Wild in the Hollow: On Chasing Desire and Finding the Broken Way Home by Amber C. Haines

I loved this book. I simultaneously wanted to linger and inhale every phrase.

Wild in the Hollow is about coming to terms with life as it is. It’s about chasing and hoping and crashing into a world where God is and we are at the same time. It’s about challenging the conventional ways of thinking while still living within the conventions. It’s about life, love, self, hope, dread, disappointment, want, enough, past, present, and God.

I read each chapter with the warmth of familiarity and the bated breath of new revelations and hope.

Amber’s words, rhythms, and theology draw us in a smooth and easing sort of way through her life and the steps she took to get to where she is. Anyone who enjoys Ann Voskamp’s poetical-but-not-quite-poetry writing and ideas or Sarah Bessey’s courageous and beautiful essays on controversial topics would enjoy this lovely book by Amber C. Haines. A breath of fresh air with a whiff of warm cookies (because sometimes those familiar moments are the winning points of books). It’s home and wild woven and twirled together.

Here are a couple of my favorite quotes:

On the fruit of God’s word:

“What is Scripture if it doesn’t pour in, transform, and then flow out from the depths, especially as love, not only as love for others but also as love for the self? After all, the second commandment after love is that we love others as ourselves.” p. 56

Translating the actions of others through knowledge of Jesus:

“Keeping my eyes on him in my everyday life has come to mean that I recognize the fruit of the Spirit in others while simultaneously acknowledging him as my hope up ahead, the one sitting at the right hand of the Father. I see through to the other side of the visible, through to the unseen, the kingdom of God and how we fit into this kingdom. I recognize Jesus because I know him, and keeping my eyes on him means to see through this world to him, how holy potential hides in us all.” p.160

On strength:

“What makes us strong? Strength always comes from hope.” p.186

Also quoted in these posts: Hope is Prophetic and The Want in Desire, both for #wholemama.

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Have you read this book? What did you think? What was a favorite quote/line/idea?

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