Finding Spiritual Whitespace: A Review and a Giveaway
A few months
ago, I noticed that my favorite (in)courage writer, Bonnie Gray, had a book
coming out and had asked for people to sign up to be a part of the launch team.
I usually don’t do that kind of stuff because I just don’t have the ability to make
too many commitments right now.
But I felt
compelled.
I knew this
book on rest was the song Christ had been writing on my heart for the past year.
After striving and struggling and trying to prove my value, rest is a message I
am passionate about.
And then I
started reading it. Because rest seems like this nice topic, right? Take a vacation, go for a hike, sip a
cappuccino, read a book, be comfortable in your own skin. God loves you enough
to let you rest. But this book hurts.
Because escape isn’t really rest. God
doesn’t love us so small that He would just let us take escapes from our brokenness.
God loves us so big that He wants to make us whole.
And that is
rest. It’s digging beneath the things that we crowd our life with to try to
look okay, to seem important, to wave at the rest of the world so we can be
seen. It’s picking up broken pieces and giving them to God to make whole again.
It’s knowing God’s loves us as is and that we are His work of art.
Bonnie opens
up with us the pain in her past, the struggle in her present with PTSD, and
what God has been teaching her about rest in this journey. This book is beautiful. It is also painful. And it breathes grace.
I don’t want
to share Bonnie’s story, you are just going to have to grab a copy and read it
for yourself, but I can tell you that while my own beginnings are so very
different, this book has been so healing.
Practically,
this book is easy to read. She weaves her story through all the non-fiction
truth and revelation that, for this girl who struggles with reading non-fiction
but delights in stories, it is easy to want to keep reading (I even have to
admit to skipping ahead to see how things turn out, because I totally cheat
like that with fiction). It’s also hard to read because it demands that you
look into your own heart and see the brokenness Christ is longing to make whole
in you. The chapters are small and at the end of each chapter is a time for
reflection. This book is already perfect for a small group study and is meant
to be gone through slowly—praying, reflecting, talking to a friend after each
chapter.
I thought I
would leave you with one of my most re-read highlights from the book: “In
graphic design, whitespace is a key element to the aesthetic quality of a
composition. The more fine art a composition is, the more whitespace you will
find. The more commercial the piece, the more text and images you’ll find
crowded in. The purpose is no longer beauty. It is commercialization…
Whitespace is extravagance… Whitespace says we are someone special. It says we
are fine art in God’s eyes” (67-68 of Spiritual
Whitespace).
And you dear
friend? You are a piece of fine art, created in the image of God.
Rest.
You can grab
your own copy of this book HERE.
You can find
Bonnie Gray HERE in the middle of a 21 day series on Rest. Her blog is
beautiful and a favorite of mine.
Since I
loved this book so well, I really wanted the chance to give one away to you,
dear reader. {Of course if you just can't wait, buy the book now, and, if you win, give the winning copy away.} To enter, just log in to the rafflecopter using facebook or your email address and follow the prompts. The winner will
be selected at random using the handy dandy rafflecopter gadget. As a head’s
up, I will be contacting the winner and asking for a mailing address to send
the prize to. Of course this is not shared or used for any other purpose (and
is discarded after the prize is sent).
By Grace,
Amanda
Conquers
(Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for my review. The opinions here are entirely my own)