Meeting Rachel

I started the day singing “O What a Beautiful Morning” as I watched the sunrise after a brisk pre-dawn walk with Mary.

I am ending my day with a full heart because of a new connection I got to make tonight.

Phil, Kathryn, and I, along with our good friend John Cofield, made a trip to Lee University to attend a book reading by a person who has become a huge part of our lives, who has influenced us greatly, and yet a person we had never met.

Rachel Held Evans was the featured speaker at Lee University’s 6th Annual Writer’s Festival.  She read passages from her book, Evolving in Monkey Town, which is a memoir about growing up in Dayton and having a very evangelical upbringing.  As a young adult she faced a crisis of faith, which she is continuing to work through.  She also read from the draft of her upcoming book, A Year of Biblical Womanhood, in which she shares what it was like to live the past year taking literally the scriptures about what a woman should and should not do.

I first came to know Rachel because she was going to church with Kathryn.  Kathryn suggested that I start following her blog, which I have been doing ever since.  Soon I was telling Phil, “You’ve got to read this,” and it wasn’t long before he was hooked too. 

Rachel’s blog has been a lifeline to us to open our hearts and minds to new ways of thinking about our faith.  She has directed us to books we should read, people we should follow, and practices we need to incorporate into our faith walk.  She has had such a big impact on Phil, and he would tell you that Rachel has given voice and thought to many of the issues he has struggled with for so long.  I have watched as he has taken her words to heart, as he has searched the scriptures for new answers, and as he has had a new desire to put his faith into action.

We all came away from the evening with so much to think about, so much to rejoice over.  And I’m looking forward to sharing some of those thoughts with you here.