"God does not shrink when we know Him, He expands. "

Have you ever read a book at the exact right time and it just blows you away? Have you opened the cover and read the first few words and just knew that these words were meant for you, right where you were in you life? Does it seem like the author is speaking the words that your heart has been saying for a while but you didn't know how to verbalize them? Have you ever found God in the pages of a book, through the words of someone else?
That's happened to me several times. Each time, it almost feels tangible. God feels real and alive and right next to me as I read the words. I love moments like that. I love that God shows up in places we don't expect sometimes.
These books don't have to be "Christian" books. They may be. I have several like The Love Languages of God, Quest for Love, Speechless, Joseph, The Hiding Place, Captivating, and the Chronicles of Narnia to name a few. But I've also found Him in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Anne of the Island and Little Women.
I've realized that the more I'm in the most important book, everything else in life revolves around IT. I notice God in so many more places, not because He just decided to do show up, but because I finally have eyes to see where He's been all along.
I started reading Dangerous Wonder several years ago after buying it at a Youth Specialties conference. It was good, but it just didn't capture me so I put it down. The past few months, it has been staring at me on my bookshelf, quietly begging to be picked up again. I finally gave in a couple days ago and just finished it this evening.
It was the right time. The words in this book were Jesus to me. The author (who actually died just a short time after I bought the book) said this in his introduction, "I hope you find Jesus unexpectedly hiding in the reading of this book, just as I found Him hiding in the writing of it." I did. God has been speaking to my heart over and over. The book is about "the adventure of childlike faith."
If you are feeling discouraged with your walk with the Lord, if you are tired of discovering nothing new as you read the Word, if you beg God to show up and still feel like He is so far away, if you are just wanting, needing, praying to know Him better, read this book. It's not a formula for a better quiet time or a better prayer life. It's just about remembering who God is and how He loves us like little children. Childlike faith. Sometimes I forget that it's so easy. I put too many rules and regulations on my walk with God. And they all come from me, not Him.
What a beautiful reminder that God loves me as I am right now, not as I think I should be. He sees the "me" that I am at this moment and loves me. And being silly and fun and laughing are all things that He loves and wants to share with me too.