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When Christy Award-winning Christian fiction writer Lisa Samson, 43, quips about losing her keys, or about being unable to manicure her own nails or make a decent pie crust, she sounds like fun-loving Typical American Woman. Fun-loving—as evidenced by her funky earrings and her warm, welcoming laugh—sure. But typical? Not exactly.
That's because this author of 17 novels (number 18, Embrace Me, is due February 2008 from Thomas Nelson) has deviated from what many consider the norm of the "American dream." In 2005, Lisa, her husband, Will, and their three children, daughter Ty, now 18, son, Jake, 13, and daughter Gwynneth, 10, became downwardly mobile—on purpose. They felt God's call to leave their comfortable and conventional life outside the nation's capital for a lifestyle of intentional Christian community in downtown Lexington, Kentucky. There Lisa and her family regularly open their hearts and home—a genteelly rundown, 107-year-old Victorian—to be Jesus to the needy in their rough-and-tumble urban neighborhood. Lisa and Will also recently coauthored Justice in the Burbs (Baker Books), a hybrid of narrative, discussion, and meditation that explores the meaning of living justly wherever one resides.
For Lisa, who became a Christian at age three and lived in the "burbs" all her life, the move wasn't without its challenges. But then she discovered God had been preparing her for it all along through her husband's journey, an unanticipated health diagnosis, and an increasing recognition that justice is as important to God today as it was in Old Testament times. "A lot of people come to justice issues with a political bent," Lisa says. "But I don't have faith in politics anymore. Let's just change people's hearts. Let's help people love one another. Let's get Jesus out there."
In this interview, Lisa talks with TCW about how she's becoming a woman who wants to be the just and loving hands of Jesus in her neighborhood—and in the world.
What was your life like before your move?I'd call it a typical Christian suburban existence—we lived in a nice home in a nice suburb in Maryland. My husband, Will, commuted by train into Washington, D.C., for his corporate job. I wrote Christian fiction, homeschooled our kids, and led our church's music ministry. I threw myself into volunteer work and Bible studies. I was busy trying to please God. But no matter what I did, I rarely felt closer to him.
Then, in 2004, I was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome (WPW), a form of heart arrhythmia that can cause a racing heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, and lightheadedness. Although I don't need medication for it, occasionally I still feel my heart do this crazy rhythm.
How did this diagnosis affect you?Although there's only the slimmest chance I could die from WPW, when I was diagnosed, I decided I didn't want to waste whatever time I might have left. I took a yearlong sabbatical from writing to figure out what God wanted me to do by looking at what Jesus did. I reread the Gospels with fresh eyes—and stopped allowing myself to say "but": But Jesus, I'm just a human. But Jesus, you didn't have a family who depended on you. But Jesus, you said the poor will be with us always.
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