Review: NOT WHAT I EXPECTED
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 24, 2013
At first I thought I had read this book before: one book cover with a nun in her habit looks very much like any other book cover of a nun in her habit.But I was wrong. I found a nun famous for her ability to pray herself to the throne of God; a nun who could levitate as an effect of those prayers reaching Heaven; a nun who had been mistrusted by others, both male and female, who served The Church because of the Raptures she experienced as she sought out The Lord in silence.Teresa had been ill as a child and was sent to an uncle's home to recuperate. This uncle had a vast library of books on the subject of religion. Teresa might have been bodily sick, but these books led her soul off the mortal plane.She knew she must dedicate her life to God.Even after she became a nun at age 20 that old illness wouldn't leave her alone. It returned again and again, off and on during her entire life. One of the men in the church advised her to pray.He had no idea what he had started.I'm Baptist. One of the hardest things for new Christians is praying. There's a saying that you 'feel like your prayers don't make it past the ceiling'; it's can be difficult to just talk to our Savior. He chose to give up His own life in the most horrible way possible so we would have eternal life.We are taught to pray like we're having a conversation with someone we love and respect. Tell about your concerns. Don't make your prayer a shopping list of things you want. Look around and be thankful for what you've got.I read Teresa's prayers and she has that mastered. Her only real desire was to serve her Creator, to walk closer with Him.After her signs of being close to God (remember the levitation?) the Inquisition kept a close eye on her. She had written several books about her life. The Inquisition banned one of them and banned some of the books she had enjoyed when she first traveled to her uncle's home as a sick child.Somehow all the books Teresa wrote have survived. This book has taken the types of prayer from one of her books.When I was a young mother I would pray in the bathtub. It was the only time I was really alone. After school I always prayed on the drive home. No, I didn't close my eyes, but I did focus my heart on God. Each day at school I would notice things my students said or did and I just had to talk to . God before I got home and was busy washing clothes or cooking.Remember that God does answer every prayer, but sometimes He says,"No"; trust His decision.