The Road of Blessing

I am cautiously excited about this book.  It comes out around now, in the UK, and in a few weeks overseas.  It's on pre-order at the US Amazon, where they also have a search-inside function so you can have a riffle through and see if you like it.  It's on (presumably quicker) pre-order at UK Amazon, where they haven't yet got the search-inside set up (though my publisher has chivvied them, so it should be coming soon.

I was brought up in the Christian faith, and went to church in my childhood.  I have always not only believed in God but felt close to me the presence of the Holy in everyday life.  Even so, I do believe that when Jesus says "Behold, I stand at the door and knock", the idea is to open it and invite Him in, not leave it and hope if it's really Him he will materialise through it somehow.

So, when I was fifteen I made the believer's prayer for myself, asking Jesus to be the Lord of my life; and I became His property that day, to dispose of as He wishes - though I have to say He does need to remind me of that at times, because you wouldn't all the time know from what I am and choose and do and say that I belong to Him.

I will be fifty-four next birthday.  That means I will have walked with Him for nearly forty years.  During that time, the main focus of my life has been to learn about what I have come to call 'the road of blessing', by which I mean finding the path of holiness.  I made a new friend on Facebook yesterday who says on her profile that an activity she enjoys is 'walking in a good way'.  That's the kind of thing I mean.  Making life choices and creating habits that flow with the current of God's grace, and can attract His blessing.

In the forty years (nearly) I've been doing this, I may not have learned a lot, but I've learned enough about a few things to be sure of them.  I have practiced some principles of living to the extent that I know I can rely on them.  No doubt I can be shaken, but I am sure beyond doubting that the things I have written about in this book cannot be shaken.

The Road of Blessing sets out the principles I have learned from the Bible that I have lived for almost forty years and can promise you can trust.

If you enjoy reading this blog, well then I guess you'll enjoy the book too.

A happy day.

Things are going well!

I have finished off everything for The Road of Blessing now, and left it in the hands of my trusty editor who will do a good job at bringing it to birth; he always does.

I wrote my column for Woman Alive today, well ahead of time.

I worked on the cover copy and bio for the revised and expanded Spiritual Care of Bereaved and Dying People and sent that off. The two chapters outstanding on that book are all that now stand between me and a summer break - huzzah!!

The garden is lovely - the grass turns out to be full of clover, which is humming with bees in search of honey, and we have snow peas, chard and spinach enough for as many meals as we want and still some to give away. The tomatoes are coming on apace and I must pick the blackcurrants any day now.

And we have somebody new in our home. Shadow has come to live with us. I would not expect to change someone's name; our names bring continuity and familiarity. But for some inexplicable reason I can only think of her as Vesper. Perhaps that is her real name! Anyway, she is with us, and Vesper she has become. After an afternoon hiding behind the sofa she spent the evening purring happily and watching telly with the rest of us. Pics to follow - she is not quite confident enough yet.

This is a happy day!