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Beyond Ourselves by Catherine Marshall (A Guest Post by Alice Allsworth)

By Anita Mathias

(Interestingly, I became a Christian while reading this very book in 1979, Anita http://www.anitamathias.com/teenage-atheist.html)

So many things change our lives: circumstances, the family we’re born into, where we went to school, what career we chose, what jobs we did, how our parents behaved, what heartaches and heartbreaks we’ve faced, sickness, poverty, wealth. The list is endless but books can change our lives too: sometimes, a deep and powerful impact that changes us forever.

Aside from the Bible one of the books I credit for changing my life as is “Beyond Ourselves” by the renowned American author Catherine Marshall. Her inspirational writing has touched the lives of millions and continues to do so even now, although she died in 1983.

As a very new Christian, I was thankfully led to read this book when I needed feeding all the time. I was reading the Word but I needed something that related to everyday life and situations. This was where this book had such an impact. I hadn’t read much Christian literature at that time but was so thirsty to know more about this new life I had chosen. I remember feeling like a sponge, just soaking everything in, the good, the bad and the mediocre.

I needed to see how you could live your life as a Christian and what it actually meant to face the challenges life threw at you. Probably one of the most profound topics was that of forgiveness. Catherine gave such personal testimony of how she had been enabled to forgive and I was very quickly convicted that I needed to forgive someone who had hurt me very deeply.

So strong was this conviction that I didn’t wait long to obey the inner nudges, or shoves. The person I was struggling to forgive had caused me to lose my job and had taken my role on when I left. That event had caused chaos in my life.  As a newly single parent unemployment was the last thing I needed. Encouraged by Catherine’s book I came before the Lord and made my peace with Him and released my forgiveness towards this lady.

Sometimes God wants to check we’ve done it for real, meant what we said. Only a few weeks later I found myself sitting behind this lady at a seminar. Had I not forgiven her she would probably have withered under the force of my feelings. But the Lord wasn’t done with me; He convicted me again that I should speak to her and apologise for my part in what had gone on. That was hard. I was shaking but knew I couldn’t duck this one.

As I spoke to her I could feel the grace and peace of the Lord flood through me and although our paths were unlikely to cross again, I knew I could face her any time. The real blessing was that she apologised too. Light as air and free as a bird at that moment, I left knowing that something very powerful had taken place. The Divine exchange.

I read as many of Catherine Marshall’s books as I could; they were sustenance and I devoured them all. She was so honest and real about the life situations that she encountered and didn’t shirk away from the tough stuff like suffering and healing. You almost feel like you really know her by the time you finish.

So often we’re afraid to be real with each other, wear a mask and smile hoping no one will find out what’s going on inside. But the shallowness brings no relief and until we face up to our truth we cannot know peace, healing, forgiveness and grace.

It’s more than twenty years since I first read this book and I was inspired to read it again. Unable to find my copy, which I probably lent to someone else who’d just entered the Kingdom, I have purchased another copy and am savouring it all over again.

My life has had many twists and turns over these last twenty four years, some of which I would never have wanted to experience but the simple message and power of encouraging and inspirational writers like Catherine Marshall gave me hope, increased my faith and afforded me the courage to be real about my life.

I love the way she never thought too highly of herself, asked the difficult questions of God and praised Him for the answers. Amply demonstrating that nothing is wasted in the divine economy, she found a new purpose after the devastating,untimely death of her husband. She poured out her pain through her pen and allowed the Lord to turn her sorrow into joy, helping us all to realise that there is always hope.

I will still happily place this book in the hands of a new believer as a guide and help. I have always aspired to write and offer something meaningful. Catherine’s writing and her journey as a writer were a touchstone for the journals I have kept for more than two decades and the literary journey I am on now. I do wonder what she would have made of blogging. I’m sure she’d have been out there with the others offering her warmth, wisdom and intimate insights of the Lord to the 21st century.

*******
Alice Allsworth

Alice Allsworth (alicesapplesofgold.wordpress.com)



Alice’s Bio: I’m a mother of two beautiful daughters and a grandmother to three enchanting grandchildren. I live in one of the most beautiful places in the country, Cornwall. Fortunate enough to live by the sea, I never want to be too far away from its sight and sound.


I love music, words, painting, life, my family, my friends and most of all my faith. I live on the same roller coaster as everyone else but love to encourage others, support them when they’re struggling and most of all want to have made a difference to the world by the time I leave it.


I believe faith is an intimate part of everyday life and seek to relate the ordinary to the divine. It is the encouragement of others and the amazing love and grace of God that has brought me to this point.



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  1. Anita Mathias says

    March 19, 2012 at 12:38 am

    I liked her books on Peter, on the Holy Spirit, Beyond Ourselves and its sequel, Something More. I have a selection of her journals too, which I am enjoying.

    Welcome to my blog, Miss Mollie!

  2. Miss Mollie says

    March 18, 2012 at 3:30 am

    Catherine is one of my favorite writers, too. I identified with “Julie” Her book on her husband, Peter, also inspired me. So many of her books helped me when I read them.

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anita.mathias

Writer, Blogger, Reader, Mum. Christian. Instaing Oxford, travel, gardens and healthy meals. Oxford English alum. Writing memoir. Lives in Oxford, UK

Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford # Images from walks around Oxford. #beauty #oxford #walking #tranquility #naturephotography #nature
So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And h So we had a lovely holiday in the Southwest. And here we are at one of the world’s most famous and easily recognisable sites.
#stonehenge #travel #england #prehistoric England #family #druids
And I’ve blogged https://anitamathias.com/2020/09/13/on-not-wasting-a-desert-experience/
So, after Paul the Apostle's lightning bolt encounter with the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus, he went into the desert, he tells us...
And there, he received revelation, visions, and had divine encounters. The same Judean desert, where Jesus fasted for forty days before starting his active ministry. Where Moses encountered God. Where David turned from a shepherd to a leader and a King, and more, a man after God’s own heart.  Where Elijah in the throes of a nervous breakdown hears God in a gentle whisper. 
England, where I live, like most of the world is going through a desert experience of continuing partial lockdowns. Covid-19 spreads through human contact and social life, and so we must refrain from those great pleasures. We are invited to the desert, a harsh place where pruning can occur, and spiritual fruitfulness.
A plague like this has not been known for a hundred years... John Piper, after his cancer diagnosis, exhorted people, “Don’t Waste Your Cancer”—since this was the experience God permitted you to have, and He can bring gold from it. Pandemics and plagues are permitted (though not willed or desired) by a Sovereign God, and he can bring life-change out of them. 
Let us not waste this unwanted, unchosen pandemic, this opportunity for silence, solitude and reflection. Let’s not squander on endless Zoom calls—or on the internet, which, if not used wisely, will only raise anxiety levels. Let’s instead accept the invitation to increased silence and reflection
Let's use the extra free time that many of us have long coveted and which has now been given us by Covid-19 restrictions to seek the face of God. To seek revelation. To pray. 
And to work on those projects of our hearts which have been smothered by noise, busyness, and the tumult of people and parties. To nurture the fragile dreams still alive in our hearts. The long-deferred duty or vocation
So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I So, we are about eight weeks into lockdown, and I have totally sunk into the rhythm of it, and have got quiet, very quiet, the quietest spell of time I have had as an adult.
I like it. I will find going back to the sometimes frenetic merry-go-round of my old life rather hard. Well, I doubt I will go back to it. I will prune some activities, and generally live more intentionally and mindfully.
I have started blocking internet of my phone and laptop for longer periods of time, and that has brought a lot of internal quiet and peace.
Some of the things I have enjoyed during lockdown have been my daily long walks, and gardening. Well, and reading and working on a longer piece of work.
Here are some images from my walks.
And if you missed it, a blog about maintaining peace in the middle of the storm of a global pandemic
https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/  #walking #contemplating #beauty #oxford #pandemic
A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine. A few walks in Oxford in the time of quarantine.  We can maintain a mind of life and peace during this period of lockdown by being mindful of our minds, and regulating them through meditation; being mindful of our bodies and keeping them happy by exercise and yoga; and being mindful of our emotions in this uncertain time, and trusting God who remains in charge. A new blog on maintaining a mind of life and peace during lockdown https://anitamathias.com/2020/05/04/a-mind-of-life-and-peace/
In the days when one could still travel, i.e. Janu In the days when one could still travel, i.e. January 2020, which seems like another life, all four of us spent 10 days in Malta. I unplugged, and logged off social media, so here are some belated iphone photos of a day in Valetta.
Today, of course, there’s a lockdown, and the country’s leader is in intensive care.
When the world is too much with us, and the news stresses us, moving one’s body, as in yoga or walking, calms the mind. I am doing some Yoga with Adriene, and again seeing the similarities between the practice of Yoga and the practice of following Christ.
https://anitamathias.com/2020/04/06/on-yoga-and-following-jesus/
#valleta #valletamalta #travel #travelgram #uncagedbird
Images from some recent walks in Oxford. I am copi Images from some recent walks in Oxford.
I am coping with lockdown by really, really enjoying my daily 4 mile walk. By savouring the peace of wild things. By trusting that God will bring good out of this. With a bit of yoga, and weights. And by working a fair amount in my garden. And reading.
How are you doing?
#oxford #oxfordinlockdown #lockdown #walk #lockdownwalks #peace #beauty #happiness #joy #thepeaceofwildthings
Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social d Images of walks in Oxford in this time of social distancing. The first two are my own garden.  And I’ve https://anitamathias.com/2020/03/28/silver-and-gold-linings-in-the-storm-clouds-of-coronavirus/ #corona #socialdistancing #silverlinings #silence #solitude #peace
Trust: A Message of Christmas He came to earth in Trust: A Message of Christmas  He came to earth in a  splash of energy
And gentleness and humility.
That homeless baby in the barn
Would be the lynchpin on which history would ever after turn
Who would have thought it?
But perhaps those attuned to God’s way of surprises would not be surprised.
He was already at the centre of all things, connecting all things. * * *
Augustus Caesar issued a decree which brought him to Bethlehem,
The oppressions of colonialism and conquest brought the Messiah exactly where he was meant to be, the place prophesied eight hundred years before his birth by the Prophet Micah.
And he was already redeeming all things. The shame of unwed motherhood; the powerlessness of poverty.
He was born among animals in a barn, animals enjoying the sweetness of life, animals he created, animals precious to him.
For he created all things, and in him all things hold together
Including stars in the sky, of which a new one heralded his birth
Drawing astronomers to him.
And drawing him to the attention of an angry King
As angelic song drew shepherds to him.
An Emperor, a King, scholars, shepherds, angels, animals, stars, an unwed mother
All things in heaven and earth connected
By a homeless baby
The still point on which the world still turns. The powerful centre. The only true power.
The One who makes connections. * * *
And there is no end to the wisdom, the crystal glints of the Message that birth brings.
To me, today, it says, “Fear not, trust me, I will make a way.” The baby lay gentle in the barn
And God arranges for new stars, angelic song, wise visitors with needed finances for his sustenance in the swiftly-coming exile, shepherds to underline the anointing and reassure his parents. “Trust me in your dilemmas,” the baby still says, “I will make a way. I will show it to you.” Happy Christmas everyone.  https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/24/trust-a-message-of-christmas/ #christmas #gemalderieberlin #trust #godwillmakeaway
Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Look, I’ve designed a journal. It’s an omnibus Gratitude journal, habit tracker, food and exercise journal, bullet journal, with time sheets, goal sheets and a Planner. Everything you’d like to track.  Here’s a post about it with ISBNs https://anitamathias.com/2019/12/23/life-changing-journalling/. Check it out. I hope you and your kids like it!
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