Today I’d like to let you know about a newly released
devotional, Pauses for the Vacationing Soul, a Sensory-based Devotional Guide for the Beach a Sensory-based Devotional Guide for the Beach by
my friend, Cathy Baker.
I asked Cathy a few questions to let you, my
readers, know a bit about the book before you buy it. Here’s what she said.
What made you decide
to write a devotional?
Too many years I returned home from the beach with my Bible
unpacked. My intentions were good but I felt as if I’d missed out on something
while on vacation—and I had. Perhaps this is why when the idea for the devotion
came to mind one morning while on the beach, I felt sure someone else could
write it better. But the following summer, the same idea came to mind but this
time, with more details. When I returned home from vacation that year, God
confirmed that I was in fact the person who should write it.
I love that it’s
specifically about how to experience God at the beach. Why the beach?
It seemed the natural place to begin since I feel God gave
me the idea while sitting on the beach. I don’t know about you, but seeing the
vastness of the ocean and smelling the salty air seems to draw me closer to our
Creator.
One of the book’s
most unique features is how you take the reader through each of the 5
senses. How did you come up with that
idea?
I taught adult Bible studies for over twenty years and often
shared sensory items to drive home a particular truth. I love how God takes
certain desires and displays them in different ways years later for His glory.
It was during our second year at the beach that God gave me the idea of
experiencing Him through each of our senses. Each day in the devotion, the
reader will focus on one particular sense – seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting,
or touching. A brief scripture reading and devotion coincide with the sense of
the day.
What do you want
people to take away from this devotional guide?
Throughout the Bible, we see where God chose to share
powerful stories that included sensory details (for instance, the Temple). He
wired us to be able to draw closer to Him through our senses, and that is my
prayer for the readers of this little book.
Is there anything we
haven’t covered that you’d like to tell our readers?
Yes! The beach devotional guide is just the first in a
series of guides that will include other vacations like the mountains, lake,
staycations, camping, and hopefully, Disney. There will also be devotional
guides for the holidays. If you would like to stay updated on all the
happenings of the Pauses devotional guides, subscribe to my site at http://www.cathybaker.org. In the June
newsletter, I’ll give my community of subscribers a sneak peek of the new book
covers and more.
Cathy Baker is a Bible teacher and an award-winning writer who delights in observing God at work in the nuances of life. Her recent release, Pauses for the Vacationing Soul: A Sensory-Based Devotional Guide for the Beach is the first in a series of books created to draw readers closer to God through our five different seasons. A variety of vacations, as well as holiday celebrations, will soon follow.
Her work has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Upper Room, and Focus on the Family’s Thriving Family. Her poetry has been published in two anthologies. She and her husband, Brian, live in the foothills of the Carolinas where she one day hopes to raise miniature Pygmy goats.
