Book Review: A Beautiful Mess

One thing I love about my Salvation Army heritage is the ability to go anywhere and find others who immediately feel like family because they share mutual friends, live similar lives, and hold comparable values. When I lived in London for a time, after my college graduation, I attended the Army there and fielded questions about Salvationists back home. They broke with tradition and allowed me to rehearse with their senior band (they didn't allow women in British senior bands then - oh the indignity!). We rehearsed pieces written by mutually familiar composers.

I can normally walk into an Army service in another city, state, or country and find some connection to the people. Yet, it is rare to be in another church setting and discover people who know of some Salvationist. Danielle Strickland holds such a following and I've run into several non-Army friends who have heard her speak. She is a dynamic speaker, writer, and advocate. (Here's a 3 minute clip where she presents a snippet of the message of this book.)

Her biography on Amazon supports the buzz - "author of 5 books, host of DJStrickland Podcast, and founder of Infinitum, Amplify Peace, Brave Global and Women Speakers Collective." This book, A Beautiful Mess: How God Recreates Our Lives, conveys a powerful message in a tiny capsule. Using a framework of God's process of creation, Strickland identifies the order God brings to our lives from chaos. She challenges us not to run from chaos, but to embrace this divine pattern toward order and purpose.

I loved her illustrations. When learning to swim, we must let go and plunge into the scary water. She mentioned the Magic Eye images - something I recently passed along to Trevor. He figured out how to see the hidden images faster than I had when I first encountered them. You must train your eye to take in the complete image, to allow your eyes to catch the outline of what is hidden within the bigger picture. An example, taken from Henri Nouwen, talked about the importance of our reliance and trust in God, just as a trapeze artist can only take impressive risks when he/she has absolute trust in the catcher.

She writes, "Our connections, our desires, our relationships need to be tended to like a garden." Plus, she reminded me that every season of life has its own purpose and glory (here's an excellent blog post she wrote about reclaiming desert spaces). It is wrong to assume our work or success determines our value and even while I know that, I often live with that assumption, anyway. We were made in the image of God to reflect His divinity to a fallen world desperately in need of Him. Her reference to Mother Teresa's directive challenged me: "Spend an hour with God each day and don't do anything you know is wrong." Excellent words to follow.

As a writer, I couldn't help but take down the many reflective questions offered at the end of each chapter. These will serve as prompts for my daily pages for quite a while and might help me flesh out changes I would like to make in my life. Here are a few (some verbatim, some paraphrased) I found intriguing:

• Do you feel lost in the work and/or the people you are leading? Why is this? What do you need to change?
• What is the greatest challenge you are facing?
• What is your answer to the "why" of your life?
• What blocks your vision of the big picture?
• Are you rooted? Do you live a flimsy life?
• What words would others use to describe your life?
• Is your life static or stuck, or is it rich with life, movement and growth?
• Where do you sense a need for greater depth in your life?
• Are you stewarding your resources and using them to bring life to others?

This small but powerful book has provided me with much to ponder. Am I moving from chaos to God's designed order? Am I basing my life and worth on His foundation? What are the things I need to change to pursue God and His will more? If I want to live a life that causes others to reflect and say "she was a good and faithful servant," what should I be tending more fully?