Lindsey Nobles’ Thin Place: Power of a Book

39 Comments 23 August 2010

Authors and job seekers may be especially encouraged by today’s Thin Place Story from Lindsey Nobles. You can find Lindsey online at her blog, on Twitter and on Facebook. You’re welcome to share your Thin Place Story here.
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I know that God is always with me. Always with me. I do.

But there are times, brief moments, when He feels so near that the lines between heaven and earth are beautifully blurry.

Moments when I cease to exist. And He reigns over the cosmos…and my destiny.

A few years ago, I had outgrown my circumstances. I needed space to heal a battered, bruised, and broken heart. I needed space to dream. I needed space to discover who I could become.

So, I interviewed for a job in Nashville with a Christian publisher.

It was a bold move since I had, for all intents and purposes, avoided God for years.

I guess you could say I was a Christian. I was just a wandering, skeptical, sometimes bitter Christian who had no real relationship with Christ.

My first few interviews went well. Really well. Michael Hyatt and I had an immediate rapport. I confessed that I was not qualified for the job. He appreciated my candor. And thankfully he didn’t delve too deeply into my prayer life or spiritual walk.

As one of our meetings concluded, he handed me a book and said, “This is one of the stories that I am most proud to say we published.”

So, like any good interviewee, I went home and started reading.

I got about halfway through that incredibly powerful book before I realized I knew the author, his son Carson had graduated in my class.

That book, Same Kind of Different as Me, was about a man who had lost his way. Through the help of his wife and a very unlikely friend, he found God…and a better version of himself.

That book gave me the power to believe in my own redemptive story.

That book was God marking my trail and letting me know He reigns over the cosmos…and my destiny.

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Pingback: A Thin Place | Lindsey Nobles
http://www.marydemuth.com marydemuth

Thank you, Lindsey, for giving us a peek into your heart and the journey you took to the place you are right now. Isn't God so good?
http://www.marydemuth.com marydemuth

Thank you, Lindsey, for giving us a peek into your heart and the journey you took to the place you are right now. Isn't God so good?
anne

Same Kind of Different as Me is one of my all time favorite books. I couldn't put it down once I started and it really was the tipping point for me to sign up with the lunch buddy program.

http://www.lindseynobles.com Lindsey_Nobles

It is such a great book.

anne

Same Kind of Different as Me is one of my all time favorite books. I couldn't put it down once I started and it really was the tipping point for me to sign up with the lunch buddy program.

http://www.lindseynobles.com Lindsey_Nobles

It is such a great book.

http://www.chattingatthesky.com emily freeman

Great post, Lindsey. And so encouraging to hear how story gives birth to story – when we tell ours, others sometimes find theirs as well.

http://www.lindseynobles.com Lindsey_Nobles

thanks emily!

http://www.chattingatthesky.com emily freeman

Great post, Lindsey. And so encouraging to hear how story gives birth to story – when we tell ours, others sometimes find theirs as well.

http://www.lindseynobles.com Lindsey_Nobles

thanks emily!

http://twitter.com/GEMSMinistry @GEMSMinistry

Thanks for your transparency Lindsey. So many people are in the same boat…desperately searching for the one thing they are missing. It is Jesus every time. It is heartbreaking to see that so often these people are within our own church walls.

http://www.lindseynobles.com Lindsey_Nobles

Yep, every time…

http://twitter.com/GEMSMinistry @GEMSMinistry

Thanks for your transparency Lindsey. So many people are in the same boat…desperately searching for the one thing they are missing. It is Jesus every time. It is heartbreaking to see that so often these people are within our own church walls.

http://www.lindseynobles.com Lindsey_Nobles

Yep, every time…

http://rockthedesert.typepad.com marina

OK, OK, I'll read the book! I've had "SKODAM" sitting pretty on my bookshelf for a couple of years now – no reason I haven't read it, just got busy reading other things. Yesterday my son-in-law came over to hang out and wait for my daughter to get off work so we could all have lunch together – he told me that she's been reading books out-loud to him at night instead of watching TV. He's a full-time seminary student and spends the day reading and writing and studying, so just to relax his eyes and brain, she reads to him. He was telling me about this book that he absolutely has loved listening to. He couldn't remember the name of it. But he gave me a quick synopsis and highly recommended it. When my daughter showed up, we ate lunch then she went to my bookshelf to find something to read out loud to all of us while we were settling into Sunday afternoon nap mode – she found my copy of "SKODAM" announced that this was the book she had been reading out-loud to her husband and immediately started reading it to us! From just the few chapters she read, I can tell that I'm going to have to power through that book this week!

http://www.lindseynobles.com Lindsey_Nobles

It's amazing. Get some tissues handy.

http://rockthedesert.typepad.com marina

OK, OK, I'll read the book! I've had "SKODAM" sitting pretty on my bookshelf for a couple of years now – no reason I haven't read it, just got busy reading other things. Yesterday my son-in-law came over to hang out and wait for my daughter to get off work so we could all have lunch together – he told me that she's been reading books out-loud to him at night instead of watching TV. He's a full-time seminary student and spends the day reading and writing and studying, so just to relax his eyes and brain, she reads to him. He was telling me about this book that he absolutely has loved listening to. He couldn't remember the name of it. But he gave me a quick synopsis and highly recommended it. When my daughter showed up, we ate lunch then she went to my bookshelf to find something to read out loud to all of us while we were settling into Sunday afternoon nap mode – she found my copy of "SKODAM" announced that this was the book she had been reading out-loud to her husband and immediately started reading it to us! From just the few chapters she read, I can tell that I'm going to have to power through that book this week!

http://www.lindseynobles.com Lindsey_Nobles

It's amazing. Get some tissues handy.

Rachel Wojnarowski

Haven't read the book! Have to get it. Thanks for sharing!
Rachel Wojnarowski

Haven't read the book! Have to get it. Thanks for sharing!
http://faithbarista.com Faith Barista Bonnie

It's incredible how books can turn a bend in our story and we find our heart right in the middle of it. Enjoyed this, Lindsey!
http://faithbarista.com Faith Barista Bonnie

It's incredible how books can turn a bend in our story and we find our heart right in the middle of it. Enjoyed this, Lindsey!
http://www.beingagirlbooks.com/blog Shannon Primicerio

Love this. We could all use some redemption in our stories. Thanks for sharing.
http://www.beingagirlbooks.com/blog Shannon Primicerio

Love this. We could all use some redemption in our stories. Thanks for sharing.
http://charsteyn.blogspot.com Charissa Steyn

Thanks for sharing part of your story lady! God uses anything He can to get us back to Him!
http://charsteyn.blogspot.com Charissa Steyn

Thanks for sharing part of your story lady! God uses anything He can to get us back to Him!
http://charsteyn.blogspot.com Charissa Steyn

Crazy how God can use just a simple book to get our attention !
http://charsteyn.blogspot.com Charissa Steyn

Crazy how God can use just a simple book to get our attention !
Elizabeth

Would the Carson you mentioned me the same Carson who went to HP?
There was something you said that has resonated with me. I went ahead and copied it below… you said you had no real relationship w/ Christ and yet one would say you were a Christian. Looking back, would you say you were a believer?
ALWAYS curious anytime a person says a comment or asks a questions about their walk w/ God and states if they are a believer.
"I guess you could say I was a Christian. I was just a wandering, skeptical, sometimes bitter Christian who had no real relationship with Christ."

Thanks for psoting and getting us to think.

http://www.lindseynobles.com Lindsey_Nobles

Yes. Same Carson.

I would say I was one of those luke warm types. I believed but not enough to do anything about it. I remember one Sunday going to church and being flooded with emotion, then tears. I couldn't go if I wasn't going to change, and I wasn't ready to change. It was a weird time for me. Really strange being where I am now and looking back.

Not sure if that answered your question…

Elizabeth

Your answer helped some…thanks.

Elizabeth

Would the Carson you mentioned me the same Carson who went to HP?
There was something you said that has resonated with me. I went ahead and copied it below… you said you had no real relationship w/ Christ and yet one would say you were a Christian. Looking back, would you say you were a believer?
ALWAYS curious anytime a person says a comment or asks a questions about their walk w/ God and states if they are a believer.
"I guess you could say I was a Christian. I was just a wandering, skeptical, sometimes bitter Christian who had no real relationship with Christ."

Thanks for psoting and getting us to think.

http://www.lindseynobles.com Lindsey_Nobles

Yes. Same Carson.

I would say I was one of those luke warm types. I believed but not enough to do anything about it. I remember one Sunday going to church and being flooded with emotion, then tears. I couldn't go if I wasn't going to change, and I wasn't ready to change. It was a weird time for me. Really strange being where I am now and looking back.

Not sure if that answered your question…

Elizabeth

Your answer helped some…thanks.

http://daughtersheart.wordpress.com Amy

I love how God finds ways to get us back when we wander off. He lets us sulk for a while when we're hurting, but He always pulls us back into His arms at just the right time, doesn't He? Thanks so much for sharing a little bit of your story!
http://daughtersheart.wordpress.com Amy

I love how God finds ways to get us back when we wander off. He lets us sulk for a while when we're hurting, but He always pulls us back into His arms at just the right time, doesn't He? Thanks so much for sharing a little bit of your story!
Sandy Bradley

Thanks, Lindsey – like you, I had wandered off the path God had for me onto my own path. God used a piano to draw me back.
Sandy Bradley

Thanks, Lindsey – like you, I had wandered off the path God had for me onto my own path. God used a piano to draw me back.