Telephone in the Wind (09/24/2025)

People come from far away to visit a particular park in Albany, Oregon because they need to reconnect with others from whom they’ve parted. They come to use the Telephone in the Wind, an old rotary dial phone erected in the park suggests that the phone is for getting a message to those in our lives with whom we need to reconnect: a deceased loved one or an estranged loved one. It is quite popular. So many are seeking to say that “goodbye” they never got to say or to say “I’m sorry; I love you” in hopes of a bridge back to a loving relationship.

When I read about this phone, I had to stop and think of my own life, of the “goodbyes” I had to say and how I wish I could have had more time. And I thought of those in my life who are struggling with strained relationships and sometimes years without connecting. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if it were that simple. And then I remembered a line from Jeremiah: “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). And I stopped and realized the times in my own life when I was disconnected from the LORD, when I was floundering and wandering and wondering in pain. And when I searched with all my heart, all my heart, He found me.

We are created in relationship for relationship and the One who can guide and bless and ground our relationships is the LORD who begins with us and our relationship with Him. That primal relationship is essential and with it in order we know better how to love and we have more of it to share.

Life can get busy, distracting, heavy, stressful. For all these moments, we need the LORD to help us get by and get through. We need the LORD’s love and guidance. But the LORD demands that we search with our whole heart. And I have to admit that I don’t show up and openly share that with LORD every day. I’m trying, but I know there are too many times when I hide a bit of myself. This morning as I thought of this, I realized how foolish that is. “He knows, Kate. He sees everything.” And I thought I was being so clever, so cautious.

Our journeys are all about our coming to the LORD, denying ourselves, picking up our crosses and following Him. Our journeys begin in seeking Him and finding Him because without Him we will never have the grace nor strength nor love to carry our own crosses. And when we give our whole heart to the search for Him, holding back nothing, He has a way of enlarging our hearts and restoring them to us so that we might love well and love long throughout this journey. No one knows better than Him how much love this journey asks of us.

As we continue our journeys, let us seek to make the most of each day in our relationships with those around us and reach out to those with whom we’ve strayed. Let us seek the LORD with hope and with all our heart.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.