Tru North Music

This life today is demanding so much from each of us.  We’re torn so many different ways all at once…  Just when it’s time to sit down and sink your brain into a complicated e-mail, something more demanding calls our attention…  The oldest teenager needs gas money and won’t be home until… The son needs you to take him to work FIVE minutes ago…  The next child on down the line is just wiping her sleepy eyes asking to have  a friend over this weekend and the five yr. old is wanting to learn how to tie his shoes – right NOW.  The cell phone chimes and the husband would like to have a few more errands added to the day; meanwhile the kitchen table overflows with dishes and books and saltine crackers and…  I must exercise today; gotta keep that heart healthy; but how am I going to fit this into my busy schedule – this is going to take some extra “umption” on my part.  A hot chocolate mocha sounds good about now.

The daily demands consume so much of our time and energy, if we don’t prioritize our day - our day will prioritize us…  The demands of the day will call on us and we’ll respond without a plan if we haven’t planned and prioritized.  For some people like me this is much easier said than done.  Just to remember that I need to prioritize each day takes dedication, planning…  It takes a will to remember the calling in my life…  What are my greatest desires in living this life that God has given me? 

Getting back to the heart of the matter of my hopes and dreams and my very existence here - this takes me back to step one…  Begin each day with God.  It doesn’t sound so difficult, but then the day begins and runs itself without my plan…  The daily demands have already taken over my priorities and I can’t get back to square one…

“STOP THIS ROLLERCOASTER!!”

I must take hold of these reigns and lay my life before God and let Him lead the daily path, after all I want to follow Him.  I really do want to see what God has in store for me, I want to remember to ask Him to open my eyes today, to help me to be looking for the things He wants me to see today, to help me to be a good and loving mother and wife…  So step one square one…  Yes I’m a bit late today but that’s okay - I can put my foot down, stop the roller-coaster and even if I must continue with the practice of reading my Bible in the only place I can really sink myself into it without too many interruptions or distractions; I think it’s better to read my Bible in the Bath than not read my Bible at all.  For me these days are the Bible in the Bath days…  It’s like I’m being ‘washed with the Word…”  I can get my focus on God and on His plans for this life today, now…  

What if today is my last day?  What if tomorrow?  I want to plan and prioritize my days beneath the Shaddow of His wing and asking for His guidance so that I don’t miss what is most important of all for the life that God has planned for me.  After all, He has a purpose and a plan for my life - and for yours too. 

At http://www.SpecialtySongs.com you’ll find a song unlike any other; this song seeks to honor and uplift a very special person in your life; it’s a wonderful goodbye song, a great retirement party song, and it has been used as a memorial song.  The song is warm and inspiring and there’s also an accompaniment version available.

 Some have used the song in slideshows and sent me the DVD’s so that I can enjoy seeing how this song has touched peoples lives.  The comments on the website are real.  The song has been used by many; including teachers, the medical profession and more.  It has been sold around the world and is only available at www.SpecialtySongs.com, www.TouchedbyaTune.com and at www.TruNorthMusic.com and is a home-spun business.

**”Goodbye My Friend” by Susan Krauter is still a royalty-free song. 

One of the most touching songs to say goodbye, a goodbye retirement song called “Goodbye My Friend” which can be found at http://www.SpecialtySongs.com and http://www.TouchedbyaTune.com has recently been independently released for sale to the public as an mp3 download.  This retirement song is filled with heart as it uplifts and honors the retiring person.  It has been used for retirement slide-shows, retirement parties and more.

The retirement song is available in several different formats:

Goodbye My Friend (for anyone)

Goodbye My Friend (for her only)

Goodbye My Friend (accompaniment background)

Goodbye My Friend (chord sheets & lyrics)

The mp3 download is available immediately upon purchase by following the link provided following the transaction.

The Following Websites Offer This Song:

www.TruNorthMusic.com

www.SpecialtySongs.com

www.TouchedbyaTune.com

May 12, 2006

Today I was reflecting back on one of the hardest times in our lives when things seemed so uncertain…

It’s a long story…  In June of 2005 my husband started to have some strange things happening to him physically.  He began to have episodes of feeling faint,  we thought he might be having a heart attack…  The faint episodes increased, he had three different visits to the ER and a visit from the ambulance.  The doctors kept coming back with clean bills of health — we were learning from the doctors that Lance was SUCH A HEALTHY guy!    But something had changed for Lance, he was so weak, so exhausted, he spent most of his time in bed at one point.  He couldn’t have bright lights, not much noise, he couldn’t have any stress…  He couldn’t go to work for a time, and when he finally had the strength to go to work, I had to drive him in and he couldn’t work a full day.  He often looked palish.  What in the world was wrong!!   Something indeed was very wrong; he was being tested and tested — his blood was tested and tested, he was Cat-scanned, MRI’d, nuclear stress tested, and more blood tests.  He had an ultrasound of his liver…  Still NO answers!  We prayed and prayed and prayed!   What was wrong with him, why had he collapsed so.  It was hard for him to go to work; as he started to get a little better I drove him to work and home, he could only go for part of the day.  It was a real strain on him.  No music, no noise, had to wear sunglasses, had to be stress-free…  Slowly over the summer he was getting better.   Now his health was coming upward — he was still a sick person…   We still had NO answers.  One day he readied himself for work…  He couldn’t go to work, his health had fallen back again — he had to stay home.  What was happening??  Why, what — was it cancer, would our lives change?  Would we he be able to keep his job?  Could he continue working — or was he — was he dying…  We didn’t have answers and so we prayed and prayed.  It was around this time on a very hard day, when I was on the phone with a dear sister in the Lord.  She was comforting me, she told me…  That God had a plan for our lives…   That God had us RIGHT where He wanted us to be…  Recalling this still chokes me up.  I delivered that message to Lance, he had his guitar in hand up in our room, something that he could do in his condition was play guitar…  And meanwhile — my daughter ministered to us as well, she brought me the Bible which was opened up to a passage which she loved…  She shared it with me…

Isaiah 40:28-31

28 Do you not know?
 Have you not heard?
 The LORD is the everlasting God,
 the Creator of the ends of the earth.
 and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary
 and increases the power of the weak.

 30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
 and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the LORD
  will renew their strength.
  They will soar on wings like eagles;
  they will run and not grow weary,
  they will walk and not be faint.

This still brings tears to my eyes even now.  So I sent her to encourage her father.  What was borne from all this was his song “Give it All.”  He cried when he wrote that song. What a time in our lives.  An amazing time.  A time when we were broken down and being rebuilt in love and faith in the Lord.  A time when we recieved great ministry and love from others, we just want to share this love.

So we want to encourage you with this great love and this great message of encouragement that we have received.  I haven’t even finished telling you this story and how God has worked through it and the amazing things that have happened…  Well that’s for another time.  As for now, a year later…  Lance’s health is coming back!  Praise the Lord — He is the giver of strength and the renewer of health!  We found out in October that Lance had been struck with mono and strep — that’s what did it!  Now he’s returning to health and we praise our Father in Heaven — we praise Him for the sickness because — well - times like what we experienced are life changing; putting those scarry times in God’s hands and trusting Him for the future, reflecting on our lives and getting our priorities in line, that’s a blessing from the Lord; and we praise the Lord that He has brought us through this to be able to rejoice together alive — and becoming well!

Perhaps you or someone you know might be suffering through a similar circumstance; won’t you listen to “Give it All” — hear it from someone who was there; read Isaiah 40:28-31, be comforted in knowing that God loves you indeed — and He has a plan for your life.

Susie

mononucleosis strep throat illness faith