By Bette Dickinson and Ann Boyd

Bette Dickinson: Making Room in Advent

"It’s okay to acknowledge that I have human limits and I can’t do it all." — Bette Dickinson

Bette Dickinson talks with us about observing Advent when schedules are full, the spiritual power of art, and the joy of embracing our human limits.

Let me invite you into a conversation with Bette Dickinson, artist and author of Making Room in Advent: 25 Devotions for a Season of Wonder. In this beautiful new book, Bette invites readers into her personal reflections about Advent and the Christmas story through words and through printed images of her own original paintings. I loved talking with Bette about the way art can lead us into places of spiritual transformation, about the creative work that happens within all of us, and about the complex nature of motherhood and pregnancy in literal and metaphorical terms. Bette offers a real sense of grace and realism as we talk about Advent in the context of a busy December, and her words on the gift of embracing our human limits speak clearly to the lives of academics. Our conversation is full of delight and depth, and I think you’ll enjoy listening in.

We’re sharing this interview with you well before Advent begins on November 27. Advent always sneaks up on me, so we wanted to release this episode as an invitation for you to give some thought to the way you’d like to observe the season of Advent. Bette’s new book is an excellent choice for this year. We’ll also link to some other ideas in the show notes, and you can watch for a special set of Advent reflections we’ll be publishing at The Well in the first week of Advent, a new offering that you can enjoy in either audio or written form.​

So jump right in! We're so glad you're here.

You can listen on iTunes or at The Women Scholars and Professionals Podcast. We hope you enjoy this conversation as much as we did.

Further resources for this interview:

Photo by Bette Dickinson. Image from Making Room in Advent by Bette Dickinson. Copyright (c) 2022 by Bette Dickinson and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press. www.ivpress.com 

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About the Author

Bette Dickinson is a prophetic artist, writer, and speaker who invites audiences to connect with God through visual parables of the spiritual journey. Through creative communication, she helps her audience awaken to the beauty of God and His Kingdom and see more clearly the eternal realm in the heart and in the world. Through her work, Dickinson helps her audience connect the inner life of spiritual formation with the outer life of mission.

Bette earned her Masters of Divinity with an emphasis in Pastoral Studies, is ordained in the Reformed Church in America, and serves with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Spiritual Formation.

 

Ann is the Women Scholars and Professionals Podcast host and the interim editor for The Well. She has worked for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship since 1997, exploring her interests in community, spiritual formation, and writing. Ann has a BM in Music Education from Northwestern University and lives in Chicago, Illinois with one husband, two spunky teenage daughters, and three snuggly cats. You’ll often find Ann baking sweet treats in the kitchen while listening to a podcast or audiobook.

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