Bloom Where You are Planted.: From Buckhorn to the World

Naomi, God’s Providence, and the Spirit of Buckhorn

Sometimes one prayer, one open door, and one faithful mentor can change the direction of an entire life.

Before I met Naomi, she was a young public health nurse working in the hilly countryside near Augusta, Wisconsin. One bitter winter day, with the temperature around twelve degrees below zero, she prayed:

“Please let this be my last winter in all this cold and snow.”

But Naomi was asking God for more than warmer weather. She wanted to serve somewhere with a greater need. And that was part of her prayer that day!

God answered her prayer—but probably not as Naomi expected.

He led her to Buckhorn, Kentucky, a small Appalachian community where medical care was limited and the needs were personal and immediate. God gave Naomi a warmer climate and a place where she could serve. He also gave her a calling, a sister in the Lord, and a mentor who would help shape the woman she was becoming.

This is not merely a story about Naomi. It is a story about how God uses prayers, places, people, and unexpected circumstances to shape Christ followers for His purposes.

Driving Her Jeep Up the Hollers

Naomi’s nursing frequently took her beyond the main roads and into the Appalachian “hollers”—the narrow valleys and isolated mountain communities where families could be difficult to reach.

With her Jeep and medical supplies, Naomi traveled rough, winding roads to make home visits. These were not convenient appointments in a modern medical office. Naomi went directly to where people lived.

She cared for mothers and babies, listened to families’ concerns, and brought medical assistance to people with limited access to healthcare. For some families, those visits were more than routine checkups. They were lifelines.

Naomi brought more than her professional training into those homes. She brought compassion, reassurance, dignity, and the quiet presence of someone who genuinely cared.

Her work required courage, flexibility, patience, and a willingness to go wherever she was needed.

Nursing in Buckhorn was not simply a job. It meant entering people’s lives, becoming part of a community, and serving families whom much of the world would never see.

You can read more about Naomi’s original prayer and journey in A Journey to Buckhorn: God’s Call for Naomi

A Sister in the Lord

Naomi lived and worked with Lucille LeBeau, an experienced nurse-midwife who was approximately 15 years older.

Lucille was not merely Naomi’s coworker or housemate. She became a sister in the Lord, a trusted friend, and a wise mentor.

Lucille brought greater life and nursing experience, a deep faith in Jesus, and a heart for people who were often overlooked. Naomi and Lucille worked, prayed, ate, worshiped, laughed, and faced the challenges of rural service together.

Their relationship reminds me that some of God’s most important work happens during ordinary days and conversations.

Through Lucille’s example, God helped shape Naomi’s understanding of faith, compassion, service, and calling. I believe Lucille also helped cultivate something that people later recognized in Naomi—her peaceful and serene countenance.

Naomi possessed a quiet steadiness. She could enter a difficult situation without adding fear or confusion. Her presence often brought comfort and reassurance. That serenity came from her relationship with Jesus, but God also used the influence of an older and wiser sister in Christ to deepen it.

God did not send Naomi to Buckhorn only because the people there needed her. He also sent her because Naomi needed Lucille.

Naomi went there to serve, but she was also mentored.

She went to help shape other lives, but God was shaping hers.

You can read more about that relationship in Naomi and Lucille: A Shared Life in the Providence of God

The Spirit of Buckhorn

Eventually, the rural clinic lost its funding. As all rural clinics did because of Government policies & hospitals wanting people to come to the hospitals. In hindsight, an act of God’s providence. Although Naomi had grown to love the people and the work, she reluctantly returned to Milwaukee.

But Naomi did not leave Buckhorn entirely behind.

She carried “The Spirit of Buckhorn” with her for the rest of her life.

For Naomi, that spirit meant going wherever people needed care—even when the road was difficult. It meant noticing people whom others might overlook, entering their lives with humility, and offering more than professional assistance.

It meant bringing compassion, reassurance, dignity, and the quiet presence of Christ.

The Spirit of Buckhorn had been formed through many experiences: Naomi’s prayer during that bitter Wisconsin winter, the families she visited up the hollers, the mothers and babies she cared for, and the daily example of Lucille.

Buckhorn helped teach Naomi that calling is not primarily about holding a position or receiving recognition. Calling means faithfully using what God has given us wherever He has placed us.

That spirit followed Naomi back to Wisconsin. It could be seen in her nursing, our family, her church ministries, the food pantry, our service as volunteer chaplains with The Salvation Army, The Red Cross, and the many years with The Northshore Health Dept. and the kindness she extended throughout her life.

Even during dialysis and her final journey toward heaven, Naomi retained that peaceful countenance. Her quiet trust in Jesus continued to reassure those around her.

Buckhorn was only one chapter of Naomi’s life, but its spirit became part of who she was.

She drove away from those Appalachian mountains, but the compassion, faith, courage, and serenity formed there traveled with her.

Seeing Providence While Looking Backward

At the time, Naomi could not have known where her prayer in Wisconsin—or her years in Buckhorn—would eventually lead.

God’s providence brought her back to Wisconsin. He brought Naomi and me together and gave us 45 years of marriage. He formed our family through adoption and continued using Naomi through nursing, motherhood, hospitality, church service, prayer, missions, and many quiet acts of kindness.

Providence is not always obvious while we are living through it. We frequently recognize it only when we look backward.

What appeared to be separate chapters—Wisconsin, Buckhorn, Lucille, nursing, marriage, motherhood, church ministry, chaplaincy, dialysis, and Naomi’s journey home—were all part of one story being written by God.

Those chapters were not all easy, and I may not completely understand every part of God’s plan. But faith tells me that God was not absent.

He was present in Wisconsin.

He was present in Buckhorn.

He was present when Naomi and Lucille were brought together.

He was present when the clinic closed and Naomi reluctantly returned to Milwaukee.

He was present when Naomi entered my life.

And He is present now as I grieve, remember, write, and continue discerning His calling for the years He gives me.

The Pictures and the Map

A large world map hangs on the wall of my home. Pins mark countries where I have at least one LinkedIn connection. Photographs of Naomi and our 45 years together once overlapped parts of that map. See picture on bottom of post.

I have come to understand what those pictures and pins represent.

The pictures say:

“This is the woman I loved and the life that shaped me.”

The map says:

“This is the world and the continuing mission God has placed before me.”

Naomi’s influence did not end when she went home to be with the Lord. What God developed in her continues through the people she served, the family she loved, the lives she touched, and the lessons her story can teach others.

Yet my purpose in writing is not merely to keep attention focused on Naomi—or on myself.

John the Baptist said of Jesus:

“He must become greater; I must become less.” —John 3:30

Naomi’s story matters because it points beyond Naomi. It shows what Jesus can do through an ordinary person who prays, walks through an open door, receives the influence of a faithful mentor, and serves where God has placed her.

The goal is not simply to admire Naomi’s life.

The deeper question is: What might Christ desire to do through yours?

What Is Your “Buckhorn”?

Most of us will never drive a Jeep up an Appalachian holler to visit a mother and her baby. But each of us has a place where God has planted us and people He has placed within our reach.

Your Buckhorn might be:

Your home or neighborhood
A workplace or retirement community
A church, food pantry, school, or hospital
A friend who needs someone to listen
A younger person who needs encouragement and mentoring
A ministry opportunity that seems small or inconvenient
A difficult season through which Christ can shape your character

Calling is not reserved for pastors, missionaries, nurses, or people with public ministries. God uses ordinary Christ followers who make themselves available to Him.

That is what it means to live our faith where we are

Questions for Your Journey

Take a few quiet moments to consider:

What prayer, decision, or unexpected circumstance significantly changed the direction of your life?
Who was a Lucille in your life—an older or wiser person whom God used to shape your faith and character?
Have you ever thanked that person or told someone else about the difference he or she made?
Where has God planted you right now?
Who is within your “three feet”—someone you can encourage, serve, welcome, or listen to today?
Are you waiting for a large and impressive calling while overlooking a need directly in front of you?
Is there a younger Christ follower whom you could begin mentoring?
What quality, lesson, or “spirit” from an earlier season is God asking you to carry into your life today?

Take One Faithful Step

Do not feel that you must discover God’s entire plan before you act.

Begin with one faithful step:

Pray, “Lord, show me where You are working and how I can join You.”
Thank someone who helped shape your life.
Encourage a younger person.
Make the visit or telephone call you have been postponing.
Offer your experience, gifts, and time where there is a genuine need.
Ask Jesus to help you become more than a person who merely identifies as Christian—ask Him to make you a faithful Christ follower.

Naomi’s prayer was answered in Buckhorn, but its influence did not remain there.

From Wisconsin to Buckhorn, from Buckhorn to our family, from our home to the church, and now through connections reaching people around the world, Naomi’s influence—and The Spirit of Buckhorn—continues.

That is providence.

That is mentoring.

That is calling.

And that is what God can do through one faithful life surrendered to Him.

Join the Conversation

What place, person, prayer, or defining moment has God used to shape your calling?

Please share your thoughts in the comments. Your story may be the encouragement someone else needs today.

If this article encouraged you, please consider sharing it with a friend, pastor, nurse, mentor, or someone who is asking, “Does God still have a purpose for my life?”

You may also enjoy reading God’s Calling and Your Legacy and Are You Blooming Where You Are Planted?.