Interview with Holly Satterthwaite
Life is full of seasons. Women can sometimes feel confident and at other times completely invisible, and it is so often easy to get bogged down in the sheer busyness of ‘doing’ life.
The women in the Bible were no different - they too struggled with issues like marital challenges, difficult friendships, grief and unfulfilled dreams – yet like all Scripture, their stories point to the character and glory of God. By studying their stories in her new book Glorious, Holly Satterthwaite invites us to see how God reveals his goodness through the female human existence.
Holly, can you tell us a little about yourself?
I am a mum to two super kids at primary and secondary school, a ridiculously cute dog and wife to the lovely Howard. I work part time as a Business Manager at a national medical charity, and am a Christian speaker, coach, retreat leader and author in my spare time. I have several years of church ministry experience, supporting my husband as the lead pastor of a central London church until 2023, as a Deacon and leading the women’s ministry. I have a bit of an obsession with salt and vinegar crisps!
Why did you decide to write Glorious?
Glorious was born out of many conversations with Christian women over the years who struggled to see their lives reflected in the narrative of the biblical women and found it hard to see how God’s glory factored into their personal day to day. I picked up a growing frustration with the narratives of the biblical women being used to teach women moralistic life lessons on what to do or not do, and in arguments around what their role should be rather than as their primary purpose – to reflect the character and glory of God.
Why did you choose the title and why is this significant?
This book may be structured around women and womanhood but it’s all about God and how he uses us as women to reflect his glory. My main hope is that readers will put the book down at the end and reflect on how good and glorious God is.
Who have you written this book for?
This is a book for all women who are trying to put their hope and faith in Jesus.
There are lots of books for women available, what makes yours different?
The key difference about this book is that it won’t tell you how to be a woman or what you should or shouldn’t be doing, but it will open your eyes to the truth that God is always with you and how he uses the different themes and seasons of your life to reveal his glory and goodness. This is a book about God’s glory and how we, and the rest of the world, can discover this more deeply through the journey of womanhood.
You use Biblical women to explore seasons of women’s lives. When you were planning the book how did these come together?
The biblical stories came first for me as I didn’t want to find a theme or message and then force it into a scriptural narrative. Instead, I started with the biblical passages of the women (many were passages I have preached at various Mothers’ Day services) and studied them in the same way I would deep dive into any passage of Scripture, with the main question of ‘what does this narrative teach me about God?’. From there the themes organically emerged.
There are obviously many more themes of womanhood than could be fitted into one book and many more biblical women, and there are some I’d have loved to squeeze in, but these are the Scriptures that I prayerfully felt God had directed me to.
You talk about looking at the women in the Bible not as an instruction manual for what modern day women should or should not do, but how their stories show us who God is. Why is this approach so important to you?
It’s important to me because this was the primarily purpose of all Scripture and I find sometimes we can see the narratives of the biblical women being used mainly to teach ‘shoulds’ and ‘should nots’ or as proof in arguments related to what a woman’s role and authority should be. It’s an approach we don’t use as much with texts about the biblical men. I’ve found this disillusioning to some women, who then steer clear of these texts as a result, exhausted by the constant debate. But in doing this, we then silence these biblical women and miss out on the depths they bring to our understanding of God’s character.
Sure, we can learn about God’s faithfulness and how he emboldens us from Daniel, but wouldn’t it be great if our kids and adult biblical teaching also looked to Rahab, Deborah, and Esther? Or the Jewish Midwives in Exodus. Wouldn’t it be great if we first found awe in the glory and goodness of God in these texts, rather than reading in gender boundaries?
You also encourage women today to see their own stories as joining all of creation to show how wonderful God is. Can you explain in a little more detail what you mean by this?
God reveals so much of who he is through creation in a general revelation, as Psalm 19 particularly unpacks. The sunrise and sunset don’t just display his beauty but the reliable unchanging predictability of his goodness. In the same way, I think that as men and women created distinctly from each other but equally in the image of God, we are part of that general revelation of God and his gospel.
As women our physicality has a story to tell – the umbilical cord, breastfeeding, periods and menopause. These are images God uses to communicate aspects of his character and the Gospel in Scripture. Equally experientially, our lives speak of our need for a Saviour to the rest of the world. For example, loss and painful endings speak of a world not operating as it was designed to be and the longing for a sense of home inside all of us that speaks of the status quo not being what we are destined for. As Romans 8:22 puts it, ‘all of creation has been groaning together’ in anticipation of Jesus our Saviour – all of creation, including our own bodies and lives, is communicating the gospel message that we need Jesus.
Women can feel invisible or unheard at various times of their lives for many different reasons. What piece of advice would you give to someone who feels that they are in that season right now?
God sees and hears you! In fact, he often pays special attention to people in the Bible when they are most socially and physically isolated. So, my first piece advice would always be to pray and be heard by God. I’d also recommend that you share that feeling with some other trusted people – because we all sometimes need someone else to remind us that we are a needed and valued part of our communities. There are particular times; when we are walking through intense grief or busy and disconnected due to having babies or busy jobs, or when our hormones go a bit crazy during perimenopause, when we all need a reminder that we’re not forgotten and that we’re not the only ones that feel this way sometimes. Together we can ease each other’s loneliness and magnify each other’s voice.
What was the most challenging element of writing this book?
Practically, being a busy working mum, I don’t have the luxury of writing retreats in beautiful settings or the abundance of time which can sometimes fan creativity. It was often the case of having a couple of hours here and there having to channel my creativity in a focused way amongst the deadlines of school runs, working hours and the mess of laundry and Lego.
The actual content came relatively easily, but being able to get it into a readable format was trickier. I had so many scrap pieces of paper with half-baked thoughts scribbled down when they came to me as I was cooking or at work, and voice notes I’d send myself to record an idea I’d had on my commute.
And what was the most rewarding element of writing this book?
It was such a privilege to give myself the time and permission to intentionally deep-dive study into these passages of Scripture over a prolonged time, to revisit and soak up their layers and meaning. Again and again, I was blown away by God’s goodness and glory, and writing those truths sustained me through some challenging moments that happened during that time of writing. It’s a book and a message written as a reminder for myself as much as anyone else. I love God more because of how this project enabled me to know him better and that is such a gift!
What do you hope readers will most get out of reading this book?
Most of all, I hope readers get a bigger view of God’s goodness and glory and an understanding of how important their womanhood is in communicating God’s awesome character to the world.
In one sentence, how would you describe Glorious?
Glorious invites you to encounter the message of the goodness and glory of God displayed through the journey of womanhood, and savour the joy of being tenderly known and seen whatever season you are in.
Is there anything we can pray for you?
I would love prayer that I would keep God’s goodness and glory front and centre in my life, and wisdom in how I pass that message on to others – especially my children.