Beyond the Pages

(First posted on Blue Ridge Reader Connections September 2026)

I love to read.

Somewhere between ministry, writing, teaching, traveling, and just life, the stack of books I want to read seems to grow much faster than the stack I've actually finished. But when I look back over my life, I realize that some of the most significant journeys I've taken started on the pages of a book.

One of the first books I remember reading was when I was a young girl in rural East Tennessee, probably in the fourth or fifth grade. I certainly didn't know it then, but that book was one of the things God used to begin directing me toward the ministry He’s called me to.

I don't remember the name of the book. I don't remember the author. Honestly, I don't remember much at all about the book other than that it had something to do with Richard Nixon's historic 1972 trip to China.

And while the details of the book are fuzzy, I do remember China—and how this place on the other side of the world fascinated my young mind. I had no idea then that years later, as a college student, I would get on an airplane and go there myself, living in China for about three months as part of an exchange program with my university.

Since then, God has used books to continue opening my world.

Of course, the Bible is the most important book! It introduced me to a God whose redemptive plan was for me personally, but it also showed me that His plan is always much bigger than my little corner of His world.

From God's promise in a garden, to Abraham and Sarah's line being the one through whom all peoples on earth would be blessed through Jesus, to the picture in Revelation of people from every nation, tribe, and language standing before the throne, God's heart for the nations to know Him is clear. That truth captured my heart and also became a major part of what God used to direct my steps.

Early on in my walk with God, I read God's Smuggler, Brother Andrew's account of carrying Bibles behind the Iron Curtain, and my heart was immediately drawn to the Soviet Union and to believers who don't enjoy the same freedoms I do. And now God allows me to serve in many of those same countries.

I've also read biographies of other missionaries—both those who crossed cultures and those national believers who faithfully serve in their own countries. God used these accounts to help make faraway places on a map real to me—and show me they are filled with real people and real needs. Over the years, I've had the privilege of helping meet those needs on six continents in more than 30 countries.

And then there was Israel. Turkey. Greece. The Bible lands themselves.

I'd looked at maps and seen pictures from these places. But then, in Greece, I stood on the Diolkos—the ancient road that shaped the life and commerce of Corinth, where Paul lived and ministered.

I'd read about Jesus and His disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee and walking from one town to another, but I never imagined it was actually possible until I stood on the cliffs of Arbel in Israel, overlooking that part of the world. From that vantage point, I could see so much of the area where Jesus's earthly ministry took place.

I've walked through the remains of Ephesus and stood at the site of the Temple of Artemis and realized why Paul said many of the things he said. I've also been in the places associated with Paul's imprisonments, first in Israel and then in Rome, and now I understand better how astonishing it was that he spoke so readily about joy and contentment. And I've served in places where missionaries from generations past were forbidden to go, expelled, or worse.

When I've stood in these places, and others, the very places I’d read about...I have to admit, words fail to describe my thoughts and emotions, or what those experiences mean for my study of Scripture and subsequently the ministry God has given me. It's all more than I could have ever imagined (Ephesians 3:20). Moreover, it’s all more than I would have ever known to imagine had it not been for the little black words on the little white pages of the books God placed in my life.

But perhaps the most unimaginable thing is that God is now taking all that I've read and the experiences that followed and using books in a new way in my life—and this time sort of in reverse! Here’s what I mean: By God's grace, the Bible study He gave me, Esteemed: God and His View of Women, has been translated into Croatian, and we're working toward taking it AND my newest book, Entrusted: Women in God's Redemptive Plan, into other languages as well. And recently, God opened the door for me to begin work on something else that feels quite a bit full-circle: I’m starting work on versions of Esteemed for children, pre-teens, and teenagers. I have to admit, I love that!

I certainly never could have imagined any of this as a young girl, in rural East Tennessee, reading about a far-away place called China. Suffice it to say, in one way or another, so much of what God entrusts to me today started, and continues, with that book.

That's part of why I love reading so much—and why I am reminded, even in this moment, to carve out more time for it! Books take us places before we ever pack a suitcase. They make us curious. They challenge the way we think. And sometimes they plant a seed we might not even realize is there until we see it come full circle and blossom in a way we could never have expected.

A book introduced a young girl in rural East Tennessee to China.

She kept reading—including the most important Book of all, the Bible—and God used all those pages to introduce her to Himself and to other countries, other cultures, and what He's accomplishing in those places—for His glory and others’ good.

And now she's waiting for the next opportunity to follow Him to a place she's only read about, while also praying that He'll use the words He gave her to help open doors for others.

What about you? Is there a book you read—maybe even one whose title you've long since forgotten—that opened up a part of the world to you?