LAND OF THE LIVING MAGAZINE - Magazine - Page 28
SONG STORY
We lived in Starkville, Mississippi for four
years and since moving there, I had
always heard about a man named, “Butch
Simmons.” His walk with the Lord was
legendary to everyone he meets. His
faithfulness with God was a testimony in
itself. We would see each other from time
to time and then Butch went through a
threatening illness that almost took his
life. Our whole community was praying for
him and his family and miraculously he
turned the corner and was able to come
home. About a year later, he and I were
connected by a good friend and I really
got to know the man who is “Butch
Simmons.” We began sitting down at the
local diner: Starkville Cafe, (best food
you’ll ever eat, especially the duck butter
with waffles), where we would discuss the
kingdom, scriptures and what God’s heart
was really like. These meals were life
giving because of the depth that Butch and
I were able to go to. It almost made me
not hungry for the duck butter…almost. It
was here that Butch revealed that God had
not only saved him in a hospital but had
spoken to Him about time would look like
from now on for Butch. He had always
been a lover of God and the scriptures but
he was now stepping into the revelation of
the here and now of God. Here and now.
This was a staple throughout
conversations, whether we were talking
about the Old Testament or the New, the
mysteries of God or the tangible blessings
we’d experienced, it would always circle
back to the 'here and now.' For Butch it
was a constant reminder to not get so lost
in what God had done or what He was
going to do but to partner with what God
was doing right here and right now.
He would celebrate the testimonies of
what God had done and we often looked
forward to what God was going to do in
our lives but then we would both be
anchored back to what God was doing
here and now in this little town, at this
little table, in this little cafe. We ended up
moving to South Central Pennsylvania, but
after a year of: 'here and now' with Butch,
I realize that year marked me to
understand the tangible and mysterious
presence of the Lord in my life in every
moment that I live. The best messages are
ones so deeply knitted into your bones.
They're not just fluff and circumstance but
ones that change the fabric of who you
are.
So one night at our cozy house in Spring
Grove, PA, I came home to find Bethany’s
small group playing games and laughing in
our kitchen. I sensed something stirring
inside of me, so I sat down at the piano.
I’ve learned to trust the process of letting
something brew inside of me for a season
and I’ve learned when it’s time to let it out.
More times than not, it’s like a tea kettle
blasting inside of me and there’s nothing I
can do to stop it. From the first chord to
the last, from the first lyric to the last, the
song came out in 5-10 minutes but it
marked me for my whole life. The songs
that have lived in me are the ones that are
easiest to flow out of me. I pray this song
changes you from the inside out as you
begin to understand God as a "here and
now" Father.
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