The Most Beautiful Thing I've Seen: Opening Your Eyes to Wonder

by Lisa Gungor

Overview

Lisa Gungor thought she knew her own story: small-town girl meets boy in college and they blissfully walk down the aisle into happily ever after. Their Christian faith was their lens and foundation for everything—their marriage, their music, their dreams for the future. But as their dreams began to come true, she began to wonder if her religion was really representative of the ‘good news’ she had been taught.

She never expected the questions to lead as far as they did when her husband told her he no longer believed in God. The death of a friend, the unraveling of relationships and career, the loss of a worldview, and the birth of a baby girl with two heart defects all led Lisa to a tumultuous place; one of depression and despair. And it was there that her perspective on everything changed. The Most Beautiful Thing I’ve Seen tells the story of what can happen when you dare to let go of what you think to be true; to shift the kaleidoscope and see new colors and dimension by way of broken pieces.

Lisa’s eloquent, soul-stirring memoir brings you to a music stage before thousands of fans and a front porch where two people whisper words that scare them to the core. It is the story of how doubt can spark the beginning of deeper faith; how a baby born with a broken heart can bring love and healing to the hearts of many, and ultimately, how the hardest experience in life often ends up saving us.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780310350439
Publisher:	Zondervan
Publication date:	06/26/2018
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Lisa Gungor has been scribbling down songs since she was seven years old. A maker at heart, Lisa studied art in college, and in 2005 she began recording and traveling with the band that eventually turned into the two-time Grammy-nominated musical collective with her husband known as Gungor. Lisa lives in Los Angeles with her husband Michael and their two beautiful girls, Amelie and Lucie. She writes for Gungor, the Storyline blog, The Liturgists, and The Huffington Post.

Table of Contents

Prologue 13

Perspective 17

Part 1 Dot 21

Where the Light Comes In: Part 1 23

Trampoline 29

Holy Rollers 35

I Met a Boy 45

Part 2 Line 59

Where the Light Comes In: Part 2 61

Certainty and American Confessions 64

Bread, Wine, and Mary Jane 75

Neighbors and Lady Tubes 81

A Teacher 88

Bottom of the Cup 94

Lousy Atheist 105

Silence 112

Mother 118

Part 3 Circle 123

Where the Light Comes In: Part 3 125

Paper Hearts and Ballerinas 130

What the Night Brings 137

Measurements 142

Going Home 150

Singing in the Dark 159

Solidarity 166

Weakness 172

The Sight We Learn 182

The Most Beautiful Thing I've Seen 192

Moment One 199

Epilogue 205

Afterword 207

Acknowledgments 211

Editorial Reviews

07/23/2018
Gungor, cocreator (with her husband) of the Grammy-nominated music collective Gungor, directs this moving, extremely personal memoir to her mother. “We see things differently because our histories or circumstances give us differing view points,” she writes, before detailing her young marriage at age 19 and how her divorced parents were both wary and skeptical of her decision to marry. Over the course of three years, the Gungors’ music collective found a global audience and Gungor found herself estranged from her mother after a falling out over her faith. Years later, when the Gungors’ second daughter was born with Down syndrome, Gungor began to reflect on her past and deeply consider the importance of perspective in a way she hadn’t since she quarreled with her mother about getting married: “her first few moments... she was purely perfect. Then in minutes she was given a definition. We were given a lens for viewing her.” Gungor’s story fluctuates between an address to her mother and an open exploration of her past, and she also writes about her struggle to find peace after her husband tells her he is an atheist. Music fans will be enthralled by Gungor’s generous spirit as she confronts her life’s most trying moments. (June)

Publishers Weekly