I am created in God’s image! When I hide in shame—I hide Him too. ~Ginny L. Yttrup
Can butter make you invisible?
- Ellyn, gourmet chef and butter lover, certain her dress size excludes her from love.
- Sabina, a psychologist running from pain, convinced her past disqualifies her from joy.
- Twila, a young woman with an old soul and a new tattoo fights the urge to make her body disappear.
Together, these three women represent the many ways we humans hide and hurt and hope. As the story unfolds, courage is found to open their hearts to God and each other. They learn to say no to the whisper, “The way God made you is not good enough.”
I just finished the book and already I miss these quirky women and their honest but gracious banter. My finger itches to text them, wondering if they would join me for coffee; if in the embrace of their friendship I could find healing too.
I care about made-up people! Novelist Ginny Yttrup has done it again.
Her award-winning books (Words, Lost and Found and now Invisible) strike a deep chord in me, touching old wounds I avoid or bluff my way through. I love Ginny’s characters and God loves me back through them.
This time it’s about body image, and where I turn when empty and hungry, instead of to God. I’m reminded of ways I isolate instead of letting others see me struggle.
Invisible is about hospitality, as Henri Nouwen defined it: The creation of a free and friendly space where we can reach out to strangers and invite them to become our friends.
Don’t you long for that? In a world where hostility screams loudest, God has ordained healing to happen through the hospitable heart of one offered to another. Many of us find this welcoming space in the pages of a good book.
Buy Invisible:
- If you know someone (it may be you) who struggles with shame or body image issues, who doubts they are beloved of God. Better than a self-help book, every page sings with the implications of Imago dei–we are created in the image of God.
- If you are confident in your self-image but love a well-crafted story about friendship, and God’s redemptive healing, set in beautiful Mendocino. Here’s the link for Invisible to Amazon.com. and Barnes & Noble and Christianbook. com.
Henri Nouwen wrote: Just as we cannot force a plant to grow but can take away the weeds and stones which prevent its development, so we cannot force anyone to such a personal and intimate change of heart, but we can offer the space where such a change can take place.
This is exactly what Ginny’s books do.
Have you ever experienced the hospitality of a good book?
