Go Ahead: Judge This Book By Its Cover

You're at the library or your favorite bookseller (by the way, please go visit your favorite local bookseller if you have not lately - maybe ask them to pre-order this book?!) and you hold a book in your hand eyeing the cover. You have done this before. You pick up a book and either savor the cover curious as to what is inside or... you are instantly not interested. Your senses react to the colors, the font, and the imagery you hold in your hand. From that first impression, you may decide if the book is for you or not - even before you open the pages, glimpse at the author's profile or read a description of what may actually be inside.  

The first book I ever wrote (probably around age 8) was about panda bears and was created in the shape of a panda bear's head. Yes, you read that correctly. I created the cover myself from white construction paper, carefully shading the ears and eyes with a black sharpie. As the first book I will ever publish became a reality, I was honored to be able to vision and dream with the Upper Room team how this cover could invite the reader into the pages of this devotional. It definitely did not look like a panda bear, but I was not certain what it did look like. It still felt abstract, but I knew it was to be an invitation for you, the reader.

You see, this devotional is an invitation to begin listening with your body in a way that is undefined. Each person who chooses to journey with God through the pages of this book is invited to use their body to listen for God. And guess what? No two of our bodies are the same!  And, no two persons will read or experience this invitation in the same way. There is no "how-to" for how you should use your body to listen for God's activity. But there is an invitation.

This book cover is for you.

As I glimpsed the cover for the first time, I noticed:

How the feet imprinted on the mat leave the impression of a heart, and they do not show how a body should look or even stand in perfect alignment.

There is no gorgeous yoga posture or person in meditation as the focal point.

There is God's grace and love.

The imperfections of the wooden flooring.

The mat has barely been used. 

The title itself as an invitation to journey with God's Spirit.

Go ahead, judge this book by the cover - because this invitation is for you. You are welcome here. 
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Coming in January 2017 from Upper Room Books.