Jesus Calling

It had only been a few days since the vision I had and my experience of going to Heaven. I had prayed to God for a book that was like the Bible, and had the words of Jesus in it, but that was not the Bible. Growing up in the church, I found the Bible, at times, scary to read. It filled me with fear, and when I returned from the local bookstore with a cheap KJV, it was too much to handle, so I threw it on the coffee table and prayed to God for a book that would help me connect with Him and that reflected the Love and Light I felt on the other side.

The next morning, I woke up and heard the audible voice of God coming out from the corner of the living room. He said, very firmly, the moment I opened my eyes from sleeping on the couch, “Go to church!” It was a voice I did not want to disobey. I panicked for a bit as I thought about which church to go to. I thought if I went into the Catholic church, I could talk to a priest and they would believe my experiences, but in the hot July weather, I did not want to walk all the way to the middle of downtown, so I decided to go to the local Methodist church on Lynn Street.

I had grown up in the Methodist church and walking into the Methodist church that morning around 10am was like walking into a time capsule. The local Methodist church served as the local voting center. There was a food pantry open and I remembered how much they dedicated themselves toward helping the poor and being involved in social justice, the things I loved about growing up Methodist. While I may have found the Bible difficult to read, I felt Methodists lived their faith. They talked the talk and they walked the walk, and they would always help you if you were down on your luck.

I wandered into the sanctuary where I cried for a bit before heading upstairs when I came across the church secretary. I asked if there was a pastor available that I could speak to. She said, “Yes, and you’re lucky you’re here when you are because he was just heading out!” I felt so blessed. I knew it was God’s perfect timing.

When I walked into the Pastor’s office, I sat down at the table and told him my story. He didn’t know me left from right and here I was blabbering about meeting God and going to Heaven. What was he going to think? When I got finished crying and telling him about everything that happened, He believed me. He said, “Kathryn, you have an amazing story.” Then, he said something peculiar. He paused for a moment in reflection while looking down at his desk, then said in a calm and peaceful tone, “I have something for you…” In my head, I thought, “What do you mean you have something for me? You don’t even know me!” The pastor walked over to his wall-sized bookshelf and pulled out a tiny turquoise leather book and gave it to me.

On it, it said, “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young. When I opened the book to a random page, the words jumped out at me. It was like the God I just met in the vision and in Heaven was speaking directly to me. I knew whoever wrote it was very in touch with God. I cried so much at his gift. It was as if God himself told him to go over and give me this book.

I took the book home with me that afternoon excited to read it every morning, and open to a new page to see what God had to say to me. It was exactly what I needed to help connect me with God and Jesus in a healthy way.