Hard Grace: Stone Crossings

We pick stones and some of us grate against each other
and I scrape dirt back and dig it out and carry away truth:
Grace is a hard thing.
Boulder hauled in to stabilize a crumbling marriage,
Rock to steady a child battered by winds,
Stone to rest our world-weary bones.

Grace is granite
That tears the flesh
To be our cornerstone.


:::

“Grace. That's the centerpiece of Stone Crossings: Finding Grace in Hard and Hidden Places, shared through the hard and hidden places of my life and the Bible,” writes author, master wordsmith, and a gem of a friend, L.L. Barkat.

L.L. and I gathered on the front porch here last summer and intimately shared about the meaning of grace, her hauntingly poetic book (One author noted: The only writer I know quite like Barkat is Eugene Peterson), and how what she’s discovered has changed her life…. And mine. (You may revisit L.L.’s keen insights from that visit here.)

“Sometimes it's hard to see grace. And even harder to receive. When you're hurt or angry or confused or doubtful, grace can seem as hard to grasp as the sky,” offers L.L.

“But actually, it's as real and solid as stones: tangible, weighty, something to hold on to, a way through streams of pain, shame, abuse.

In sun-dappled creekbeds and strawberry fields, in the dark belly of a whale and on parched desert plains, grace makes surprising appearances. Along the way, it calls, “Where have you been, where are you now, where do you want to be?” Then it gives strength to answer, to hope and to heal.”

has not only been a balm of healing to my own wounded past and countless others in hurting places across the globe … now it is making its way to Korea! Intervarsity Press has announced it is now translating Stone Crossings into Korean to offer Koreans the sure and solid footing of God’s grace.

When L.L. invited me, and each of you, to join her in celebrating how God is revealing His grace in remarkable places (like Korea!), I counted it, yes, all grace!

To praise God for a “grace that has helped her open her heart to love, discover a way past fear, find freedom from shame,”

L.L. is graciously, giving away one signed copy of Stone Crossings: Finding Grace in Hard and Hidden Places

and come Tuesday 11 pm EST, L.L. will be gracing one randomly selected reader from the gathering with a copy of Stone Crossings: Finding Grace in Hard and Hidden Places

(and if you're feeling shy (oh, do I understand, gentle friend!) and would prefer to just leave a comment wave to be entered in L.L.'s drawing, please feel free!)

Related: My Own Finding Grace in Hard Places: That We Would Meet Here
Last summer's interview with L.L. on the front porch
To read L.L. Barkat's blog

A Mama Monday interview with L.L. over at The Flourishing Mother
To read reviews at Amazon: Stone Crossings: Finding Grace in Hard and Hidden Places