A deaf Miss America (who doesn’t like to write) authored these four books:
- 1997 – Her autobiography, Listening with My Heart with Angela Elwell Hunt
- 1999 – Believing the Promise by Heather Whitestone McCallum with Carolyn Curtis.
- 2003 – Let God Surprise You, Trust God with Your Dreams by Heather Whitestone McCallum and Angela Hunt.
- 2004 – Heavenly Crowns, Striving for a Godly Life in the Midst of Daily Struggles by Heather Whitestone McCallum and Angela Elwell Hunt.
First Book: No notes. It is simply a chronological autobiography.
Second Book: Believing the Promise. Here Heather shares vignettes of contemporary and Biblical heroes/heroines, written with excellence, a devotional.
- Shirley Dobson (132)
- Joni E. Tada (129)
- Maria Von Trapp (126)
- Ruth Graham
- Helen Keller (194)
- Mother Teresa (221, 251)
- Billy Graham (252)
- Proverbs 31 lady
- Joseph in New Testament (122)
- Queen Esther (131)
- Amos (154-155)
- Peter (133-135)
- Noah (136)
- Paul (122)
- Mary Magdalene (223-226)
- Ruth and Naomi (233)
- Rahab (235)
- David and Jonathan (237)
- Caleb (246)
- She gave up privacy for politics when husband ran for office. (119-121)
- She spent time with Kathie Lee Gifford and the Clintons. (141-142)
- Her parents were divorced when she was fourteen years old. (160)
- She gives details of her flight to Atlantic City for 1995 Miss America pageant. (163)
- She takes us behind the scenes of pageant where she met about twelve fellow Christians. (186)
- She describes her wedding day of 6/8/99.
Third Book: Let God Surprise You, Trusting God with Your Dreams. These fourteen chapters contrast how events in life overtook Biblical heroes and how the same thing can surprise others and us. Heather uses events in her life and others to prove her point.
1. Surprised by Big Dreams – Biblical Example: Joseph in Old Testament. Joseph’s dream was to lead his family; Heather’s dream was to be a ballerina and dance before thousands. Joseph had bumps in the road; Heather experienced her parents’ divorce, which caused her to turn to God, like Joseph. She obeyed her parents and went to Jacksonville State University and met a former Miss Alabama. She compares her going to JSU to Joseph’s entering Egypt. (21)
Secular Example – George Washington Carver worked hard in his laboratory and ended up before Congress in 1921.
2. Surprised by Sin –
Biblical Example: Beautiful Eve, prettier than Esther, Bathsheba, Sarah and all fifty Miss America contestants.
Personal example: At age 10, Heather stole egg-shaped Silly Putty toy at a store.
Secular example: Steve Arterburn, founder of Women of Faith and New Life clinics. He was a former playboy who wrote Flashpoints and speaks at pro-life rallies. He realized that his lifestyle had once caused women to get abortions.
3. Surprised by New Faith –
Biblical Example: Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz
Contemporary Example – Queen Ka’ahumanu of Hawaii. Her summary: She lived in early 19th century, the widow of King Kamehameha. In 1820 a missionary named Hiram Bingham and his group landed in Hawaii and led her to God. She put three of Ten Commandments into Hawaiian law, stealing, murder and adultery. She made sure kids in school were taught about Christianity.
“Years later, as the queen lay upon her deathbed, Bingham presented her with his newly completed Hawaiian translation of the New Testament. She declared it good, then spoke her last words: ‘I am going where the mansions are ready.’” (38) Quoted in William Federer, America’s God and Country Encyclopedia of Quotations (USA: Fame, f1996) 523. Quoted on p. 38; cited on p. 206.
Personal Example:
Heather became a Christian during high school (39). She was lonely like Ruth but became useful to other girls in Shelby County Junior Miss competition. There she won the Spirit Award, voted on by other contestants. She also won second runner up and won the talent competition. The event brought her out of isolation and helped her relate to her peers. Her life was parallel to Ruth in the Bible. God was in charge of her life and caused her to attend Berry High School in Birmingham and Shades Mountain Baptist Church youth group. She was confronted by a Sunday School teacher at the church about salvation.
4. Surprised by Adversity –
Biblical Example: David’s biography – lengthy. It is done with excellent narration; David wasn’t expecting the sudden conflict with Saul.
Personal Example: Many happy moments since 1995 (but conflict before then) – career, marriage, and motherhood.
Contemporary Example – She learned many things from Helen Keller’s autobiography Midstream, My Later Life. It concentrated on what she could do.
Contemporary Example – Fanny Crosby. Crosby learned to read Braille as a child. She died in 1915 at age ninety-five, after she had written more than 8,000 gospel songs. Like David, she learned to be patient.
5. Surprised by Deliverance –
Biblical Example: Stories of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They faced food trials, then fiery furnace, then lions’ den. They were delivered from death.
Personal Example: She was delivered from death by a virus at eighteen months with a 104-degree fever. Antibiotics caused deafness.
Contemporary Example – Told of a family that adopted eight children with two of their own because of circumstances and acts of mercy.
Historical Example – Abraham Lincoln’s son Tad sentenced his toy soldier to death. Lincoln wrote a note to Tad. “The doll Jack is pardoned. By order of the President.” He officially signed the paper “A. Lincoln.” He once compared war days to a fiery furnace (66).
Our God will deliver us as He chooses: Isaiah 46:4; 43:2-3.
6. Surprised by Love (71)
Biblical Example: Heather summarizes life and marriage of Hosea to an unfaithful prostitute, Gomer. They had a family of three kids---one girl and two boys. She left him for another man after third baby. Hosea later bought her back with money. He loved her tremendously, like God loved Israel.
Personal Example: Heather shares her surprise by love when John McCallum proposed to her. (77-78)
Historical Example: Martin Luther and Katherine von Bora. Katherine was sixteen years younger. She had a sharp tongue and was twenty-six years old. He helped eight other nuns escape the convent but had no husband for Katherine. He was forty-one; so, he ended up marrying her himself. His quote on marriage follows: “Let the wife make her husband glad to come home and let him make her sorry to see him leave.” (from William Petersen, Twenty-five Surprising Marriages (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1997) 154.
7. Surprised by Children
Personal Example: She and husband had first two sons seventeen months apart, John and James.
Biblical Examples: Elizabeth, Mary (mother of Jesus), two moms in Solomon story (I Kings 3:25)
Contemporary Examples: Various surprise pregnancies.
8. Surprised by Provision
Biblical Example: Ravens fed Elijah, then he was provided for with widow and oil and cake each day. Also, he was fed in the desert in I Kings 19:58.
Historical Example: Corrie ten Boom’s vitamin supply in the German prison lasted a long time.
9.Surprised by Ministry
Biblical Example: Paul, account of his life and work
Contemporary Example: Lowell “Bud” Paxon. Founder of PAX Network or Home Shopping Network (130). He has an amazing testimony of finding Christ in a hotel room and later got into Christian TV.
10. Surprised by Conflict
Biblical Example: Conflict between Paul and Barnabas over John Mark. (136-138)
Person Example: Conflict between John and her about politics. (136-141)
Historical Example: William Wilberforce “taking a stand for what we believe to be right.” His conflict was over slave trade. He was saved in 1784 at age twenty-five. He fought for twenty years with Parliament to end slavery in England.
11.Surprised by Angels
Biblical Example: New Testament Zechariah in the temple, shepherds at Christmas, Daniel in lions’ den, creation, Elisha at Dothan (II Kings 6)
Contemporary Examples: Joni E. Tada at death of her niece. (151-152) A Yanomamo native in jungle in Spirit of the Rainforest by Mark Andrew Ritchie.
12. Surprised by Beauty
Biblical Example: Story of Esther, told with realistic spin.
Personal Example: Heather’s Miss America experience.
13.Surprised by Healing
Biblical Example: Deaf and dumb man in Mark 7:33-37.
Personal Example: Heather shares pros and cons of the cochlear implant. A friend once told me that at first human voices sound like Mickey Mouse.
14. Surprised by Forgiveness
Personal Example: She felt a wave of love and compassion, then she forgave son John-John for waking her up with People magazine and calling himself “Dr. McCallum.”
Biblical Example: Peter’s betrayal and subsequent forgiveness.
Contemporary Example: There is a story of a raped girl, Debbie Cuevas, from book Forgiving the Dead Man Walking by Debbie Morris. The event happened in 1980. She forgave the rapist, Robert Willie. The book was made into a movie.
Fourth Book: Heavenly Crowns, Striving for a Godly Life in the Midst of Daily Struggles
In this book, Heather addresses the various crowns mentioned in the New Testament. She elaborates on the crowns of rejoicing, life, glory, righteousness, the crown of thorns, and others-- in her unique way.
Heather Whitestone McCallum is obviously very well-read and either makes copious notes or has a photographic memory. She brings in little known stories from her vast reading that make her work super interesting. Reading her re-telling of Bible stories or contemporary examples leave the reader inspired.
Note: I secured these books through Interlibrary Loan from my local public library; it wasn’t necessary to purchase them online. Any public library offers this service, and it was more popular before the days of Internet.