Whispers of Rest - wonderful new book by Bonnie Gray

I first came across Bonnie Gray when she started blogging as Faith Barista; I joined in with her 'one word' writing prompts. I loved her coffee analogies: getting a 'refill' of faith; Beloved Brews; Bible Espresso; Coffee Break For Your Soul Podcast; Decaf Please; Everyday Faith Brews; Soul Mocha Videos ......

Then she wrote a book: Finding Spiritual Whitespace. I was privileged to join the pre-launch team, and so eagerly joined in again when I discovered she was bringing out another: Whispers of Rest.

Bonnie says: "Everywhere I go, women line up during book signing to ask this one thing: But, how can I get practical about rest when I go back home? How can I take better care of myself and feel close to God everyday?

Today, I am so happy to share the top 40 ways that has helped me to become God's beloved with you in my new book Whispers of Rest: 40 Days of God’s Love to Revitalize Your Soul! 

As women who pour out to love others – with checklists to do, meals to cook, emails & deadlines queued up, let's prioritize our well-being with God's love and rest!

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden
and I will give you rest.” Matt 11:28"  

I have been taking part in a 21 day challenge, where Bonnie has given words of encouragement to focus on: pause; listen; breathe; rest.....The book Whispers of Rest offers similar ideas, one a day for 40 days.

40 days is such a wonderful, Biblical period of time. Jesus's 40 days in the desert is the first which springs to mind, echoed in 40 days of Lent; I've taken part enthusiastically in 40Acts, 40 days of acts of kindness and generosity throughout Lent.

Of course, I try to do 40Acts all year long: it's not just for Christmas Lent. Similarly, Whispers of Rest is not necessarily just for 40 days, but a book to dip into, a page to linger on a while.  It will, I think, take me a while to learn to just breathe.... or rest....just listen... pause and see...

Bonnie's book is sensibly organised into six different sections, all focused, really, on realising who we are: Beloved.

Each chapter contains a personal reflection; directed Bible study; prayer; space for personal reflection and application, with a one word focus; and a practical suggestion to follow.  It is incredible how much Bonnie packs in - it certainly seems like much more than 40 days' worth.

The more I read, the more I find in others' hearts the desperate need to know they are beloved. Whispers of Rest offers ways of doing this.

So...I don't need to say more. There would be too many words to write: each page is filled with wisdom and encouragement, an invitation to linger and listen to the still small voice inside our hearts...

Words to help us just BE...to CHOOSE...to DREAM...to HEAL...to DARE...to SHINE... as God's beloved.

Practical and poetic. 

Nearly halfwaythrough

Nearly halfway through the #whispersofrest challenge from Bonnie Gray's forthcoming book. 21 days of a different reflective activity a day.

It has been surprisingly calming and restoring. From just 'breathe' (day 1) to 'encourage', the words have been both self-directed and other-directed, while always the focus is on God.

Breathe in His Spirit
Appreciate someone
Write a word of meaning from a Psalm
Say 'Yes' to time with God
Journal for ten minutes...or twenty...or perhaps thirty
Rest.
Let go and live loved - my answer of what I let go too personal to put here
Pause and see... beauty. a sunrise. Goldfinches on the bird table
Encourage a friend. Or even a not-friend. Or even an 'enemy'.

Words to remember and live by, to interpret according to a season, a situation, a supplication.
Words of calm.

Taking ten.

I began #whispersofrest at the beginning of this week, when everything seemed somewhat frazzled. But, miraculously, I have survived the week more than unscathed. Issues from last week have been resolved and, even though my workload has increased again, it has all been manageable. Conversations have been good, plans have been made, relationships have been strengthened.

Through it all, through it all, my eyes are on Him...beautiful words from Kristene DiMarco at Bethel music.


"It Is Well"

Grander earth has quaked before
Moved by the sound of His voice
Seas that are shaken and stirred
Can be calmed and broken for my regard

Through it all, through it all
My eyes are on You
Through it all, through it all
It is well

Through it all, through it all
My eyes are on You
It is well with me

Far be it from me to not believe
Even when my eyes can't see
And this mountain that's in front of me
Will be thrown into the midst of the sea

Through it all, through it all
My eyes are on You
Through it all, through it all
It is well
B
So let go my soul and trust in Him
The waves and wind still know His name...

It is well with my soul
It is well with my soul
It is well with my soul
It is well with my soul

But my eyes have not been on Him all the time, though my heart has been steadfast on His love and promises. I have been distracted with busyness and thoughts, with work and relaxation, with 'oughts' and 'shoulds'.

Bonnie's words have helped anchor me. Breathe. Appreciate someone. Write one word that speaks to me as I read Psalm 119. (Only one?!  That is the longest psalm there is!) Say yes to enjoying something refreshing with God. Journal for ten minutes.

I have had rest just lying on my bed, quietening my breathing.

I have had rest in enjoying my relationship with my husband.

My word from Psalm 119 is 'blessed'. God has indeed blessed me abundantly.

I have had rest in listening to beautiful worship music.

And now I rest while writing thoughts from the week. Taking ten minutes...and a little more.

Resting and rested. Mmmm.

Rest. The beginning.

I've said that I would take part in promoting Bonnie Gray's new book. Whispers of Rest, and am part of a facebook group, following on Instagram and Twitter, and getting daily emails.

It's all about Rest. Quite honestly, I feel too busy and frazzled to do it. I just don't have the time and energy to go to the effort of resting. How bizarre is that?

Someone on facebook talked about savouring a cup of coffee. Pausing. Taking a moment of rest, even though she had been so distracted that even when reading her daily devotional she was "Scarfing down words"...well, yes, that's me as well. I have so much going on that the prospect of HAVING to rest seems exhausting! One more thing to do! I'll think of this lady, though, when I too am pausing over that first morning cup of coffee tomorrow. I'll choose my special cup, blue and yellow Portuguese china, which my friend Lisa gave me, and pause and rest. I think this 'enforced rest' is going to be just what I need...

One word....

Last year, 2015, my one word for the year was JOY.  I needed to learn joy, to live and breathe and eat joy, to CHOOSE joy over and above all else, even when joy was not the first or second or last word in my mind.

And as I chose joy, joy came.

Joy came in many small ways, a heart attitude of gratefulness and more optimism than I should have felt.  Joy came in big things: from desperate prayers for an unmarried daughter in January through to her engagement in July and wedding in December. More joy than I dreamed of.

And joy is my word for this year, again.

But to that one word I need to add two more.  BE GENEROUS.  I need to learn and practise and live generosity in a new and extravagant way.

Because being generous is something I'm really, really bad at.

I'm poor at being generous with money as I fear being poor. (Is that not a great contradiction?)
I'm poor at being generous with my attitudes as I prefer to be judgemental.
I'm poor at being generous with myself as I am afraid of things not turning out the way I've planned.
Oh, I have a lot of 'being generous' to explore this year....

And, already, I'm being challenged to give more of myself, when I feel as if I am pouring myself out into nothingness.
I'm being challenged to be more generous with my attitudes, giving the benefit of the doubt even when I am sure it is not deserved.
I'm being challenged to be more generous financially, in spite of a more constrained and reduced income.

This will be an interesting year. 

Finding quietness... whitespace again

In church yesterday, we were challenged as to whether we had become lukewarm and indifferent to the things of God. If we were going through the motions - serving, attending a small group and church services, etc - but not really connecting with God. The minister asked us to raise our hands so he could pray for us.

But I didn't raise my hand. The heart is deceitful above all else, of course, but I didn't feel I WAS indifferent. I DO actively strive to connect with God, to rest with him, to encounter him... but I AM busy.  It is busyness that is the distraction, and Bonnie's book 'Finding Spiritual Whitespace' calls me aside to rest.

That is my challenge.

Finding Spiritual Whitespace: The Review

Bonnie Gray is the writer behind Faith Barista.com, a lovely blog on spiritual topics themed to all things coffee: quirky and imaginative. She has written the book Finding Spiritual Whitespace about her inspiring, heart-breaking journey to find rest, which garnered Publisher’s Weekly starred review. You can get a copy HERE. I have just finished it, but this is not a book to read quickly: quite the contrary.

I need to start over. I need to re-read - especially the pages, the many many places,  I have pencilled in notes and underlinings and reminders to stop. and think. and revisit. 

Bonnie's book is a journey she has taken involving revisiting painful events in her life. She bravely shares the messiness, the pain and the subsequent healing of memories buried so deep that she didn't know they were there. 

But her body did. She carried those hurtful words and experiences for four decades before she realised how they were affecting her. She became so broken, afflicted by post-traumatic stress disorder, that she could no longer function normally. In the hurt and pain, she rediscovered Jesus' spirit deep within her.

This book, however, isn't just show and tell. Bonnie speaks as friend, inviting the reader in to discover healing and wholeness with her. She speaks of reawakening the soul through stillness and rest and discovering Jesus in new and deeper ways. Facing questions of desire and loss; feelings of desolation; going beyond the obvious.

Bonnie writes tenderly from many different perspectives as she draws us into discovering Jesus in fresh new ways. She encourages the reader to take time to rest; to listen for Jesus' voice; to rediscover innate creativity; and above all, to revisit painful memories in the loving companionship of the Spirit of God. This is not self-indulgent, but healthy. We all need to face those things we have buried long before, learning to cope, to live with shame and hurt that has been buried but affects us without our realising it.

Words cannot do justice to this gem of a book. I found myself sinking in, like drinking a frothy cappuccino through the cream to find the strength of the coffee beneath. This book IS strong: its words offer hope and healing and an invitation to a deeper, more intimate spiritual life.

Beautiful, poetic words. Words to retain, words to inspire, words to encourage. A gift and a jewel from a brave heart.