59. Invitations from God

the REALIFE Practice Podcast

Adele Calhoun joins Sharon Swing for a conversation about Adele's book, 'Invitations from God.'

Here's a description of her book:

Some invitations we desperately want: "Will you marry me?" "Would you consider a promotion?" Other invitations we never want to receive but must respond to all the same: "What treatment do you want for your tumor?" Invitations pound away at the coastlines of the soul with a transforming force. God is also sending invitations. Sometimes they seem less compelling than anything on my to-do list. Why would I want to say yes to the invitation to rest when I'm already so far behind? Why follow when I could lead? Why accept invitations to weep or to admit I am wrong or to wait? Saying yes might slow me down, sabotage my agenda and even undo who I think I am. Adele Calhoun, author of the popular Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, offers a book about invitations like these―divine invitations we miss or ignore because we've said yes to going with the cultural flow. While these invitations from God can sometimes be difficult to accept, they can heal and restore even as they shape where we go, what we do and who we become. What we say yes to, what we say no to forms the terrain of our future. Included in this book are reflection questions and exercises as well as overview charts with recommended disciplines to guide you through each theme. As you attend to the often hidden, quiet voice of the Great Inviter, you will find yourself as God created you to be.

oneLife Maps is, at its core, interested in helping people to recognize and respond to God in their stories. The seven lies Darrell talks about invitations to consider how a few shifts in perspective on how we think about God and faith effect our ways of being in the world. You don't have to agree with everything he says to appreciate the deep thinking that has led Darrell and others to a healthy spirituality that prioritizes love as its highest value.

If you have engaged in 'Listen to My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story' visual life mapping, you'll see that this conversation relates directly to the bottom line on the 'My Life Story' map, where you are asked to consider how you have noticed God, or viewed who God is over the course of your life. This conversation is a great way to help you sort out what stories you have been handed about who you are and who God is -- and prayerfully decide what to take with you, and what to leave behind.

Please explore www.onelifemaps.com to download a free introduction booklet to 'Listen to My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story,' that contains the artwork we refer to in this episode. You can purchase your 'Listen to My Life' portfolio on that website, too.

Audio Meditations as a Thank You for Your Support

We're on a mission to help people recognize and respond to God in their story. Will you help?

Our Patreon subscription, at http://www.patreon.com/onelifemaps offers you access to recorded audio meditations that are created to assist you in becoming self-aware and God-aware.

Sibyl Towner and I (Sharon Swing), co-authored the 'Listen to My Life: Maps for Recognizing and Responding to God in My Story' visual maps, and we produce the oneLifemaps podcast along with our friend and Director of Facilitator Development, Joan Kelley.

We are offering you the opportunity to support the continuation of the oneLifemaps podcast and the publishing of 'Listen to My Life' in and weekly audio meditations as a token of our appreciation.

If we can serve you, please let us know by emailing us here.

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