Q&A with author Kim Harvey Brannan
Q: Who can benefit from this book? What surprises might they find?
A: Many people wish they knew more about God, but sometimes the task of understanding the Bible feels daunting. I hope people who have felt this way will read my book because I seek to make the process simpler for them. I want to introduce readers to God by sharing what I believe are the most significant things He wants us to know and understand about His character. Grasping these core principles will help someone develop a deeper understanding of who God really is and how He longs to be a part of their lives. Possible surprises? Perhaps they will be surprised when they learn that God loves to celebrate, and He rejoices when we experience fun and merriment. Maybe they will pause when they discover that God knows when we’re pretending and that He sees inside our hearts. I hope they will be touched when they learn that God doesn’t just want what is good for us, but He wants what is best.
Q: What started you down the path of Bible teaching?
A: I am a firm believer that we have all been given specific spiritual gifts to help build up the Body of Christ, as well as to be salt and light to proclaim the Gospel to the world. I have known from a very young age that my primary spiritual gift is teaching. It brings me joy like nothing else. It fills my soul up to overflowing. There are a variety of different ways that people experience the presence of God in their lives -- for some, it is through nature. For others, it is through prayer and meditation. For me, it has always been in delving deeply into the Scriptures to glean truth, instruction, inspiration, knowledge, and encouragement.
Q: Your book's subtitle is "What God Wants You to Know About Him." Clearly, that is a subjective determination. How did you decide on the specific things God wants us to know from the entirety of scripture?
A: When I first settled on the subtitle, and shared it with several respected friends, some were taken aback. One said, “Are you bold enough to think that you, Kim Harvey Brannan, know what God wants us to know about Him?” I said, “Absolutely. And you can know too!” God does not want to keep what He wants us to know about Him a secret! I simply looked at historical accounts and stories from both the Old and New Testaments, and connected the dots to discover underlying ideas, actions, and themes of how God works. One of the most challenging aspects of writing this book was honing the concepts down to a mere sixteen. I could have written a book with 50 concepts about what I believe God wants us to know about Him.
Q: What do you believe is a primary aspect of God's character that He wants us to know about Him?
A: The first chapter in Quiet Conversations espouses that God longs to be close to us. We see this in the book of Genesis in the Garden of Eden. We learn that God walked and talked closely with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. God created human beings simply because He longed for companionship, friendship, and a closeness with others so that he could have a vehicle upon which to share His love, compassion, grace, mercy, faithfulness, and bounty. In the book of Exodus, we see how God did not want His chosen people of Israel to feel alone so He provided a visible cloud by day and a fire by night to remind them of the important truth of His presence. Throughout the New Testament, we see how God’s Spirit was with Peter even on the night he betrayed Christ, as he kissed Judas upon his moment of betrayal, as he spoke gently to Mary Magdalene by the tomb, and with Paul while he was in prison. God has taken many steps to demonstrate that He longs to be close to us. On a personal level, I have felt God’s presence in many situations – at the birth of my great niece Sophie, while patiently caring for my mother who struggled with Alzheimer’s, during night after night of sitting afraid in a dark hospital room with my husband fighting for his life. I knew that God was close to me and that His presence gave me strength and encouragement, moment by moment. Thus, by investigating the Biblical narrative, coupled with my own personal life experiences, I connect the dots of what I believe God wants us to know about Him.
A: Many people wish they knew more about God, but sometimes the task of understanding the Bible feels daunting. I hope people who have felt this way will read my book because I seek to make the process simpler for them. I want to introduce readers to God by sharing what I believe are the most significant things He wants us to know and understand about His character. Grasping these core principles will help someone develop a deeper understanding of who God really is and how He longs to be a part of their lives. Possible surprises? Perhaps they will be surprised when they learn that God loves to celebrate, and He rejoices when we experience fun and merriment. Maybe they will pause when they discover that God knows when we’re pretending and that He sees inside our hearts. I hope they will be touched when they learn that God doesn’t just want what is good for us, but He wants what is best.
Q: What started you down the path of Bible teaching?
A: I am a firm believer that we have all been given specific spiritual gifts to help build up the Body of Christ, as well as to be salt and light to proclaim the Gospel to the world. I have known from a very young age that my primary spiritual gift is teaching. It brings me joy like nothing else. It fills my soul up to overflowing. There are a variety of different ways that people experience the presence of God in their lives -- for some, it is through nature. For others, it is through prayer and meditation. For me, it has always been in delving deeply into the Scriptures to glean truth, instruction, inspiration, knowledge, and encouragement.
Q: Your book's subtitle is "What God Wants You to Know About Him." Clearly, that is a subjective determination. How did you decide on the specific things God wants us to know from the entirety of scripture?
A: When I first settled on the subtitle, and shared it with several respected friends, some were taken aback. One said, “Are you bold enough to think that you, Kim Harvey Brannan, know what God wants us to know about Him?” I said, “Absolutely. And you can know too!” God does not want to keep what He wants us to know about Him a secret! I simply looked at historical accounts and stories from both the Old and New Testaments, and connected the dots to discover underlying ideas, actions, and themes of how God works. One of the most challenging aspects of writing this book was honing the concepts down to a mere sixteen. I could have written a book with 50 concepts about what I believe God wants us to know about Him.
Q: What do you believe is a primary aspect of God's character that He wants us to know about Him?
A: The first chapter in Quiet Conversations espouses that God longs to be close to us. We see this in the book of Genesis in the Garden of Eden. We learn that God walked and talked closely with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. God created human beings simply because He longed for companionship, friendship, and a closeness with others so that he could have a vehicle upon which to share His love, compassion, grace, mercy, faithfulness, and bounty. In the book of Exodus, we see how God did not want His chosen people of Israel to feel alone so He provided a visible cloud by day and a fire by night to remind them of the important truth of His presence. Throughout the New Testament, we see how God’s Spirit was with Peter even on the night he betrayed Christ, as he kissed Judas upon his moment of betrayal, as he spoke gently to Mary Magdalene by the tomb, and with Paul while he was in prison. God has taken many steps to demonstrate that He longs to be close to us. On a personal level, I have felt God’s presence in many situations – at the birth of my great niece Sophie, while patiently caring for my mother who struggled with Alzheimer’s, during night after night of sitting afraid in a dark hospital room with my husband fighting for his life. I knew that God was close to me and that His presence gave me strength and encouragement, moment by moment. Thus, by investigating the Biblical narrative, coupled with my own personal life experiences, I connect the dots of what I believe God wants us to know about Him.
Q: You went through a lot of trials and losses during the process of writing this book. Were any of your beliefs about God changed or altered after those trying times?
A: I would say that my beliefs about God were most definitely challenged. The many trials and profound losses I experienced prompted me to confront and reexamine each dimension of God’s character, His personality and how He works with individuals. This was an incredibly important and necessary process for me. Not only did this exploration help me heal spiritually and emotionally in many ways, but I also discovered that the original seeds of truth I knew about God were indeed valid and remained strong. Every single one of them. During that difficult struggle, God revealed Himself to me with His love, care, and grace as I questioned and probed.
Q: In one chapter you write that “the opposite of enough is emptiness." What do you mean by that?
A: I wrote that statement in a chapter about the sufficiency of God in our lives. Sufficiency is having enough to fill us up – whether that is food for a hungry stomach, or true peace and fulfillment embedded deeply within our soul. I believe the opposite of experiencing “enough” is the feeling of emptiness, an ever-growing hunger within us because we feel incomplete and unsatisfied. We long for something more to complete us. Since creation, people have been exploring the meaning of life and seeking something outside of ourselves to make us feel fulfillment and wholeness. Only God can fill the God-shaped hole in our heart and soul.
Q: Did your faith journey change when you lost your husband to cancer and became a widow? Why or why not?
A: When I lost my precious husband John, my life changed dramatically. My faith journey took on more of an exploratory track. I began to allow God to work with me, and through me, in this new stage of life. New opportunities for service started to emerge. There were earlier days which were dark and sad, and I now understand better why Jesus emphasized the importance for the church to look after widows and orphans in a special way. Their needs for human interaction are unique, and having other believers heap love upon them can make a big difference.
Q: What advice would you give to new widows?
A: When I went back to work just one month after losing John, my friend and colleague Lisa said to me, “Kim, remember to be kind to yourself.” She and her husband had lost a young adult child, and her words came from a place of deep understanding about the rawness of grief. I share these same words with new widows — be kind to yourself by not adopting expectations placed on you by others of how you “should” cope and handle your grief. There is no right or wrong way. You know what feels right to you. Do that instead. Depend upon God, our loving Father, for His strength. The loss of a spouse is a very personal experience. Even if someone has lost a spouse, they haven’t lost your spouse. Your marriage was unique and the relationship you shared will never be fully understood by another. I encourage new widows to remember that love never dies. The love you have for your spouse who is no longer physically with you on earth still exists. That love lives in your heart, your mind, and in the laughter and memories of those he touched. I see my husband’s dry humor and warmth in my son Mark, his diligence and kindness in my daughter Laura, and his work ethic and love of having fun in my son John Jr. The love we experience as a family continues to include our ongoing love for John each day.
Q: You talk about how you stopped negative thinking in your life. How did you conquer that?
A: Years ago, during the season of Lent, I decided rather than giving up sweets, or my much-loved Diet Coke, that I would give up negative thinking. I don’t mean to suggest that I was completely entrenched in a lifestyle of pessimism, but I started to notice that my gut instinct was often reacting first and foremost to situations from a framework of negative thinking. That bothered me. By my nature and personality, I am a very positive person and I wanted to recapture that way of thinking and living. I wanted to get rid of having my “go to” response of how I mentally reacted to new information or a circumstance by thinking of the negative rather than the positive. The practice I established during those 40 days of Lent was that each time I had a negative thought, I wrote it down on a piece of paper. I put it in a little basket. At night before I went to bed, I read each paper and said a prayer asking God to forgive me for that negative thinking and to banish it from my thoughts. I prayed over each negative thought, and then I ripped the paper into little pieces and threw each one away. I went to bed and woke up with a clean slate. Over time, the number of papers in my basket grew fewer and fewer. By Easter morning, I celebrated that God had helped me conquer a frustrating mental habit that I no longer wanted in my life. Occasionally, I still have negative thoughts, but I try to surrender them to God in prayer and ask Him to implant within me a fresh, creative way of contemplating situations.
A: I would say that my beliefs about God were most definitely challenged. The many trials and profound losses I experienced prompted me to confront and reexamine each dimension of God’s character, His personality and how He works with individuals. This was an incredibly important and necessary process for me. Not only did this exploration help me heal spiritually and emotionally in many ways, but I also discovered that the original seeds of truth I knew about God were indeed valid and remained strong. Every single one of them. During that difficult struggle, God revealed Himself to me with His love, care, and grace as I questioned and probed.
Q: In one chapter you write that “the opposite of enough is emptiness." What do you mean by that?
A: I wrote that statement in a chapter about the sufficiency of God in our lives. Sufficiency is having enough to fill us up – whether that is food for a hungry stomach, or true peace and fulfillment embedded deeply within our soul. I believe the opposite of experiencing “enough” is the feeling of emptiness, an ever-growing hunger within us because we feel incomplete and unsatisfied. We long for something more to complete us. Since creation, people have been exploring the meaning of life and seeking something outside of ourselves to make us feel fulfillment and wholeness. Only God can fill the God-shaped hole in our heart and soul.
Q: Did your faith journey change when you lost your husband to cancer and became a widow? Why or why not?
A: When I lost my precious husband John, my life changed dramatically. My faith journey took on more of an exploratory track. I began to allow God to work with me, and through me, in this new stage of life. New opportunities for service started to emerge. There were earlier days which were dark and sad, and I now understand better why Jesus emphasized the importance for the church to look after widows and orphans in a special way. Their needs for human interaction are unique, and having other believers heap love upon them can make a big difference.
Q: What advice would you give to new widows?
A: When I went back to work just one month after losing John, my friend and colleague Lisa said to me, “Kim, remember to be kind to yourself.” She and her husband had lost a young adult child, and her words came from a place of deep understanding about the rawness of grief. I share these same words with new widows — be kind to yourself by not adopting expectations placed on you by others of how you “should” cope and handle your grief. There is no right or wrong way. You know what feels right to you. Do that instead. Depend upon God, our loving Father, for His strength. The loss of a spouse is a very personal experience. Even if someone has lost a spouse, they haven’t lost your spouse. Your marriage was unique and the relationship you shared will never be fully understood by another. I encourage new widows to remember that love never dies. The love you have for your spouse who is no longer physically with you on earth still exists. That love lives in your heart, your mind, and in the laughter and memories of those he touched. I see my husband’s dry humor and warmth in my son Mark, his diligence and kindness in my daughter Laura, and his work ethic and love of having fun in my son John Jr. The love we experience as a family continues to include our ongoing love for John each day.
Q: You talk about how you stopped negative thinking in your life. How did you conquer that?
A: Years ago, during the season of Lent, I decided rather than giving up sweets, or my much-loved Diet Coke, that I would give up negative thinking. I don’t mean to suggest that I was completely entrenched in a lifestyle of pessimism, but I started to notice that my gut instinct was often reacting first and foremost to situations from a framework of negative thinking. That bothered me. By my nature and personality, I am a very positive person and I wanted to recapture that way of thinking and living. I wanted to get rid of having my “go to” response of how I mentally reacted to new information or a circumstance by thinking of the negative rather than the positive. The practice I established during those 40 days of Lent was that each time I had a negative thought, I wrote it down on a piece of paper. I put it in a little basket. At night before I went to bed, I read each paper and said a prayer asking God to forgive me for that negative thinking and to banish it from my thoughts. I prayed over each negative thought, and then I ripped the paper into little pieces and threw each one away. I went to bed and woke up with a clean slate. Over time, the number of papers in my basket grew fewer and fewer. By Easter morning, I celebrated that God had helped me conquer a frustrating mental habit that I no longer wanted in my life. Occasionally, I still have negative thoughts, but I try to surrender them to God in prayer and ask Him to implant within me a fresh, creative way of contemplating situations.
About Kim Harvey Brannan:
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Kim Harvey Brannan has created and taught Bible studies for over 35 years. She received a degree in journalism from the University of Florida and spent her career in marketing, public relations, and advertising. For the past 15 years, she has served on the Board of Directors for a local Early Childhood Education program to meet the needs of underserved neighborhoods and families. She was married nearly 33 years to John Brannan who died from Acute Myeloid Leukemia. She was born and raised in Tampa, Florida where she still resides, and has three grown children. For more information https://www.kimharveybrannan.com/.
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