This amazingly talented and gifted friend of mine recently wrote a book meant for her children, full of stories from her life… a memoir. She shared it with a few close friends and family members, who encouraged her to share it with the rest of the world. So she bravely took the plunge and put it out there, and out of that, a beautiful new adventure and journey were born. Jillian now offers writers workshops where she helps foster the love of writing in others, speaks on podcasts and at events, creates pottery & jewelry, hosts Kintsugi nights where she teaches others the Japanese artform that’s pictured on the cover of her book, and of course… she’s still writing! 🙂
God has truly gifted Jillian as a writer! She definitely has a way with words! In her book, “Streams of Gold: Pieces of my Story,” she shares sweet memories from her life, but also hard ones too. She describes it as “a story of surrendering our ideal for something better.” I love how she ends her preface… “As I set out to wrap words around these thoughts and memories of mine, the thread stringing them together is the one and only Creator, bearing His image, living in the midst of His creation. The desires within me inevitably circle back around to a love for creating- a love for piecing things together, and making something new, again.”
Out of her passion and appreciation for restoring the broken, Jillian has taken a Japanese artform known as Kintsugi, and turned it into a way for her to personally create beauty and wholeness out of brokenness… and to teach others to do the same. She even offers Kintsugi nights, where she teaches this beautiful artform to those who want to learn! The Kintsugi process is using gold in a liquid form as “glue” to restore broken pottery. What I love most about this process, and when I look at my own mug that I have made by her hands, is Jillian’s heart behind it all…
Jillian shares in her Epiloge, “As I wrap words around each of my stories, something begins to happen. The Father reaches into His pocket to reveal a tube of glue. His loving eyes meet mine, yet I remain skeptical. Even with glue, there are too many pieces and no template by which to direct their assembly. I can do nothing more than cup my hands and scoop up the pieces that lay crumbled before me… I have nothing to offer except my willingness to surrender the broken fragments into His care… By His hands, the fractures are filled with gold. Every crevice a crater of Christ’s love. Pieces turned into a masterful mosaic at the hands of the Maker… I can’t take my eyes off the gold as it captures my attention… Pure gold holding everything together, stronger than before, more beautiful than before, more valuable than before. Pure gold. Purified. Purified like Jesus. He is the element, the very substance, poured out for my broken pieces, holding all things together…. In Him, I am held together.”
Where would I be today, without Jesus holding me together? The imagery of being held together in Jesus is a beautiful truth I rest in every day. I definitely have broken pieces in my life that God has so graciously put back together for me and made into gifts more beautiful than I could have ever dreamed. He is so good.
You can find Jillian’s book, “Streams of Gold: Pieces of my Story” on Amazon, and you can follow her on Instagram for updates & inspiration!
Side note… we’ve been friends for 14 years. Our firstborn, Jackson, was just a few months old when we met! So of course, I had to take a picture of our kiddos together… & us and our hubbies too! 🙂 Scroll to the end to see all of our babies, who are not so much babies anymore! 🙂 Also, I love that her daughter, Lucy, wanted to be in a picture with her mama too! She’s such a sweetheart! Timberlakes, we’re so thankful for your friendship!
Colossians 1:17- “He is before all things, and in Him, all things hold together.”
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