Jesus Calling

By Belinda 


We had not been able to get together to celebrate our birthdays, which fall close together; hers at the end of May and mine at the beginning of June. 


But on Sunday at church, she pressed into my hand an opaque plastic gift bag, with a colourful spray of flowers in one corner, signifying to me my special name for this friend: "Poppy." And inside, wrapped in palest blue paper covered in geese taking flight, was a book in soft brown leather cover, "Jesus Calling."


Poppy gave me the highest commendation possible. "This book is like on the level of The Daily Light or Valley of Vision," she said. I knew that she wouldn't give that degree of praise lightly, since, next to the Bible, we each treasure our Daily Light and Valley of Vision as prompts to hear God's heartbeat.


I took it home in anticipation! As I drove I thought with a smile that this spiritual daughter of mine is taking up my torch of sharing books that lead people to God. Her real name, Frances, means "messenger," and she is aptly named!


I am only four days into the book, and already I know that it is joining my classic beloved devotionals. I looked up the author, Sarah Young, online and found this You Tube video. I see that I am not alone. 100,000 copies have been sold. So grateful to be sharing in listening to God's voice within the brown cover.

 

Comments

Anonymous said…
Belinda, this book's been on my wish list for a while. The title first drew my attention because it reminds me of another book, God Calling, which has blessed me over and over.
8:41 AM
Belinda said…
Oh, Janet, those wish lists are great, aren't they?

I didn't know about "God Calling!" What a blessing this quiet writer is and how God has used her listening ear!
11:32 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Voyage

Image
Note from Belinda: I read this prayer yesterday and again today--and then I read it to Susan after cell group, when we were having our "second cup" of decaff coffee together. I knew that she'd love it. She has a framed picture on her office wall of a little blond haired girl in a sail boat on a stormy sea. A fatherly sailor,with a weather beaten face; in a gray sou'wester, holds her close, as he capably mans the tiller. This prayer reminds me of that picture and influenced what I wrote earlier today, when I used the metaphor of ebbing waves to describe a lack of consistency and my desire to crash over the sandbar into the peaceful pool on the other side.  ( Susan sent me a link to the painting, which was done by American impressionist Robert Reid in 1888.  It hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in NYC.) Be bless ed by the beauty of this prayer. OH LORD OF THE OCEANS, My little bark sails on a restless sea, Grant that Jesus may sit at the
Read more

Ere Zij God--Glory to God in the Highest! A Dutch Carol

Image
By Belinda This beautiful Dutch carol was shared today by a friend of Dutch ancestry, on Facebook. I had never heard it before but absolutely loved it. It moved me deeply, especially at the end after the crowd leaves the church and then breaks into spontaneous singing again around a brazier, with the sound of chiming church bells in the background. Listen to it with headphones or a good speaker to get the full effect of the harmonies. And happy first Sunday in Advent!
Read more

Samson Beaver and his Family

Image
I first posted this in 2009, a little show and tell about one of my favourite photographs. Back then it hung on a wall, but now it's in my bathroom where I see it every morning! I'd forgotten the history behind the story, researched when I first posted this and thought that current readers might enjoy it--a story from a time when this land was still being discovered, not so very long ago. This photograph was taken by Mary Schaffer; artist, photographer, writer and naturalist, in 1907. It is of a Stoney Indian named Samson Beaver, with his wife Leah and daughter, Frances Louise. I bought the photo on a postcard, on a trip to British Columbia and it hangs framed, on the wall I face when sitting at my laptop. I love it. Don't you just feel as if you could gather Frances Louise up in your arms and cuddle her? I get a deep sense of peace and happiness when I look at this family, sitting in the grass of a long ago fall. They are dressed in their best, beautiful c
Read more