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Amy J. Bennett

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A Kindness and The Valley of Vision

January 10, 2013 by Amy

I’m feeling a little spoiled this week.  Not even the fact that our 3 year old washing machine decided to die Monday night has deterred me from celebrating a small random act of kindness.  You’d like to hear about it and celebrate too, yes? {Oh, and there’s a giveaway at the bottom}

 

Last week I got a direct message on Twitter asking for my address.  Immediately, I thought it was spam but after a quick conversation realized it was not.  One of my long-time Twitter friends Joshua had seen something I’d posted online and wanted to send our family a gift.

I couldn’t for the life of me remember saying we needed or wanted anything in particular so I waited to see what might be coming.

I was all smiles when I opened the package Tuesday night to find two books–The Valley of Vision and Godspeed.

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I don’t even remember where I heard about the book The Valley of Vision anymore. Somewhere in the social media world is all I recall.  The collection of Puritan prayers has been on my Amazon wish list longer than any of the others.

Upon opening, I did an ohhhhh… I immediately remembered someone recently posting a picture of The Valley of Vision on Instagram as one of four books they had purchased for the new year.  I had commented saying it was on my wish list and I needed to bite the bullet and get it.

Joshua hadn’t commented and I didn’t even know he had read it.  Actually, I’m still assuming that’s where he saw that I wanted it.  He had a copy sitting in his office and decided to pass it on as a family gift.  He also sent Godspeed, a book his pastor (and boss) had written.

Scott and I were so blessed to be recipients of this random act of kindness.  We agreed we wanted to read them together.  It was such a small gesture, but huge in my eyes.  Please don’t doubt the impact a small gesture can make on someone.

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I cried the first three prayers I read.  All of these were written hundreds of years ago by Puritans—Christians that were very devoted to prayer and meditation.

I don’t know how much I can reprint here but I wanted to share snippets of a prayer I read this morning.

It’s entitled “Morning Dedication”

Let those around me see me living by the Spirit,
trampling the world underfoot,
unconformed to lying vanities,
transformed by a renewed mind,
clad in the entire armour of God,
shining as a never-dimmed light,
showing holiness in all my doings.

Let no evil this day soil my thoughts, words, hands.
May I travel miry paths with a life pure from spot or stain.

May I speak each word as if my last word,
and walk each step as my final one.
If my life should end today, let this be my best day.

 

Whew.  That last line is a doozy.

I don’t know if you can get the full effect of the prayer but there’s something about it that centers me.

I’m all for talking with God in conversation and just putting my concerns and worries out there as they are.  But, I admit, having these as a guided prayer, reminding me of the basics, if you will, and knowing they were written hundreds of years ago by Christians following the hard and narrow path has been quite a blessing.

Not only are they a gift in and of themselves, knowing they were given as a gift has made them all the more powerful.

So two things today—do that random act of kindness and consider buying The Valley of Vision.

And finally, in the spirit of passing on the random act of kindness, I’d like to pass on a copy of a book on my bookshelf that meant much to me—The Life You’ve Always Wanted by John Ortberg.  Just leave a comment and I’ll randomly (ha) pick a recipient.

Filed Under: book, Book Review, friends and/or family, spiritual stuff

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Heather W. says

    January 10, 2013 at 9:49 am

    LOVE that prayer. I might have to snag a copy of that book!

    • Amy says

      January 10, 2013 at 11:02 am

      All the ones I’ve read are so good.

  2. Mandi A says

    January 10, 2013 at 10:20 am

    I needed to hear that exact prayer this morning – I’m reading it in bed and I’m super grumpy already (headache DURING THE NIGHT =too little sleep & waking up to arguing kids)…I could see where my day was headed. Time to pray, refocus and let this be my BEST DAY. Thank you!

    • Amy says

      January 10, 2013 at 11:03 am

      So glad it was a blessing, Mandi! Praying you have a great day!

  3. Leann says

    January 10, 2013 at 10:44 am

    Sounds like a book I would love. I have always loved “My Utmost For His Highest” and even though it was written long ago, it’s still relevant today. I downloaded “The Life You’ve Always Wanted” on my Kindle back when it was free. For some reason, it’s taking me awhile to get through it, but it’s filled with such good stuff and is just so positive. In so many of the books today, I feel sort of deprecated when I read them. Ortberg’s positivity is infectious and it’s almost hard to believe that God wants GOOD things for us…that it’s okay to dream and that God is totally on board with it as long as it lines up with Truth and His Will. Anyway, since I already have it, you can take me out of the giveaway! 🙂
    Leann recently posted…Seeking FaceMy Profile

    • Leann says

      January 10, 2013 at 10:56 am

      Oops. Actually I have “The Me I Want To Be” by Ortberg.
      Leann recently posted…Seeking FaceMy Profile

      • Amy says

        January 10, 2013 at 11:03 am

        No worries, I’ll make sure you’re in either way!

  4. Josh says

    January 10, 2013 at 12:25 pm

    Amy, thank you for your gracious note. I’m glad to see how timely it was.
    If your readers wanted to receive a copy of Godspeed, if they go here, http://beingtransformed.org/resources/books#Godspeed and link through to the “order page”, place a comment on the order that they read it here on your site, I’ll give that book to them at no charge.

    Josh
    http://www.BeingTransformed.org

    • Amy says

      January 10, 2013 at 12:45 pm

      Wow, thank you again, Josh!

  5. DEBRED53 says

    January 10, 2013 at 1:17 pm

    Thank you for sharing. I’ve said in my prayers just recently that I want to truly just “talk” to God and not recite words to him. I do believe in memorizing verses and praying them but I feel I need to share my heart also. i’m going to try Joshua’s link for Godspeed. I hope I do it right and it works. Thank you Amy & Joshua!!!

    • Amy says

      January 10, 2013 at 1:29 pm

      Let me know if you need help!

  6. Connie C. says

    January 21, 2013 at 12:13 pm

    Not sure this is still open, but pick me if it is! LOL!

Trackbacks

  1. A New Thing | Permission to Peruse says:
    March 21, 2013 at 7:48 am

    […] morning I was reading in my Valley of Vision book.  Please don’t take me for more spiritually disciplined than I am. I’ve only been […]

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Hey! I'm so glad you're here. I'm Amy, working mom of 3 in the Southern suburbs. I love Jesus, my family, books, chocolate and coffee. I write about faith, parenting, adoption, marriage, fashion, and design. Read more here

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