Writing a book was on Fran Myers’ bucket list, but she hadn’t figured out what to write about. When she prayed to God for help, His answer turned into her book “When God Speaks: Listening to the Voice of God.”
“I know with the busyness of the world today … the lives we lead, it just seems to be faster and faster and louder and louder,” Myers said. “I think God is asking us to spend time with him in silence.
“Even when we pray, we tend to do all the talking,” she said. “God is calling us to be silent and hear what he has to say to us.”
The book began as stories from her life when God’s voice became clear. She had collected them as a Christmas gift for her children and grandchildren. “I wanted them to know that even through our most difficult struggles, God was always there for us, leading and guiding us,” Myers said.
“During the pandemic, I just felt the prompting from the Lord to do something more with it,” Myers said. “I always wanted to write a book, but I didn’t know what to write about, until this came out of the blue.”
A representative of WestBow Press, a publisher of Christian books, called her and said, “We understand that you may have a book to publish.”
“I knew then without a doubt that God was telling me to do this,” Myers said.
For the book, Myers reached out to her husband, Jack, and friends for stories about how they’ve heard the voice of God in their lives. “God reaches out to us through music, prayer, through movies, books and creation,” Myers said. “The stories in the book are some of the ways God speaks to us.”
Each of the 10 chapters ends with questions for reflection.
Myers and her husband have led small faith groups for the last five years and have had trouble finding books to use as a guide for discussions. She wrote her book with the possibility in mind that it could fill that void.
This fall, her parish, St. Henry Church in Nashville, is planning to use the book for its small faith group ministry, Myers said.
Some individuals are using the book during their prayer time, she added.
The foreword for the book was written by Msgr. Mike Johnston, the retired pastor of St. Henry who has been Myers’ spiritual director for 30 years.
“Life is so busy, life is so full of noise … We just need to take a moment to be silent and be with the Lord,” Myers said. “There are people out there already doing this, and I’m humbled by them. But for those on the fast track, they need to realize God is the one we need to listen to and be in a relationship with.”
St. Mary’s Bookstore will host a book signing event for Myers from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24. St. Mary’s is located at 1909 West End Ave. in Nashville. For more information about the book signing, call St. Mary’s at 615-329-1835.
Besides St. Mary’s, the book is also available for purchase through: WestBowPress.com; Amazon.com; BarnessndNoble.com; Christianbook.com; WalMart.com; Booktopia.com; Betterworldbooks.com; and the Ingram Books ipage. It is also sold at Shimai Pottery and Gifts at the Loveless Cafe on Highway 100 in Nashville.
Myers is chair of the board of Visitation Hospital Foundation, which operates a medical clinic in Haiti. She is donating 50 percent of the proceeds from the book sales to the foundation.
For more information about the book, visit www.whengodspeaksbook.com or email whengodspeaksbooks@gmail.com.
