Episode 45 :: Susie Finkbeiner :: Stories of Hope and Heart
Today I’m chatting with the wonderful Susie Finkbeiner. Susie is an incredible Christian Fiction Author, and a woman who just radiates joy, love and hope. I actually got to talk to Susie when we were all in the thick of quarantine, and it feels so timely as many cities go back to that sort of a model, but everyone I know is processing the immediate future. Whether that is school decisions, community decisions, election oriented decisions, there is a lot of tension, a struggle with holding on to hope, and how to be present for one another with feelings and fears running rampant. Friends, this episode is for you. Susie shares really beautiful insight about trusting the Lord, especially when everything feels like it's falling apart. God’s trustworthiness and His goodness is bigger than the certainty of encountering the brokenness of the world, and that is something, as we wrestle with what’s around us, that we can put our hope in. It's the only thing that won’t change.
During our chat you also get to hear more about the heart and the history of her newest book, The Stories That Bind Us. Susie shares how personal and even painful this story was for her to write, but when God asked her to write something very confronting for her, no matter how hard it felt, He met her in the Refiner’s fire. We also discuss the beauty and the mess of what it's like to be in the trenches with someone with a calling from the Lord, as well as when someone who is walking through a deep valley through hard seasons or struggling with mental health. The Lord will provide encouragement, and support. When we are going through the deep valleys of life He delights in us, and draws us closer to the body of Christ, but we also have to be willing to receive it. Even though there is wrestling, the hope we have in Jesus is kept in a place no broken person or thing can ever touch. Sharing our stories, engaging one another’s lives, praying for and bearing with one another, these are some of the life-giving ways the Lord is close to the broken-hearted and rescues those who are crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:18)
I hope that you’ll pick up a copy of The Stories That Bind Us and check out Susie online and engage her other work too! In a space that can feel like a sea of chaos, she’s such a fun light. Hang in there, friends. Just like Susie says: “our heritage is shared through our stories.” Yours matters, friends. You matter.
Resources:
Detroit theme park being restored, aquarium around from the early 1900’s:: Belle Isle Aquarium (in this article, you can actually see the jade ceiling Susie mentions in our conversation)
Laura Frantz // Laura’s posts // (and our conversation!)
My conversation with Jennifer Greenberg, and the allorgorical conversation about suicide
Sarah Sundin (and our conversation!)
Christian Fiction Readers’ Summit
Beth White (hear her episode, and here’s the book I was reading! That series in my top 5 fave 2020 reads)
Susie’s upcoming book, features the end of the Vietnam War, 3,000 orphans were airlifted from Saigon to the U.S., Australia, Canada for adoption. -- Called Operation Babylift
All Manner of Things by Susie
Vietnam War lasted from 1955-1975
Scripture References:
Genesis 3 - The rip from the garden
Romans 8:22- We long for things to be made right
Matthew 9:36- Jesus looks at them like sheep without a shepherd
So many He healed were overwhelmed by voices that were not their own
Luke 13:10-17- The woman who was bent over and the Lord made her straight (link to the sermon from our church- if you want to get straight to the sermon, cut to around 41 minutes in.)
Psalm 46:10- Be still and know that I am God
Ephesians 5:18-21- Building one another up, singing to one another
1 Corinthians 9:24 / Philippians 3:12-17 / 2 Timothy 4:7-8- Paul says it's a race
Psalm 107 / Matthew 5:16- He uses our lives to draw people to Him
Philippians 4:6- Present your requests before God
1 Peter 5:7 - Cast all your anxieties on Him
Isaiah 41:13 / Psalm 121:1-2 / Romans 8:28- It is possible to come back from the struggle
Romans 8:37- In Christ we are more than overcomers
Genesis 1:27 / John 1:12- It's His power to give us strength to believe that we are His image bearers
Matthew 10:20 / Acts 2:1-42 / 1 Corinthians 12 -The Holy Spirit can give a unique experience to each person
John 16:33- In this world you will have trouble, but take heart
2 Corinthians 4:18- This is not all there is
Luke 5:17-39- Be a stretcher bearer
Connecting with Susie:
Connecting with Emily and Simply Stories Podcast:
Instagram (Em life // Podcast Life)
*Intro and outro music by music by audionautix.com