In a Heartbeat

In a Heartbeat

By Dorinda Blann

Ba boom. Ba boom. Ba boom. Ba boom.
I don’t remember it, but it was the first sound I ever heard.
It was my mother’s heartbeat. Her womb was my cradle. Her heartbeat gave me a heartbeat. Her life gave me life. I heard her heartbeat every second of every day, until the day I was pushed from her womb and into the world.

Air came rushing in my lungs.I couldn' embrace.
Again, I heard her heartbeat.
As I have grown older, I have learned to love everything about her.

I love her physical heartbeat (her life).

I love her emotional heartbeat (her soul).

I love her spiritual heartbeat (her passion for Christ).
Her spiritual heartbeat (along with my father’s) pointed me to a life in Christ. I saw her model His compassion and His love every day. I heard her spiritual heartbeat through her Christ like actions. Her spiritual heartbeat is strong and always has been. Her spiritual heart beats in rhythm to the Master’s. She gave me a hunger for Christ~ in a heartbeat. I want my spiritual heartbeat to be like hers – strong, vibrant, and spirit-filled.
Again, I hear her heartbeat.
Her emotional heartbeat taught me to be a kind and caring person, yet strong and disciplined. She taught me to be passionate while pursuing God given talents. She encouraged me to find my own heartbeat in life. Her emotional heartbeat is strong and always has been. Her emotional heart beats to the same cadence as the Savior’s. She gave me my first set of wings ~ in a heartbeat. I want my emotional heartbeat to be like hers – healthy, full of life and always reaching out to others.
Again, I hear her heartbeat.
Her physical heartbeat gave me life, and gives her life.The doctor’s say they cannot do any more for her.No more medicines will make it stronger.The pace maker is doing all it can do.Her physical heartbeat is weak and wearing out.
Again, I hear her heartbeat.
Ba boom. Ba boom. Ba boom. Ba boom.
I would give her my heart, if I could,

in a heartbeat!
This woman, my mother, is so much more than a heartbeat.She is strength.She is courage.She is passion.She is wisdom.She is resourceful.She is dignity.She is godly.She is integrity.
She is my mother.
Again, I hear her heartbeat.
I hear her heartbeatwhen she loves on my children.I hear her heartbeatwhen she prays to our Father in heaven.I hear her heartbeatwhen she gives to missions.I hear her heartbeatwhen she kisses my cheek and holds my hand.
Ba boom. Ba boom. Ba boom. Ba boom.
When the time comes for her physical heartbeat to stop and begin again in the heavenlies, I will still hear her heartbeat.
Ba boom. Ba boom. Ba boom. Ba boom.
Every time I love on my children,her heartbeat will be heard.Every time I pray to our Father in heaven,her heartbeat will be heard.Every time I give to missions,her heartbeat will be heard.Every time I kiss a cheek and hold a hand,her heartbeat will be heard.
Ba boom. Ba boom. Ba boom. Ba boom.
I will remember it. It was the first sound I ever heard.
She is my mother.
Hear her heartbeat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Intimacy with God By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told. The result? His family was saved. His act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world. As a result, Noah became intimate with God.  -Hebrews 11:7 (MSG) The story of Noah in the Bible has always intrigued me.  To hear a direct order from God, act and obey on it in faith with endurance for over one hundred years with only the help of your family speaks of dedication and extreme sacrifice. What must Noah have felt like when he saw that first drop of rain fall from the sky? Or maybe he was still gathering some animals when he got splattered on the head with a big raindrop? Never before had the earth seen rain, but Noah had been predicting a great flood for the last 100 years while building the Ark.   Insults, ridicules, jeers were part of his daily torture, but he endured until the last board and nail were in place because God told him to.   The result? his family and creation were saved, but Noah received much more than that.   Hebrews 11:7 says, "As a result, Noah became intimate with God." With every board he hammered into place on the Ark, the grey of good and evil, truth and deception faded and became white and black for Noah. He became initmate with God and began discerning His ways.   What a thing for us all to seek and yearn for.   Intimacy with God for our act of faith to draw a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world. I don't know about you, but I WANT THAT!!! Many blessings, Dorinda

Dreams and Destiny

One of my life's greatest heroes said in a famous speech, "I have a dream!"

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream is daily coming to pass because people have sacrificed and worked to make that dream a reality. 

Dreams that are God given to fulfil the destiny HE has placed inside each of us does not JUST happen. 

We must work to make sure those dreams come to pass.  Dreams often land us in uncomfortable and strange places- like Joseph of the Bible.

Dreams also, with that hard work, AND INTEGRITY KEPT, like Joseph in the Bible, will help us to see our Destiny that God planned for us before we were born.

Dreams.  We should all have them, but they must propel us to the destiny that God called us to fulfil to lead to His eternal glory. 

What is your dream?
What is your destiny?

May you seek His face daily and may you find yourself smack dab in the middle of your destiny!!!

blessings!
dorinda

Learning to Dance....

The house is a frenzy around her. Everyone is trying to get ready and get out the door on time, but in her bedroom, time must be frozen.

The music drifts underneath the closed door like a sweet smelling fragrance. Amidst the hustle and bustle and barking commands to hurry, the fourteen year old melodic voice rises above the other noises.

"Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come. With all creation I sing, praise to the King of Kings. You are my everything and I will adore You."

The Father looks at her and smiles.

She is learning to dance.

Her feet may stumble a little every once in a while, but there is no mistaking it.

She is learning the moves.

She is learning the Romance.

The worship continues. She moves in step with the Savior. His Presence embraces her.

He twirls her around and sweeps her off her feet.

She's breathless as she runs out the door, backpack spilling and hands full of breakfast and her phone.

She's breathless because the One who loves her whispered His love for her during the dance.

The houses blur by on the way to school.

It's a different world.

Her thumb scrolls through the facebook status updates.

An unplanned smile sneaks across her cheeks. All the drama of "single" and "into him", "wishing I knew what he was thinking" didn't play into her world.

She has a dance to learn and she doesn't want to change partners.

She's learning to dance for the real Romance.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you are learning the dance!

blessings,

dorinda

(This is in honor of my sweet Kenzie. She is in love with Jesus and is learning to dance!)

Not Willing..... That ANY..... should perish.

We concluded our 2010 Mission’s Convention last night.

Last Sunday night Bro. Mike Louton preached a sermon entitled,

“Not Willing that Any Should Perish”.

His sermon struck a chord deep in the hearts of the Blann family.

I guess since the first day our children became ours, Rusty and I vowed to teach them the way of Christ~ the heart beat of God ~ if you will.

So, in essence, we have raised our children to be missionaries. Maybe not all “career” missionaries that will live their lives overseas, like Brad and Glenda, but life missionaries ~ living life with the heartbeat of God~

not willing

that any

should perish.

So, here is a link to a video my son made.

"Not Willing.... That ANY.... Should Perish”

(be sure to mute my blog music first.)




I am amazed that a 17 year old, (who gave up the chance for summer cash to spend his summer for missions and ministry; who declined playing football this year to spend more time on video ministry) could put something like this together in one afternoon. The anointing of God is on this video ~ and I am very, VERY proud of my child.

So......let me know what you think!

We were trying to think of a way he could use this video to raise money for Speed the Light.

Of course, you can always send a donation to the church

(First Assembly of God, 503 N. Missouri St., West Memphis, AR 72301

RE: Jordan Blann- Speed the Light). :D

What is your heart beating?

hmmmmmm......

blessings,

dorinda

Eye Witness Account

Yesterday afternoon I was headed to the store, minding my own business, lost in a world of thoughts.

I was about 20-30 feet from an intersection when I saw out of the corner of my eye, a vehicle that was not slowing down for the stop sign.

From that second on I felt like I was in some type of slow motion movie where sounds are muted and everyone and everything is moving in slow motion with very exaggerated movements and facial contortions.

I saw (but do not remember hearing) the two SUVs collide. The one that was hit, flew into the air several feet (in a movie like slow motion pace - it seems) and then landed on its side.

I pulled my vehicle over and grabbed my phone to dial 911.

If you know me, you know that I am a hyper type person. I get excited and animated- easily. (I don't like that about me, but I've tried to change it and I can't.) Well, I was so rattled, I couldn't dial 9-1-1. I kept hitting 9-1-2 or 9-2-2.

By this time I was on the side walk wondering what to do. Then I saw the billows of smoke coming out of the vehicle that was on its side. My thought was- "get back~ this car is about to explode!"

Then, someone "unmuted" the sound in my head.

I heard a baby screaming. I can still hear the baby screaming.

My heart starting pounding in my ears and my hands started shaking more than they were when I was trying to dial 9-1-1.

I still felt like I was in a quagmire of slow motion force field. I moved, but not fast enough. I heard a man screaming and then I saw the blood. Another eye witness across the street had called 9-1-1.

My heart felt like it was going to stop beating. There wasn't just a little blood. It was pouring out of the driver's side window, that was face to face with the concrete, almost like someone was pouring soda out of a can. I ran to the back hatch to try to open it. It wouldn't budge. The doors were all caved in or blocked (the suv was on it's side). I was praying to Jesus to help me open the doors. The smoke kept billowing and the screams kept screaming.

When I came back around the vehicle a man had run up and was trying to get the kids also. He climbed on top of the vehicle, which was actually the passenger side. Where the other vehicle had hit this one, the back door had caved enough for him to slide down into. After frantically working with the car seat he got the first baby out and handed her to me.

It was then we heard the second set of cries! There was another baby in the car.
By that time, other people we coming to help.

I was worried about the daddy who was bleeding so badly. He was in shock, but had enough wits to realize we were worried about the car blowing up and knew his babies were in the vehicle. He shouted, "There's two! Get the girls!" I assured him we had both girls but encouraged him to put pressure where ever he was bleeding from. I kept talking to him while the man worked on getting to the other baby.

Our wonderful Police Chief pulled up by then (off duty, I might add. He's an extra miler.). The ambulance, squad cars and fire trucks were arriving. I never remember hearing a siren.

The professionals got the man out of the vehicle. His babies still crying, but in good hands with by standers. By this time I realized the car was not going to explode. It was just smoking from being hit. Every thing was under control and I stood there taking in the reality of what I had just witnessed~ all in muted silence. The world was in action around me and I was in a strange silent bubble.

(To make a long story short, the babies were fine, the other vehicle was fine, and I believe the dad will be ok. He did loose a lot of blood and will probably have to have several surgeries on his arm and leg.)

It wasn't until about an hour later that I emerged from the slow motion time warp thing and heard sounds and the same time I saw the action.

I'm still hearing the sounds.

The babies' screams.
The man's cries.

I'm still seeing the sights.

The blood.
The baby shoes and bottle in the street.

By no means do I want to sensationalize an accident by blogging about it, but I am trying to process this.

After giving my statement, my vehicle was cornered in by several squad cars, ambulances and fire trucks, so I just stood there.

I noticed the little things.

~ The woman who ran the stop sign was in a dazed shock.
~ The light on her front fender was dangling and swinging- still.
~ The crimson trickle running down the street.
~ The pacifier on it's side in the red stuff.
~ The baby croc shoe - turquoise blue with little brown fur inside.
~ The pale skin of the man who had lost so much blood.
~ The swift confidence and professionalism of the civil servants involved.

I noticed the big things.
~ No one lost their life.
~ God has plans for all those babies involved. Their lives are precious to Him.
~ I was glad I had hugged and kissed my family that morning. There was a few seconds in the mayhem that I was not sure I would see them again in this life.

Today, I've made a mental note of the things I have learned:

~ Seat belts are important!
~Car seats ARE essential!
~Loose objects in a vehicle can be life threatening if in a wreck. The babies had a few bruises from flying objects.
~I.C.E. numbers should be in phones, diaper bags, purses, and glove boxes etc.
~Always be cautious. Even in the residential areas~ accidents- not just fender benders - do happen.
~ Eternity can be a second away. Choose now where you want to spend it!
~Take each moment you are given and never miss an opportunity to hug and kiss your family.
~Pray over your loved ones.
~Ask God to spare you from ever taking someone else's life.

Thanks for letting me process this. I am thankful for God's hand of protection, but you know what? I am also thankful for His sovereignty. He is a Faithful God!

Please make sure you make things right with Him ~ now.

blessings,
dorinda

Imperfect but Priceless to a Perfect God

Today I read words penned by another. I was inspired and reminded of the great love our God has for ALL of us~ regardless of our past and present.


Please visit her blog and read her testimony of the compelling love of God in her life.

He will do the same for you!

Click here to read her testimony.

blessings to you today!
dorinda