Hi, my friends. I wanted to let you in on the gist of this book I’m writing. (Moody sent the contract–we’re in the process of reading through and signing it, then it’ll be officially official.)
Thank You, Lord!
So, the book isn’t written yet, by any means, I just have this rough sort of outline. More like the framing of a house, and now I’ve got to fill it all in, but I’m glad you’re here, doing this with me.
It’s a big deal that I even have the framework, because I’m a very random thinker. I think in a wiggle, not a straight line, so I give God all the credit for bringing to my mind the bare bones and letting it make some sort of sense.
And the cool thing is that Brent and I have been praying like crazy for God to give me what I need, so I’ve been coming to Him much like a little kid does, asking Him to give me words to make art with. Just this morning, He woke me up and gave me this picture of what will be. It’s messy. But, it’s art. It’s all for Him and I trust He’s in it. That’s the most important thing to me–I want God to be in this.
Somewhere along in here, I’ll describe the fall, because even though I find God in a world full of His glory, it’s evident that all is not well. I daily see the effects of the curse and I can feel it in my bones–how things are not as they should be. So, somehow, I’ll tie in that part when humanity first ran from our Maker with hearts stained with sin. And how we tripped as we fled and we’ve all been soul-scraped, this whole world wounded and marred ever since.
And in a series of essays, I’ll thrum it out. How God has not left us, but is still very much here with us and is in the process of redeeming all that’s been lost. And I’ll weave it together, how as we slow down and learn to live attentive to Him, we’ll find Him here still. Just right here with us. My life is a testimony to this.
So, there will (I think) be these four themes.
- Finding God in creation. The dappled light on my Maple tree? That’s God-art on the lawn. The burning, blazing sunset across the field? That’s God shouting out His love and His existence on sky-canvas.
- Finding God in the ache. This broken and cursed world mars our vision and makes it hard to see, but still we find traces of Him, especially in our grief. As C.S. Lewis writes, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”
- Finding God in His Word. This will be a series of essays of how God has spoken personally to me through the Bible.
- Finding God in relationships. God comes to us through community. This is how I’ve seen Him in my family and those He’s given to me–how I’ve felt Him through their skin.
And in all my finding God, I come to see that really, He has found me. There is a God of wonder, showing up in our everyday, ordinary, hum-drum life! There’s glory in the grime!
This transforms our lives into a life of awe. Our Maker makes Himself known, and we’re never quite the same.
So, this is what I want to write a book about. The God who weaves His story into our days! That though we once walked blind, our Creator aims to restore our sight. This seeing Him changes everything.
I hope this all makes sense. If you’re the praying folk, I hope you’ll pray for me, that God will indeed be in this. I want Him to be glorified with this book.
And I value your thoughts and input at any time. If you want to pray and stay updated on specific things, you can email me at surprisedbyhope@yahoo.com. (Of if you just want to shoot me your ideas and opinions, please do that, too.)
