A Mangatarata author is bringing faith and life lessons together in a book of devotionals with a uniquely Kiwi twist.
Mum-of-six Chris Bovill is releasing her second book, Wonder, on November 30. It features 60 short essays about her life on a dairy farm, raising children, living in South America as a child, and her thoughts on daily life.
Woven through each story is a passage from Christian scripture, tying her values to her experiences.
“There are a lot of mistakes that I’ve made in life… dumb life choices. I’ve written about those mistakes from a very vulnerable place, trying to be as open and authentic as possible,” Chris said.
“I think when you’re honest and open, that gives other people permission to do that as well. There have been times in my own life where I’ve felt particularly lonely. How can I be a mum to six kids when I’ve got my own questions, you know?
“It’s encouraging others and giving them hope that even though we muck up and fail, we can pick ourselves up again and carry on.”
Wonder is the second in Chris’ series of devotional essays – her first book, Flourish, was released in 2022. The volumes developed from Chris’ practice of daily journaling and as a way to make sense of her own struggles, she said.
“I was born with deformed hips and with spina bifida in my lower back, and doctors were saying things like I’d be in a wheelchair and I would not be able to have children,” Chris said.
“In my adult years, [a doctor] spoke some words over me that were quite life changing to me. She said, ‘you’re an egg that your mother’s body should have rejected’. So that was a hard pill to swallow. I had to go on a quest really to find out, is our life of value? Are we just mistakes… or is there a purpose and are we valued? I guess you could say I’ve just been on a quest for truth.”
Chris said one of the things she loved most about her books was their Kiwi perspective.
“They’re stories that we can all relate to – there’s place names in there that any Kiwi would recognise. Driving through Taupō… breaking down in our car on the Desert Rd, everyone instantly pictures it,” she said.
“When I was a young mum, I started reading devotionals because you don’t have time for anything else. [But] the devotionals that I used to read were always American based. So I thought, well, I’d like to take it from our perspective. I think we’re all on a journey of sorts, whether we believe strongly or whether we don’t. And you don’t have to take on board the faith behind it, but they’re a good yarn.”
Producing the books has been a challenge – Chris began restoring furniture to pay for the publishing process – but she has been encouraged by the support of her family and the community.
“The vulnerability side of it surprised me, how real I got in some of the stories. But then once I put it down on paper and I read it to a couple of my nearest and dearest, they were like, yeah, that needs to go in the book as well because that’s going to help someone,” she said.
“[It got] such a lovely reception, honestly. It’s been quite life-changing, quite pivotal in the way I look at the world. Just looking around at other people and listening to their stories gives you a real empathy.
“We’re all on this life journey together just trying to figure it out. And if faith guides your steps, which it does for me, I like to write it down.”
DETAILS: Wonder is available from November 30 at Willow in Ngatea, Carson’s Bookstore and Lamp Books in Thames, and at www.chrisbovill.com.
