Beauty on the Backroads

Stories of grace for life's unexpected turns

The Weekly Read

Like a sugar high, but better

Grace.

It’s one of those words we use that’s hard to explain. We can’t touch it or hold it, but we know it when we see it. And when we receive it, it blows us away.

This is how Lisa Velthouse describes it in her memoir, Craving Grace.

There’s a certain wooziness that accompanies grace. That much I know. It’s the feeling of being bowled over by generosity and simultaneously being gut-certain you don’t come close to deserving it. It’s the kind of feeling that can leave one awed and overjoyed in an instant, that can throw legitimate doubts and fears out the window.

This leaped off the page at me about a quarter of the way through the book. I get what she’s talking about.

See, Velthouse was trying to earn God’s favor by doing everything right in her life. She wanted to deserve his blessings and his grace. Then she messed up in what, for her, was a big way. Craving Grace is a story of longing — for romance, for chocolate, for significance — and longing fulfilled. It’s funny, but more importantly, it’s real. And therefore, refreshing.

A friend loaned me the book for the Tyndale Summer Reading program. I’m so glad she did. I would have missed out on a great read.

For my daughter, the sponge

Picture this: My 3-year-old daughter and I are in the bathroom of a pizza place. I’m waiting with her while she goes potty. Meanwhile, music plays from a speaker overhead. We hear these words:

“The French are glad to die for love.
They delight in fighting duels.
But I prefer a man who lives
And gives expensive jewels.”

As the words reach my daughter’s ears, she repeats, with a hint of incredulity, “the French?” “expensive jewels?”

I didn’t know the song at the time, but recognized it when the chorus came on. (“Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.”) I wondered what else would come out of my daughter’s mouth as the song continued. And it scared me a little.

When this happened, and it’s becoming more frequent that she repeats what she hears, I was in the middle of reading the book “Plugged-In Parenting: How to Raise Media-Savvy Kids with Love, Not War” by Bob Waliszewski.

Before reading one page, I adopted a “yeah, I’ve heard this before” attitude. I expected the same sort of “blah, blah, blah” arguments I’ve encountered in Christian circles about movies and television and music. I like all of those things, and the idea of limiting what I view has never sat well with me.

Until now.

Although the book is aimed at parents of teenagers or pre-teens, and my kids are 3 and 1 1/2, the author has convinced me (or was it God convicting me?) that I need to seriously consider what I view and listen to, if not for my sake, but for theirs. As a result of me reading this book, my husband and I have already started talking about what needs to change. While we limitedly practice media discernment for ourselves, we could take it farther.

Mr. Waliszewski’s arguments are loving and not condemning, powerfully convincing and backed by statistics. His is certainly not a popular stance, but God does not call us to popularity. He calls us to obedience and holiness.

Thanks to this book, I’m taking another step toward both.

 

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I received a copy of “Plugged-in Parenting” free from Tyndale House Publishers in exchange for my review.

It’s also on Tyndale’s Summer Reading Program list. Click here to join.

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