God Whispers

Where are you at this moment? If your first reaction was to say, "I am in a book store," or "I am in my recliner," I would likely say the same thing. But what I am asking is where you are in your faith walk with God. Do you feel far from Him? Maybe you walk closely with Him and hear His voice in your life. Are you in a listening mode or are you tuned into the "noise" in your life, cluttered with things to do, places to go, and people to see? Maybe you picked up this book because you were curious how God could possibly whisper. Or maybe you needed to make a major decision and you thought this book might help. Or maybe you picked it up because when you saw "fudge" in the subtitle, you thought it might be a recipe book. It is a recipe book, in its own way, and for fun, you will find fudge recipes in the appendix. But I wrote this book to share some experiences of mine, and those of its contributors, about how we learned from our fudges and responded to God's nudges. God wants to free us from our self-made cocoons, or chrysalises, and watch us fly free like a butterfly. The Webster Dictionary definition may help you catch my meaning. Nudge: ..".to touch or push gently; to seek the attention of by a push of the elbow; to prod lightly: urge into action" Can you see how God would use nudges to get our attention in this definition? Most people understand fudge as a candy, but there is a deeper meaning to the word. Fudge means both chocolate candy and "To devise as a substitute; to fail to come to grips with; to exceed the proper bounds or limits of; to fail to perform as expected: to avoid commitment. Example: The treasurer fudged the figures." When I fail to have no time to shop for what I need, I fudge my way through hoping for the best. When God nudges us, we might ignore Him or think we heard wrong. We may do nothing or only part of what He asks and regret it later. This is my definition of fudging in this book. Butterfly Moments is my favorite part of the title. It means we are freed, liberated by God to live the life He has planned for us. We shed the old wrappings of our life, see more clearly, love more dearly, and follow Jesus more nearly than before. Sound familiar? Those are the key words of the song "Day by Day" from the musical Godspell. We begin to grow from baby Christians, where we all begin, to mature Christians who have an unquenchable desire to know and understand more. In this book, you will read stories of people who responded to God's nudges, some who also fudged their response, and butterfly moments when we feel free. My hope is you will be able to relate, be encouraged, and remember your own experiences, and the next time you think God is nudging you, you will recognize it and act accordingly. Forgiveness is abundant from God. "Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you" (Acts 13:38). Author Bio: Liz Thompson lives in Grove City, Ohio, with her husband, Bob, and wire-haired dachshund, Toby Bear, who is her Certified Hearing Dog. In 2008, Liz's first book, Day by Day: The Chronicles of a Hard of Hearing Reporter was published by Gallaudet University Press. She has a column in ThisWeek Newspapers (formerly Suburban News Publications - SNP) in Columbus, Ohio, where she was also a reporter (SNP) from 2000-2003. From 2003-2005, she and her husband lived in Arizona where she was a Community Columnist for The Arizona Republic. Liz has been a writer for Hearing Health Magazine and www.moveoverms.org. She wants to share her faith in God in her writing and pass on the love of writing to the next generation. keywords: Religion, Christian, Christianity, Inspirational, Recipes, Witness, Poetry, Faith, Healing, Motivational