Does Anyone Care?

This summer I’m spending some time with the titles for parents…that you won’t find in the Parenting section. You can see the full list in our Mended Wood Home Library Guide.

The book I’m covering today might be the hardest for me to describe. Is it a homemaking book? Not really. Is it about housekeeping or cooking? A little bit. It’s not about decor, or food, or gardening, or even broader, it’s not a typical conversation about hospitality. But it is also about all of those things.

Andi Ashworth lived most of her adult years as the proprietress at The Art House, a two-story refuge in East Nashville. Together with her husband, legendary writer and producer Charlie Peacock, Andi offered a place of restoration, care, and inspiration for creative people in need of a boost. Over the years, they welcomed people of all walks of life, including Bono, Andy Crouch, David Dark, Mel Gibson, Amy Grant, Patricia Heaton, Steve Turner, and more.

In the pages of her book Real Love for Real Life, Andi unfolds gentle encouragement and a vision for caretaking. Whether you are doing it in a formal context or not, every person is called upon in some measure to take care of others. This may look as simple as welcoming someone for a cup of tea, hosting a weekend gathering for friends, or tending to a sick person, old or young.

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

Why This Book Is Good for Parents

1. Andi will encourage you in the day-in, day-out work of caretaking for children. She doesn’t mince words about how difficult caretaking can be, and she expresses appreciation for a vocation that in our day and age is often undervalued.
2. She continually points to Jesus, who came to serve. She paints a vision for hospitality and caretaking that values beauty and anticipates the coming Kingdom.
3. This book unfolds like a gentle mentoring conversation. Andi is conversational and tells stories about The Art House and the people who came to stay while she was there. She doesn’t scold, but she provides a solid, loving example to her readers.

This would be a great summer read with friends if you’re looking for one.

“In small and large ways, when we create beauty–in our environment, relationships, music, cooking, poetry, and celebrations–we push back the effects of the Fall and express our hope for the new heaven and new earth that God promises. When we give artful attention to detail, we point people to a truer and better reality. When we offer beauty, we touch something in the human soul. We remind others of who they are and what they were made for.” -Andi Ashworth

Photo by fan yang on Unsplash

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Kelly Keller

Kelly Keller is the managing editor of Story Warren. She has her BS in Elementary Education from Messiah University and has taught various ages, but her favorite was worldview and literature with high school students. The “gap” in her resume is actually a window of eighteen years of homeschooling, which she recommends as an effective, though demanding, way of expanding one’s home library.

When she’s not behind her laptop, Kelly enjoys live music, baseball, reading great books, and traveling with her husband, David. Kelly hails from beautiful snowy New England, but after two decades in North Carolina, she feels right at home.

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