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The idea for Ashes was born out of the desire to place the focus on qualities other than physical beauty. When Samuel was looking for the next king of Israel in 1 Samuel 16, God reminded him that, “the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (verse 7b, ESV). Despite this reminder, it can still be easy to be swept away in the mad rush to be physically appealing to others. We want to be nice to look at. And I think that a lot of women have, at least at one point, wanted to be the beautiful princess, the most stunning one at the ball. That’s what we usually see in the story of Cinderella. This fairy tale often has some connections to the idea of kindness, but that can be overshadowed by the idea of being pretty. After all, the prince does notice Cinderella at the ball primarily because of her appearance. So what happens when you strip that piece away? Where does the Cinderella story go when Cinderella herself is not actually all that pretty by the world’s standards?
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It feels right that I should start this off by answering the question, “What’s the deal with kindness, anyway?” It’s a theme in most of my books, an obvious focus of Ashes, and now the subject of a devotional to accompany that story. So why? Why do I never seem to let the idea of kindness go?
The short answer is that it’s important, and I guess I could leave it at that. But clearly, I’m not, so brace yourselves for the significantly longer answer. Yes, kindness is important. But it is also consistently misunderstood. So often when people talk about kindness, it’s unclear what they actually mean. It’s a word that’s slapped in slogans and positioned in reminders, but in many cases, there’s no real meaning behind it. No “umph,” if you will. It’s an empty word, used as a fleeting reminder to be a better person because, in general, the world is cruel. But to view kindness as an empty, vague catchphrase is a mistake that I think can prevent us from actually succeeding in being kind. |
What to ExpectThis particular page is dedicated to connecting my stories with their inspiration in God's Word. One of the goals of my writing is that it would illustrate God's goodness, love, and truth. These posts are designed to make those illustrations just a little more clear. |
