Hey everybody, this is Aubrey Chavez from Faith Matters. Today we're thrilled to share a conversation with Hannah Packard Crowder about her new book, Gracing, which is the latest release from Faith Matters publishing. We love Hannah's profound wisdom, lyrical writing, and her invitation to reflect on grace in entirely new ways. The book also features stunning original artwork by J. Kirk Richards. In the book, Hannah asks,

What if grace is not a gift that we passively receive, but a dynamic process that we actively

engage in and co-create with God. Drawing from life's ordinary moments and its most difficult

experiences, Hannah demonstrates how grace can infuse our actions and relationships and even our struggles

with meaning and beauty.

The title, gracing, reflects this vibrant view of grace as a verb, alive, present, and always

moving through our lives.

In this conversation, Hannah shares insights into creativity, community, and resilience,

especially through the lens of her experience living

with chronic illness and a body that sometimes resists her plans. She opens up about how those

experiences have deepened her understanding of grace and shaped a more compassionate way of being.

We also explore her heartfelt call to rethink how we care for those on the margins of our faith

communities, including gender and sexual minorities, and to discover creative and courageous ways to embody grace in all of our

relationships. This conversation was warm and vulnerable and full of wisdom, and we really hope that

you enjoy it. Well, Hannah, it's so good to be with you. Thanks for joining us on the podcast.

My pleasure. I'm excited to be here.

Yeah, we're excited to have you. We're very excited about this book, the latest publishing offering from Faith Matters. Faith Matters does not publish a lot of books. So I think that

tells you something about what we believe about this and what the organization does. It's a really,

it's a really,

really beautiful book. Your writing is beautiful. Your insights are beautiful. And aesthetically,

it's beautiful to do. I think we should maybe shout out Cole Melanson, our fearless,

fearless designer. Yeah, he did a great job. He really did. And one of the metaphors that when you pick up the book that you'll see immediately is shells.

...