax in the Red Hills North Dakota

The Red Hills

Glorious Day

by Wendy Kleker

            What a day!  I stand on my hills (I’m beginning to think of the Red Hills near our house as MY hills) the view is nearly into forever.  The Hills aren’t very high, but I feel as if I’m on top of the world.  The sky is sapphire blue and straight above it deepens into cobalt, with shinning, white fluffy clouds floating over.  It seems I can almost touch the billowing softness of them. 

            The grass, like an emerald carpet over the land, glistens so bright it hurts my eyes, with a sprinkling of yellow, blue and purple wildflowers everywhere.  Patches of red scorio on the hills stand out like a bright star in the night sky. 

            What a glorious day!  The sun is warm on my back and neck, but a stiff breeze whips my hair and blows cool in my face. I turn in a circle and the vistas stretch out in all directions. The vibrant colors sing a song, with the birds in accompaniment.  Buttes glisten in the sunshine and the white clouds kiss the horizon.

            I burst into song and raise my arms to the Creator of all I see.  Words tumble into my head and praise bursts from my lips.  As I walk towards home, the song keeps coming flowing into my heart and soaring with the clouds to my God.  If it is at all possible, the day becomes brighter as I sing.  The colors become more vibrant, the sun shinning bright on the glistening clouds and the air more pure in my lungs. 

            This is the song I sang.

            Thank you Jesus.  Thank ya, thank ya Jesus! (repeat)

            Thank you for the clouds so bright,

            Thank you for all that is in my sight.

            Thank you for the sky so blue

            Thank you for Your love that’s true.

            Thank you Jesus.  Thank ya, thank ya Jesus!

            Thank you for this glorious day

            Thank you for making my way.

            Thank you for the breeze so sweet

            Thank you for the friends I meet.

            Thank you Jesus!  Thank ya, thank ya Jesus!

            Thank you for the wildflowers

            Thank you for the rain showers.

            Thank you for the thunder clouds

            Thank you for the fear and doubt.

            Thank you Jesus!  Thank ya, thank ya Jesus!

            Thank you for the wind blowing free

            Thank you for the grass like a sea.

            Thank you for my husband so true,

            Thank you for my kids and grandkids too.

            Thank you Jesus!  Thank ya, thank ya Jesus!

            Thank you for this song I sing,

            Thank you for the blessings you bring.

            Thank you for the stars above,

            Thank you for your wonderful love.

            Praise you God!  Praise Your Holy name!

            Praise you God!  Praise Your Holy name!

And on it goes.  It will fit nearly any tune and as the day changes so, the words can differ.  Try it!  Amazing how a song and praise can brighten your day.

The Storm

            Then there’s the storms, Holy cow, I’ve never seen such storms.  Clouds, dark and ominous lumber slowly across the horizon.  The air is absolutely sill.  I listen and there is no sound, no birds, no wind, no crickets, as if all of creation is waiting.  There is a feeling on the air, or is it in my head?  A foreboding feeling of dread and doom.  The evening air seems to tingle and snap with static and tension. 

            I sit in my lounge chair in the yard one night after a particular hot day.  The temps are still in the 80’s at 9:00 and the soft, warm rain falling is as refreshing as a shower.  It seems strange to sit in my shorts in the rain and enjoy it.  I don’t believe there is any place in Montana that I have done this, maybe I have forgotten, but I remember the rain always being chilly. 

            I watch a light show to the south, long jagged streaks of lightening one right after the other a continuous stream of light.  Coming from the west is another black cloud with lightening bolts streaking the sky and I think if they come together we may be in trouble.

            Peaceful is the rain, so relaxing is God’s beautiful show, I ignore the apprehension in the air. Suddenly the wind comes up, the rain is no longer peaceful but driven pellets.  I run for cover.  BAM!  A gust hits the house.  Wind whips in the windows knocking things on the floor, snapping the curtains and blowing in torrents of rain.  I rush from window to window closing them and catching flying objects.  I run upstairs where the wind has blown things on the floor.  I look out the window, the trees are whipping in all directions, lightening flashes constantly and thunder booms.  Suddenly the house shudders and shakes.  A roar fills the air, as if a train is boring down on us.  The dogs bark like crazy.

            This is it!  A tornado!  I run to gather up flashlight, dogs, and my cell phone and head to the basement.  But the roar subsides.  Gusts still hit the house and shake it, the lightening is continuous, the thunder deafening, but maybe, just maybe there won’t be a tornado.  I go from window to window peering at the sky.  The trees are thrashing about, the wind is horrendous, but the train sound is gone.   

            Talk about a nail biter!  My land!  Tension indeed.  Fear making my head hurt.

            “Jesus!  Jesus!  Jesus!  Protect us!” Is all I can say.

            Happy hides in the bathroom since it’s the only room that doesn’t have an outside wall or window.  Doti follows me around like a shadow.  John calls from half way between Belfield and home and says he had to pull over since he couldn’t see the road from the rain and hail.  We had no hail, but the wind here would’ve blown his little car off the road, I’m sure.

            Thunderstorms don’t bother me, but the high winds and threat of tornados are nearly more than I can endure.  Like Happy, I want to curl up somewhere dark and safe and not come out until it’s over. 

            Life is like that, isn’t it?  One minute it’s a glorious day.  Everything is bright and beautiful and shinning in the sun.  The next dark clouds are whirling, spinning and rushing over head.  The wind assaults and roars and thrashes from all directions.   I don’t know where to go or what to do.  I don’t want to face it, not a tornado.  Not today!  I hide in a dark, safe corner. A place that seems secure.  But my seemingly safe and secure hiding place is untrustworthy, fickle, even treacherous when the house is whirled away in the roaring vortex of a tornado.

            The basement is damp, dank, and cold, but it’s the safest place to be, so they tell me, during a tornado.  “Even though you hear a great roaring, crashing, banging, and ripping over your head, STAY THERE! You’ll be safe in the basement, until the storm passes over.”  

            “Do not be afraid.  Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring to you today.”   Until the storm passes over. 

            The storm always passes.  Then the next day, the day after is always the brightest and most glorious day ever. 

            “The Lord will fight for you, you need only to stand still.”  Ex. 14:13