Everybody has their thing. Some are passionate about creating art, traveling the world, or major league baseball. I love decorating and anything beautiful that nourishes the soul. One of my “things” is looking at different colors and textures of fabric, which I realize is kind of weird.
But what I’ve come to notice is that fabric is rather blah when left on its rectangular cardboard bolt. Something happens to cream chenille or golden silk whenever a seamstress or designer grabs hold of it, cutting it from its cardboard bolt. As the designer cuts, arranges, and stitches portions of material together, the fabric is given shape and purpose. The same is true of us. Our lives are textiles in our divine Designer’s hand.
Without him we’re left on our own cardboard bolt—and, well . . . blah. God is not into blah. He’s designed a specific set of plans for each of our lives using a set of principles. God cuts, arranges, stitches, and applies these principles, giving the fabric of our lives shape and purpose.
We go from blah to brilliant.
But sometimes we aren’t feeling that brilliant, are we? To be honest, I don’t always think a specific shape or purpose God designed for my life is all that flattering or beautiful. Life is turning out differently than I planned. And I bet the same is true for you too.
Maybe you are teaching algebra to a roomful of rowdy seventh graders when others promised you would make it as an actress. Perhaps you’re grieving the loss of a friendship you assumed would always be there, or you’re unpacking boxes in a place you swore you would never live. Or maybe you’re thinking that you’re supposed to be married by now, that you’re supposed to weigh a certain amount so you can feel good about yourself, or that you’re supposed to have more followers on social media. Maybe you think you should be a mother, or have a cancer-free body so you can watch your grandchildren grow.
I know women who are living through and wrestling with the things I just listed. This book is for them, and it’s for you if parts of your life are not turning out the way you expected or hoped. All of us are living a life we did not design. So what do we do? And what about God? Where is he when life doesn’t make sense? Together we’ll explore these questions as we reconnect with God in the midst of our surprise or discouragement.
The truth is, I’m living a life I didn’t design but that God designed for me. I am me. A girl born and raised on the flat and humid plains of Kansas. I’m not a supermodel, celebrity, or accomplished athlete, and the world yawns at me.
But then . . . God. He is redesigning me.
Some seasons of my life are turning out as I had hoped. Other parts of my life surprise me in a hilariously awesome way, exceeding anything I could plan for or dream up myself. In fact, I’m supposed to be living in New York City making millions of dollars and owning my own interior design firm. But now I’m involved in women’s ministry making way less than a million dollars.
From redesigning homes to redesigning hearts. From one kind of interior design to another kind. This is the essence of my story and why I am adding a designer’s touch to the application of biblical teachings that will challenge and encourage you throughout the pages of this book. God is in the middle of every season of your life and is hand sewing your life into a one-of-a-kind, high-end couture masterpiece.
From blah to brilliant.
From obscure to couture.
God’s movement in our lives is purposeful and perfectly timed. He’s in the business of turning people who are discarded, misunderstood, and overlooked into accepted, known, and celebrated masterpieces.
Like a human interior designer or artist uses a set of design principles to help them create, God uses his own set of codes to create a couture life for each of us. Recognizing what these are is key to uncovering the purposes of God when life doesn’t go as planned.
Let’s consider six principles of design—God’s use of movement, emphasis, pattern, contrast, balance, and space—and learn how these apply to you. These principles will enable us to uncover something spectacular about the purposes of our creative God.
In addition to these six principles, I’ve included design tips for your heart and home throughout this book to help you create beauty within and around you. Design is in the details. And good design is more than just picking a cute pillow or making sure the paint color complements the fabric on your couch. It’s about using the elements and principles that make good design possible. Our God uses principles, so we should too.
But in the end, what truly makes a home beautiful is not the finishes or furnishings but the people who inhabit it. So create away, beautiful one, and settle in somewhere comfy.
Welcome home to your redesigned life.
I think you are about to be quite taken by its beauty.