Found: A Story of Questions, Grace, and Everyday Prayer
I found Found after listening to one of my favorite podcasts, The Art of Simple. Tsh Oxenrider was interviewing Micha Boyett and when I finished the podcast, I immediately headed over to Amazon to purchase Micha's book, Found. I don't know what it was exactly that resonated with me about Micha's words, but I suspect that it had something to do with the fact that we were in a very busy season around here and the idea that a mom could learn from the rest and silence of the Benedictine monks sounded incredibly appealing. When I realized the Kindle version was less that $5? Sold!
Found is essentially a memoir of a year in Micha's life in which she had just moved across the country to a brand new city and left full-time ministry to be a stay-at-home mom. In it she shares her struggles to figure out what this new life should look like, her battles with loneliness and her attempts to silence that voice in her head that keeps saying she just isn't enough. Although the details of my story are very different from Micha's, I felt a kindred spirit as she dealt with the fear that she had left behind meaningful ministry to read board books all day AND THEN the guilt that she felt for feeling this way. Yep. Been there. Felt that.
In addition to a story whose struggles I recognized as my own, Micha also has a talent for beauty in word form. I found myself nodding and Kindle-highlighting when I came to sentences like, "It's a lovely thought, that God's grace might extend even into my own prayerlessness, that God might take my meager offering of childrearing and turn it into prayer, despite my lack of spiritual discipline. I want to believe him." Yes! That's just what I was thinking, only said so much more beautifully! Micha's writing style is soft, lovely, and, most importantly, honest.
The thing that has stuck with me since finishing Found is the fact that Micha's story is fairly unremarkable, and yet that is what makes it remarkable. It was a timely and gentle reminder that God does not need or even want my brilliant performance on some impressive stage. He is enough and my life is exactly the one He wants me to live. If you are looking for encouragement toward faith and grace in the smallness of life, this is a book you should take up and read.
