Heaven and Nature Sing: 25 Advent Reflections to Bring Joy to the World

by Hannah Anderson, Nathan Anderson (Illustrator)

Overview

ECPA Christian Non-Fiction Bestseller, Christmas 2023

“Joy to the world—the Lord has come!”

We sing these words every year, but what does it mean that the Creator came to his creation as a baby? How exactly does the “earth receive her King?”  What does it sound like when rocks, hills, floods, and plains echo his praise? And what would it mean for you to join in the chorus?

Heaven and Nature Sing invites you into a fresh reading of the Christmas story—one where earthy, overlooked things like snowflakes, trees, serpents, bodies, and swaddling bands reveal the glory of the Promised Son. Journeying from the first pages of Scripture to the last, you’ll experience the goodness of our Creator King and learn how the whole earth sings his praise.

So this Advent season, join Hannah Anderson as she guides you through 25 meditations on the natural elements of the Christmas story. Accompanied by Nathan Anderson’s distinctive artwork, the entries gradually move you from hope to faith to joy to peace. Find your soul renewed and your heart restored, and discover once again why heaven and nature sing. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781087776781
Publisher:	B&H Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/11/2022
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Hannah Anderson is an author and Bible teacher who lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with her husband, Nathan, and three children. Her books include All That’s Good: Recovering the Lost Art of Discernment and Turning of Days: Lessons from Nature, Season, and Spirit. She also cohosts the Persuasion podcast, which addresses cultural, theological, and more mundane issues from a Christian perspective. Hannah’s goal is to encourage believers to think deeply and broadly about how the gospel transforms every area of life.

Nathan Anderson is an illustrator and ordained minister who holds master’s degrees in theology and leadership. A native of southwest Virginia, he is most at home walking in the woods, working in his garden, or birding with the Roanoke Valley Bird Club. You can find more of his work on Instagram at @nathan_d_anderson.   

Table of Contents

Author's Note 1

Day 1 Wintering 5

Hope

Day 2 The Serpent 11

Day 3 Family Tree 17

Day 4 Anointed One 23

Day 5 Silence 29

Day 6 Holy Seed 35

Day 7 Every Valley 41

Faith

Day 8 Family Land 47

Day 9 Birth Pains 53

Day 10 Evergreen 59

Day 11 Swaddling Bands 65

Day 12 No Room 71

Day 13 Among the Beasts 77

Joy

Day 14 Keeping Watch 83

Day 15 The Good Shepherd 89

Day 16 Visible and Invisible 95

Day 17 Birds and Bees 101

Day 18 Boughs of Holly 107

Day 19 Fullness of Time 113

Peace

Day 20 Starry Night 119

Day 21 Gold 125

Day 22 Frankincense 131

Day 23 Myrrh 137

Day 24 Dream State 143

Day 25 Christmas Morn 149

About the Author and Illustrator 155

Acknowledgments 157

Notes 159

Editorial Reviews

This is a beautiful book in every sense: poetically written, richly illustrated, and thoughtfully conceived. Weaving together the physical meaning of creation with the spiritual meaning of Christmas, Hannah and Nathan Anderson reveal the ways in which Advent is enacted all around us, in pine trees and snowfall, holly and sap. Joy to the world, indeed!” 
–Andrew Wilson, author and teaching pastor at King’s Church London

“In the same way that creation immerses us in rhythms of work and rest, silence and sound, living and dying, so this beautifully written and lovingly illustrated book invites us into the rhythms of Advent in order to discover the good news of the Creator God who takes on flesh in order to restore all flesh, so that we might be agents of renewal in a world full of fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains that summons us to the fulsome praise of the God who is With Us. This book is Isaac Watts meets Annie Dillard—and one that you will love reading year after year.” 
–David and Phaedra Taylor (David is Associate Professor of Theology and Culture, Fuller Theological Seminary, and author of Open and Unafraid: The Psalms as a Guide to Life; Phaedra is a visual artist and gardener)
 

From the Publisher