About the Book:
This book is a travel companion through the year for all those who long for more in life. Who want to rediscover what they have forgotten to see. Who want to meet God, right here in their mundane life.
Katharina von Dessien invites you on a journey – through life, towards God. She doesn’t spare you any of her sorrows or doubts: How do I deal with insecurity, with all the opportunities, with too little time? She questions big concepts honestly, she bids old rituals goodbye and sets out to discover novelty. This is when she realizes that God has prepared a table for us anywhere - when we learn to look for it!
The book includes questions and prompts to dig deeper. And there’s also a lot of space for own notes, thoughts, questions or drawings.
About the Author:
As a third culture kid, Katharina von Dessien has already seen quite a bit of this world. In all her travels, she was most impressed by people who have challenged her to think about God, herself and others. She lives and works in Stuttgart, Germany where she loves to host people and listen to their stories. Some of these find their way to her blog: www.thisiskatha.com
5 Where we meet God
I grew up in a Christian home and went through the entire youth program a church could offer. I have experienced life on the mission field and what it means to be a believer in a different cultural context. Somewhere along the way, a certain way of thinking was implanted in my head: Read the Bible. Go to church. Connect with other Christians to meet God.
In general, these practices are good ideas, but they are often connected to a feeling of pressure: You have to do this. There is no other way.
Which leaves me feeling guilty far too often. Guilty for every day that I don’t open the Bible, don’t listen to worship music, and don’t even go to church. I sense defeat within me and a spiritual bad conscience take hold.
Since I started working, my life has changed drastically. My alarm goes off at 5.15 a.m. and I’m glad when I get seven hours of sleep. There’s so much to do and so much stress – I don’t have time to meet God in a ‘spiritual’ way.
In the midst of all of this, I have found a new sense of freedom. I discover the wonders of creation spanning the world like a magnificent cathedral astounding me with each new revelation. I listen to the chirping birds, bold enough to fly into the cold morning sky and hear heaven’s praise in their song. I see the most beautiful sunrises and allow God’s presence to fill my soul. I hear so many stories from people who allow a glimpse into their lives and challenges and read God’s handwriting in them. I experience real care, friendship, hope. I savor a good meal at the end of a long day.
I meet God. Outside the church and rituals.
I don’t know what your life looks like or how you spend your days. I don’t know if and how you meet God. I won’t say that one way is better than the other. But I want to speak a little bit of freedom to your guilt-ridden soul. I want to release you from the pressure that you or others have put on your faith. I want to challenge you to widen your perspective and open your eyes and heart.
God is out there, he’s ready to find and meet you. Right where you are. Often, it’ll be in unexpected places and people. In the weirdest circumstances. Are you ready to meet him there?
Digging Deeper
Sharpen your view
“There is no part of my life that does not have grace woven into it.”
6 Look below the surface
Our neighbors are building a new house. Within days they tore down the old one and are now digging deep holes for the new one. Any chance of sleeping in, even just a little, is diminished by the construction workers showing up for work at 7 a.m. sharp, every morning. Machines create a thundering roar and sometimes I can feel the entire building shake.
When you take a closer look, though, construction work is fascinating. You have to dig deep to build a strong foundation for the new house. You have to unearth the old foundations and examine whether they’re still stable enough. You have to tear down what is no longer needed.
Digging. Unearthing. Examining. Tearing down. Building up. An exercise that life teaches us every day. We can’t choose the body and life we’ve been given, but we can take care of what’s underneath. We can take care of our soul.
We look below the surface and unearth the depths inside of us.
We examine where we come from and whether our foundation will carry us safely into the future.
We take a closer look at our identity, our values, our faith – how do we see ourselves, other people, the world, God?
We become bolder and tear down what we no longer need. Everything unstable has to go: Limited views of God. Misguided ideas about the world. Lies about ourselves. The walls we have erected between us.
We prepare the ground and lay good foundations, so that our lives may be rooted deeply and securely for an unknown future.
Digging Deeper
7 A true hero
Hero – images of epic movie moments come to mind at the sound of this word: A one-man show of a courageous guy who saves the entire planet from evil, aliens, or natural disasters. A coach who inspires his team to keep fighting even though they’re way behind. A family who stands together through misunderstandings and struggles only to experience a happy ending.
Well, these are movies. But what about real life?
Most of the time we’re anything but heroic.
We feel tired in the mornings, even though we just got up.
We despair at the sight of the pile of work waiting for us today. Hundreds of emails are sitting in our inbox, waiting to be answered.
We don’t make an extraordinary amount of money, we can’t fix problems by snapping our fingers, we don’t save relationships within seconds.
We sometimes have to force ourselves to read the Bible or go to church, even though we actually feel lost and miles away from God.
We struggle to be perfect friends, perfect spouses, perfect parents, perfect Christians, perfect people.
We try so hard to be heroes – for ourselves, our families, our friends, or in church – only to be reminded every day that we are just ordinary people.
We fall down, we get up, we live. And I wonder if all the attempts to be bold and different really matter so much, because we fail too often. Maybe the heroism in all of this is the honesty to admit how ordinary and fallible we are.
Instead of upholding a fragile façade, let’s promote a new culture of honesty and openness. Instead of holding on desperately to an image of false perfection, let’s celebrate our imperfections. Let our lives and churches be places where we complement each other’s weaknesses and heal each other’s shortcomings.
“In the broken we shall see restored the image of our king.”
Andy Flannagan2
Digging Deeper
8 Listen to the little things
It starts with the little things.
When I get up in the morning, but my body is still weary from the day before, then I know: It’s time to rest.
When my hair starts falling out and my wrists start itching, then I know: It’s time for a break.
When I snap at people for no obvious reason, then I know: It’s time to find peace.
When I forget about people because I am so focused on work, then I know: It’s time to stop.
Maybe you just nodded at a few things while reading. Rest is crucial. We need it to survive this race called life. When I realize that I feel empty inside and can’t enjoy the little things anymore because I just rush past them – then that’s my soul telling me to take a break. To pause for a while and replenish that inner reservoir that nurtures my joy, my strength, my peace.
Rest is holistic; it encompasses body, mind and soul. It might mean leaving the dishes unwashed and going to bed early. It might mean saying NO to things and shutting off that little voice in your head telling you that you can’t just stop (YES, you can!). It might mean doing something – doing something for the sheer joy of it to restore something deep inside of us.
For me, rest means cooking, writing, and speaking to friends. For you it might mean hiking, playing with your kids, or shopping.
It doesn’t matter what you do. But when you do it, you’ll realize that you need exactly these things to sharpen your perspective for the world again, to hear the soft whisper of God once more when you need it the most.
Rest is an attitude, a way of looking at our work and the world a little differently. Make it your attitude.
Digging Deeper
9 The rhythm of your own breath
I remember that in my final two years of high school, I had a German teacher who started every lesson with a peculiar ritual: one minute of silence. We sat silently in our chairs and simply listened the sound of our own breath.
Inhale.
Exhale.
And again.
What seemed rather odd to us at first quickly became my favorite part of the school day. We began to look forward to this one minute of rest. Doing nothing. Just being. Just listening to that breath that got us through the day. That breath that showed us we were still alive. Inhaling and exhaling was my way to show the world that I was alive, that I would continue to face the challenges that life threw at me every day.
Even though we’re not in school anymore, we still need this minute of silence. Life is often so full and challenging that it feels like an endurance race. We need that pause button, that short moment of rest.
We exhale and let go of the things that bother us, what we can’t handle anymore. Just like the breath that leaves our mouth, we feel the weight being lifted off our shoulders. We inhale new air, fresh perspectives; we experience inspiration and vision.
We inhale and show the world that we’re still alive. That we keep going. That we’ll continue to face the challenges life throws at us every day.
Digging Deeper