This children’s book originally started as a written personal prayer, as I was coming to the Lord with my own overwhelming feelings. I often find it easier to write out my prayers, as it helps me express what is truly on my heart and mind. We had just passed through some of the worst few months our family had ever gone through. We survived a grueling crisis, and while life was finally calm, we all needed space to heal and restore. And I was coming to the Lord in prayer.
My oldest daughter, Anna, was babysitting in our home that day, and our house was filled with playful laughter and musical children’s programs on the TV in the background. It was actually a lovely atmosphere to curl up on the couch and start writing and praying. Of course, as a mom (through birth, foster, and adoption), my prayers are often filled with concern for my children. As I prayed for the kids in my life, the script quickly turned childlike, whimsical, and singsong. Through this prayer, I desired that they would identify and talk about their feelings with my husband and I, and with Jesus. I paired Scripture with each emotion to show that these are gifts from God. I ended with a simple gospel message that demonstrates Jesus’ love and an invitation to talk to Him about all their big feelings.
How did this playful prayer flow out of a burdened heart?! It’s a mystery to me; however, God is the source of both encouragement and endurance (Romans 15:5-6). I’m so thankful that I can personally turn to God, who welcomes me, hears me, and understands me completely. He is so compassionate and kind to me. When I came to Him in prayer as a weary, concerned mother, He reminded me what a trustworthy Father He is. He is a caring Father to both me and my kids. I can entrust them to His care, and He will meet their needs. (Not to lead you to believe that I had this all figured out at that moment and wrapped in a pretty package with a red bow. Oh no, I actually struggled with significant disbelief about this, which came to a crisis point later. A story for another time!)
His invitation to come to Him completely honest, with every emotion, is the same for me as it is for my kids. So, perhaps it isn’t all that surprising that my time with Him left me with a written reminder of how empathetic, loving, and in control He is. I received it as a gift from Him, and I couldn’t wait to share it!
I was on staff at a church as a children’s ministry director at the time. Due to COVID, we had moved online. I wanted to share this book so kids could connect with their caregivers and explore their God-given emotions together. I asked Anna, who was in high school then (Crazy – now she is grown up and a married woman!), if she would paint an illustration for each emotion to share with our church family in a recorded video. Anna has always been delightfully creative. From sewing her own back-to-school clothes in grade school, to creating beautiful screen prints, she is very gifted and extremely generous with her talents. Also, she was a beloved babysitter for many of the families and was eager to join me in this project. Once we partnered with Saturate on this book, I wrote a few additional stanzas to include more emotions and Anna also illustrated them. What a treat to get to share this book with a broader audience now!
My hope is the same for my kids and yours: that this book helps them discover their emotions as God-given gifts, opens up a conversation together, shares that Jesus loves them and gave His life for them, and reminds them they can always bring every feeling to Him.
Grab a copy of Friend, You are Loved! by Melissa Magnuson to read with the kids in your life.
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Anna Bowker shares about creating the illustrations…
After my mom read me a couple of phrases of what she had written, I thought it would be fun to try to illustrate the characters, and it would also be a sentimental project to do right before I left home for art school. I decided to paint with gouache paint because I wanted bold lines and fun colors. I wanted the focus to be on the emotion the character was feeling instead of what was going on in the scene, so I put the faces in the center.
I think the first emotion I illustrated was the description of grateful: “I feel grateful like sunshine dancing through a windowpane.” It was a little daunting at first. What do I do? Do I give the sunshine legs? How do I show that it is dancing through the windowpane? It was fun to sketch it out and see what the best path was. It was a challenge to figure out proportionally what a window looked like compared to the sun, how to make it look 3D, and how much character to give it.
The scared octopus was probably one of my favorite characters to illustrate. I knew I wanted the octopus to kind of be wringing its hands, or its tentacles, together, and I really had a fun time with all of the different colors in the seascape. Speaking of the sea, I also enjoyed creating the hair of the excited wave… it was fun to form the sea foam into hair, and consider how to give a wave a nose.
Another favorite would be the puppy because it looks a little bit like our family dog, Oscar. He’s the inspiration behind the dog. Oscar curls up just like that all the time, sometimes on the couch or on the floor, and when he does this, he kind of has that look in his eyes, the half-closed eyes. So I figured he was an example of a lonely puppy. Not because he’s lonely; he’s just dramatic!
Growing up, our family would plant rainbow carrots in our garden, and that was something that was a lot of fun to me as a child. So when I was putting together the guilty bunny and adding the carrots to the garden, I decided to put another family twist on it and make them rainbow carrots.
On the cover, the mountain range in the back is the silhouette of Mount Rainier. In Tacoma, WA where I grew up, we always had a really pretty view of the mountain. When the clouds didn’t obscure the view, we would always say, “The mountain is out today!” So when I was adding in the background, I thought it would be cool to add another little Easter egg in there.
The illustration of Jesus and the children at the end of the book was interesting for me to decide how to do it. I decided on silhouettes in order to create a simple representation that a lot of people could insert themselves into.
I hope you and the kids in your life will enjoy this book together, and are reminded of the truth of God’s character and how He cares for us.
