The Invitation!

When I was at the library last week, I picked up 3 books by an author that I had NEVER heard of. I don't know why I picked her books but for some reason I felt compelled to do it.

Yesterday, I had just finished reading "Schoolhouse Brides" and was looking through my library books to pick another book and again, I felt that I just HAD to read "The Invitation" by Nancy Moser.

Nancy Moser is an inspirational speaker and author of three previous books that highlight her keen biblical insights and bright sense of humor.

I guess at this point in my life, I'm being led to read these books for a reason. There has to be a lesson or something that I'm meant to get. Within the first 5 or 6 pages of the book, I had tears in my eyes and it's not that I was reading something sad or earth shattering, but I couldn't stop the tears from forming. I sat up in bed last night with the book tightly clutched in my hand and as the words flowed across the pages, I could feel myself completely captivated by the story, wanting to know more and feeling this intense calm. It was as if the Lord Himself was sitting next to me, reading page by page.

Julia, Walter, Kathy, and Natalie: four ordinary people with little in common. Until each of them receives a small, white invitation from an anonymous sender. It reads: "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed...Nothing will be impossible for you. Please come to Haven, Nebraska." At first, they all resist.

But amazing circumstances convince them that they should heed the call and go to Haven. In this rerelease of The Invitation, Nancy Moser crafts a captivating story of everydaypeople who come to realize that even a small faith, combined with a heart led by God, can change the world.

What would you do if someone just appeared before you and handed you an invitation and you open it up and this is what it says:

*Insert your full name here* is invited to Haven, Nebraska.
Please arrive August 1.
"If you have faith as small as a mustard seed,
you can say to this mountain,
'Move from here to there' and it will move.
Nothing will be impossible for you".

How would you react to knowing that God has invited you to join Him in His work?

I have faith, I've always had faith, as a matter of fact I've lived my entire life with faith, and I have gone through some weird unexplainable things that can only be attributed to God. But yet when I started reading the book and how these four people got these invitations, I stopped for a second and thought "Now what would I do if it were me getting this mysterious invitation?".

They all got their invitations 4 days before August 1st, when they were supposed to be at Haven, Nebraska. Would I be able to just go on faith and pack some things and get on the road to a place I had never heard of and didn't even know exist, without knowing for sure if this truly was a request from God or just a joke, a prank by someone, or even worse, a dangerous trap by someone?

I think as Christian we all have bumps in our lives, those times when we stop and wonder if the faith we have is enough to get us through the current storms in our lives. I know I have faith in the Lord, but just how much do I have?

It's something I struggle with daily and I think this book is supposed to show me that it's enough, that as long as I trust in the Lord, there is NOTHING that I can't achieve and can't do.


"Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.
Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."
COLOSSIANS 3:12-14


And as I wrote that scripture, the tears have started flowing, because it hits close to home and speaks directly to some family issues we've been dealing with. WOW!

I knew there was a reason for reading this book and I think right here, right now, I just got a small glimpse of ONE of the lessons I'm going to be taught.

I urge you all to read this book along with me, I would love to do a sort of a small bloggy book club and at a later date, discuss with you all what we each took from this series.

There is 3 books in the Mustard Seed Series, starting with this one "The Invitation", then "The Quest" and ending with "The Temptation". I can not wait to get through all three and share my thoughts with you.