Every once in a while a book comes along that is so God-timed it seemed the pages fell straight from heaven into your lap. This is one of them. My first thought when I looked up the author was, “How can she be so young and have so much wisdom?”
Here’s a small part of what spoke loudest to me. beginning with antique wallpaper…
“Just as the Montpelier restorers knew what Madison’s original wallpaper looked like because of an ordinary family of mice, we are meant to display who the Creator is through our own creating. Through our work, we point to him, describe him, and adorn him. We’re meant to be creative in imitation and honor of the One who is making all things beautiful. Christians, it seems, should be the most creative people, the ones who run straight into the mysteries and wonders of life, the ones who happily delight in beauty and use many mediums to point to the beauty of our King.
I read something somewhere that when you do something that feels like worship, you’ve found your calling. Even from the very beginning, writing felt exactly like worship. Like I was made for it. Like I was hitting an invisible bull’s-eye I’d not previously known existed. Like I was following a pattern. Like my heart was singing.
If creating is worship, it’s only about God. It’s about him, through him, and for him; it’s not for me or about me. There actually were selfish desires attached to my writing pursuits, so in order for me to write as worship, I had to crucify my expectations for results. Those hopes only turned my worship inward and distorted whatever beauty I hoped to create. We don’t create so everyone will look at us; we create so everyone will wonder at the Creator.
When I see beautiful art, when I hear beautiful music, when I see patterns and colors put together in fabrics, when I see pencil drawings or observe someone’s ability to play the piano by ear, I am amazed – not at the person who created it but at the One who created the person.
Their creativity makes me worship.”
~Christine Hoover, author of Searching For Spring
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Laura, Laura, Laura, thank you for recommending this book to us. I was just now listening to a program on TBN about how God meets us where we are, in our own language, in a language that we will understand. The speaker was talking about how God spoke to Abram in a language that he would have understood. Abram came from Ur of the Chaldeans, where human sacrifice to the gods (in order to appease them) was the norm. God was showing Abram that the one true God was not like that — that HE would sacrifice HIS Son — not expect Abram to sacrifice his. Sometimes I’ve desired that God speak to me in the way He does others, but he knows my language: BOOKS! He leads me to a book and we have these long, drawn out conversations with each other. This week has been no exception — my head is swimming in new insights and considerations! Am just so thankful you made it safely to Washington State! Have the richest and most meaningful of summers with your family. I know they must be beyond happy to have you there with them!!
So glad you saw this, Susan (you probably subscribe which delights me)! Thank you. I wrote this post with you in mind. I always hesitate to recommend a book as reading is so subjective. Once again you express so beautifully how uniquely the Lord reaches us, meets us, ministers to us through the written word, both fiction and non-fiction. This reminds me of the first time that happened to me in my 30’s. I’ve always had a fascination with Russian history and the Czars, particularly Nicholas and Alexandra. I was reading a bio of Alexandra when I was struck by icons, dead faith, works vs. grace. That bio became a soul-shattering book that changed my spiritual direction. The author was not even known to be a believer himself and am sure his intent wasn’t spiritual but the Lord used that book during that critical juncture of my life.
Yes, summer is almost here! I’m over the moon to return to my garden and family in WA! I’m working on a post of our trip with pics so happy to share that with you here soon. I’ll be taking most time off social media but for the blog. Glad we can stay connected. Praying your summer is deep and rich, too. Bless you, dear friend!
What a wonderful testimony about books and how profound spiritual lessons can come through them. I, too, have been drawn to Russian history, the Czars, and Nicholas and Alexandra (so much so, I’ve wondered about a possible DNA connection, but I also loved the photography in Dr. Zhivago — it blew me away — and only learned long after the “damage” had been done that it was shot in Finland & Spain. So it would appear Russia gained my heart under false pretenses :-). Icons, dead faith, works vs. grace are matters needing to be confronted, aren’t they? Virtually everything I am reading right now is addressing these. I caught Josh McDowell last night on television and he has written a book largely dealing with the problem of pornography, but so far I haven’t gotten to that part. It is so much more foundational than that. Everything comes back to truly understanding God and His grace and the life that spills forth from there. It’s all very exciting to me <3.
Can't wait to see you trip post!!
Another amazing thing we have in common:) You really are a writer at heart. Your words are beautiful when you talk about God and grace and the life that spills forth from there. Thanks so much, Susan!