The Heartbeat Story

     Jackie and Cindy are often asked how two women living in rural Wisconsin came to be involved in a radio broadcast aired on stations across the country.  It is not a fairytale story or  a tale of bold ambition and accomplishment.  It is an account of clay pots and humble beginnings and of two hearts with seemingly little to offer the Lord but devotion to Him.  In His eyes, that was enough.

     In 1979, a godly elderly woman from North Carolina came to the central Wisconsin area to speak for several women’s groups.  Cindy was invited to accompany her on her trek through Wisconsin, assisting with her presentation.

     Since she had recently “retired” from her work in a chemistry lab at a local clinic in order to care for her young children, Cindy welcomed the opportunity to mingle with other Christian women, enjoy a break from the “dailies” of homemaking, and serve both the Lord and the fascinating person God had sent from North Carolina.

     In the course of their working side by side for those few short days, a seed of thought began to grow.  The speaker, Mabel, had been given a unique business opportunity.  In exchange for her financial help, a new radio station near her home promised to air any 15-minute broadcast she chose, perhaps one she would want to create.

     Her heart longed for a strong spiritual influence on this otherwise secular radio outlet.  Mabel had witnessed the great need for solid biblical teaching and practical  encouragement.

     Cindy’s own heart agreed.  As the midnight oil burned low, the two mused and figured and wondered and prayed and imagined and dreamed about what such a life-impacting broadcast would look like, would sound like and what it could accomplish with the Lord’s blessing.

     Having just completed a correspondence course in Christian creative writing, Cindy  unassumingly volunteered to be a resource for this new endeavor, which was tentatively christened, “The Heartbeat of the Home”.  Cindy thought that she occasionally might be called upon to do long-distance research or investigate appropriate Scriptures for Mabel’s program.  Apparently, God had another plan in mind.

     At the end of their four days’ journeying and sharing together, Mabel handed Cindy the address of the radio station with instructions to send the first program as soon as the station had received the FCC approval to begin broadcasting!

     Before she could refuse, Cindy was reminded that she’d not long before covenanted with the Lord, “I’ll follow wherever You lead me, do whatever You ask of me.  I’m yours, Lord.”  Could this be what He had in mind?

     She had no experience in radio, no equipment, no training.  But she had a budding friendship with a godly neighbor twenty years her senior—Jackie—whom the Lord had obviously hand-chosen to join her in this adventure of a lifetime.

     Jackie’s background in English (her minor in college) proved invaluable as the two prepared to respond to this unique challenge.  The compassion Jackie had gained in her years of work as a nurse and in raising her children contributed yet another blessing. Her heart for the Lord and for communicating His love and plan to those who needed to hear it, made her a perfect fit for the partnership He was creating.

     Nine months after the initial idea was conceived, the first HEARTBEAT broadcast was aired in that little village in North Carolina.  A year later, a major radio outlet a few miles away also picked up the broadcast.  And it has spread from city to city, community to community, until now the influence of THE HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME—through radio or print—reaches homes and lives in virtually every state. The ministry has reached as far as Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Poland and Mexico with  printed materials and broadcasts.

     Once strangers, then neighbors, then spiritual sisters and partners in the Lord, these two women begin each broadcast—or each chapter of a HEARTBEAT book—with a dramatization dialogue, a scene taken from everyday life.  The dialogue is followed by practical, solid Biblical teaching that uniquely touches the heart. 

     Most episodes are written by Cindy.  Jackie assists in editing and the two record the programs together.  God provides the strength and leading for each step of the production process.  The programs draw from two lifetimes’ experiences and focus on virtually every aspect of life, from finding peace with and knowing God, to Christian parenting, evangelism and sharing your faith, dealing with family crises, finances, marriage issues, elderly parents, and many others.

     With words that uniquely touch the heart, they draw from the wellspring of human experience and from their own walk with the Lord to present biblical truths in a practical and meaningful way...bathing every word in prayer, and striving always to honor and glorify the Lord.   He is the true Heartbeat of THE HEARTBEAT OF THE HOME. 

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