God's Smile and the Big Bang: A Poetic Exploration with Author David Lahm and Illustrator Lael Brinkley

The joy and science of creation are evident in David Lahm and Lael Brinkley's book In the Beginning God Smiled.

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Valerie - Welcome to Bookworthy, where we talk about books that are worthy of shelf space in your kids' homes and hearts. Today, we're talking with author David Lahm and illustrator Lael Brinkley about their book, In the Beginning, God Smiled, a tale of God's joy and the Big Bang that followed, a poetic retelling of the why behind creation. Welcome to Bookworthy, David and Lael.

David - Thank you, thank you, we're excited to be here.

Lael - Thank you so much for having us.

Valerie, it's a pleasure to have both of you here. It's not often that I have both an illustrator and the author present, so I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of insights we gain from the two of you. But we have to start with our random question of the week. And our random question of the week is, would you rather have a rewind button in your life or a fast-forward button?

Valerie -Why don't you give us a start, David, when you're ready?

David - I think I would rather have a rewind.

Valerie - How about you, Lael?

Lael - Yeah, I have a lot of cringeworthy moments in my past, so I think I would go with the rewind for sure.

Valerie -It's funny to think about that, but it's like with the rewind, we change everything out, like the butterfly effect and time travel, and yeah, just all those things. It's kind of fun to think about. And it's one of those, like, I could see the pros and cons of both buttons. Cause there's a pop. If I could pause, I could think things through a little faster, but I shouldn't be in control of the pause button. Don't think that might be very strange. Well, David, why don't you tell us a little bit more about your book, In the Beginning, God Smiled?

David - Yeah, thank you, Valerie. Thank you so much for having us on today. We're excited to engage in this conversation with you. So, you know, as I was thinking about how to describe the book to myself, it's so many different things kind of coming together. But I think there are really two key themes for me that led to the inspiration of this book. Number one is after the birth of our first child, I started to, as most people do, read more children's books, and you start to kind of get into the world of children's literature. And over the years, as I was reading those books, one thing that really stuck out to me was that children's books are a real opportunity to minister to the parent. And I think that's something that just struck me because

Parenthood is hard, and work is stressful. And as you're reading really good books, especially books that bring glory to God or that highlight the beauty of Jesus, those can fill a parent's tank when they need it. And often at the end of the day, when you're reading these stories, you need it. And then the other theme for me was that I work in a very science-heavy field.

And I saw an opportunity to write a book that combined faith and science. So I was leaning on a lot of the works of Christian apologists and how they were advocating for the faith, and how the evidence for the Big Bang was telling of God's glory. And it's like Psalm 19, the heavens are telling of God's glory. And I wanted to kind of connect those two things, bringing science and faith together into a children's story. It was an audacious task, but it was something that was just flowing out of my heart. And at the end of the day, I was hopeful that I could create something that would do both of those things, combine faith and science, but also that would be beautiful enough that it would bring glory to God, until a minister to the parents who were reading it.

 Valerie -I love that heart behind it, and you coming from a science background, were in cancer research before kiddos. And so I have a very heavy science background. And so it is neat to kind of, I might've done a little bit of a deep dive into the big bang theory and stuff, unfortunately, or fortunately, I can't decide, but it is neat to combine those two to see how science backs up our faith and how faith and science aren't competitors, but they intertwine so well. And I love how you did that in the book. Lael, when you were presented with this story, what was kind of your, I guess, process of bringing God to life in a sense?

Lael - Well, see, that was the fun challenge here. And David and I discussed this. Like we want to show, you know, God is, you know, present in this story, but no one's seen God, right? No one knows what he looks like. He's the spiritual essence. He is a spiritual being. So the best that I can do as a finite artist is say, Hey, why don't we just show, you know, glimpses of God? Like, and this is a creative personification of God, it's not God himself. But we can show his smile, like the title says, show his smile, his big white long beard, again, just the creative freedom there on my part, show his feet, show his, you know, his, his eyes, his hands. And I just think it's so important that you know, we keep that. That biblical truth, the fact that God is still a mystery to us since we don't know what he looks like, and there are still so many things we don't know that God has chosen to keep to himself, but he's chosen to reveal certain things about himself. So I think that was important to me for sure as a follower of Christ to be like, let's keep it a mystery, but at the same time, not make it too ominous, but make God, you know, inviting and welcoming and he's loving and caring, which, you know, David does a really good job showing in his book of the love of God and his intentionality in his creation. And like you said, with faith and science, not being opponents, that God is, God is the ultimate scientist for sure, just like he's the ultimate artist. So they're both compatible. But yeah, that was important for me too, just to show glimpses of God throughout the book.

Valerie -It's really sweet how you demonstrate this smile and dancing feet and just sweet hands just as a way of personifying God because it can be this weird idea and we see lots of pictures and art that do depict God as this old man or something but you made him feel welcoming and loving which is what we want God to be to our children through many of the stories that we hear, God can be this kind of fearful like, he smoked somebody here and struck them with lightning here. And so it's good to be reminded, you know, with parents, like you said, David, that God is for us, God loves us, and we are his joy, and we can have joy in him. So that's really sweet. Now, David did kind of, you can touch on this a little bit, but what would you hope the child walks away from? You want parents to be encouraged and kind of hear a little bit of the science and the faith, but what do you want kids to walk away with from this book?

David -I think Lael said it really well. Hope that, you know, to your question, I think in the most ambitious sense, we tried to have two stories. One was for the parents, which is that this other layer of God should get so much glory through the Big Bang and through the incredible expanse of what we're learning about the universe. And that should cause people of faith to rejoice and just be overwhelmed with excitement about how great our God is. But for the child, hopefully, they get those aspects, but they also see that God is first and foremost, and he was from all eternity happy. He's always been happy, and nothing can ever disrupt his happiness. And I think that you know, that as a child, hopefully brings children a lot of encouragement, and seeing our God is fundamentally happy and good.

Valerie - Lael, did, kind of, as you were doing the art, what did you want to communicate to kids through the images that you produced?

Lael - Yeah, just, I mean, expanding on what was said before, just the love of God, God's love for his creation, and that, you know, that everything in this world isn't, you know, an accident. It's there's purpose behind it. There's value, and especially human beings. God, you know, made us in his image. And I think that's so important for, you know, kids to learn firsthand too, that, you know, we're not like these, you know, primates or monkeys and stuff. I mean, there are a lot of similarities, but ultimately, you know, we're the only like beings that, you know, process and experience emotions and can create and communicate and all these things. So I think that's really important that this just came to mind, but like communicating the fact that we're made in God's image and that we're not a mistake, but God made us for His purpose and His glory. And I think adding on to his, you know, God's love for creation and his intentionality behind all that, I think that's also important, too. And that's what I hope will be communicated to the kids when they see this.

Valerie - I do love how in this story, you kind of, like you said, have two sections of the story of how God is so excited about creating and the fireworks and, you know, bring some unique scientific language in there. Just, you know, what is it? Kid-friendly, but you know, still like, you know, balling it down to, you know, into a hot mass. And so it was just like those ideas, which are in scientific articles and such. But then you realize something is missing. God created all these things, and then what's missing? God's like, someone has to enjoy this. Someone has to be a part of this. We made all this, so let's give it to somebody to enjoy. Let's give it away. And it is just kind of neat to think about as a parent and probably as a child too, that like, we were important to God. We weren't just a mistake. We weren't random. We were intentional and thoughtful, and that God, you know, is in charge of so much, but he is so into the details of our own lives and our hearts. And that's just a sweet message that, like you said, both parents and kids need to be reminded of consistently for sure. Well, David, you said you're a bit of a scientist in your day job. What led you to start writing?

David -You know, I'm not really sure. It's a, it's a great question. You know, when I was, when I was younger, I would kind of write little stories and things, but, you know, I was reading a lot of, apologetics, like I said, when my daughter was born and through seeing her grow and just working in this field, like I read, a lot of books by Francis Collins and some other scientists who are also believers. And it just kind of came out of me. It was just something that was there, and I had to write. And the more I wrote, the more it was a worshipful experience for me as I was thinking about how great God is and how he's always been happy, and he shares his happiness with us and the joy that he has with both through creation and the gospel, and invites us to fellowship with him. And I think Lael did just a wonderful job of illustrating it. When I look back at the book, I look at some of the illustrations that just resonate so deeply with me. And one of them is God celebrating his creation. And how he's dancing, and the silhouettes that Leo created. There's just something about that that makes me so happy to think about God. Because you read in the Genesis account that God said, This is good, this is good. And you get the feeling that he's happy, but just kind of picturing that he's himself celebrating the good work that he's created, it's beautiful. And so it's something that I go back and look at with my kids, and we derive a lot of joy from

Valerie - It is kind of fun to think about, you know, as a writer or an illustrator, you know, there is such a joy in creating and it is such a process like this is so exciting and to think God felt that when he was making the world and that, you know, that excitement that, I can't wait for this to come together. Can't wait for, I mean, even still he's so, I can't wait for the second coming. Can't wait to bring down the new heaven and the new earth. I can't wait for the end to happen so that we can be together. I mean, just kind of that, that giddy childish joy that you represented so well, Lael, is just all part of our own experience with creating things, but it's kind of unique to think of God having those same feelings and experiences as well. Now, Lael, did you always want to be an illustrator, or was it kind of something random that fell on your lap?

Lael -Well, the first thing I said I wanted to be was a veterinarian. And then that was out the door. And then tried dance, not, not interested. And then acting for a while helped boost my confidence. It was good for me. I was a shy little girl, so I needed some of that, that little push of confidence there, but I didn't want to continue with that. Tried a film. That was fun for a bit, but then, like I was talking to you before, before the recording, around 13, like I started to get more into drawing, and I've always loved to draw, but you know, they're always just flat two-dimensional drawings, not very impressive. But the more I drew and took some more drawing classes and did a lot of YouTube stuff, looking at a bunch of different videos, Pinterest is amazing. That's my go-to still to this day. So I started drawing more and more I drew. Saw that, oh, I'm getting better at this. Okay, roll with this a bit more. And then as years went on, I started to make up my own stories and my own characters. And I fell in love with character design and illustration as a whole. Went to Regent University for animation. Animation was fun, and it was a fun trial-and-error process. But I realized I really love the 2D art aspect of the creative field. I love composing images and illustrations and figuring out different types of characters and character-based storytelling. Enjoy that. And that's something I want to stick with and, hopefully, Lord Willing, in the future make coloring books or my own children's books eventually one day. But yeah, it's been something I want to stick with for the long haul unless God leads me somewhere else. But you know, that's where I'm right now, along with being a full-time mom too.

Valerie - That's the best and hardest job ever. Too fun. Well, David, what is your favorite children's book?

David - You know, I was thinking about this, and it's hard for me to say I was even talking with my wife about it. We were going back and forth. You know, I think that I personally really like

The Dr. Seuss books. So whether that's the places you'll go or Horton Hears a Who, you know, I particularly love the stories, as you might imagine, that have this kind of sing-song poetry to them, and also have an important message that you're trying to convey. So yeah, those are some of my favorite books.

Valerie - What is it? I think I did a Bible study at one point or a book club. Can't remember which it was, but it took a lot of Dr. Seuss's books and compared it to scripture and to kind of just see that he may not have said, you know, creation, all creation, all life is valuable, or you're fearfully and wonderfully made. But like with Horton, Here's a Who, it's throughout the theme of the book, and just like how each of his books were all fun and sing-song and goofy, they do have a spiritual message in them. And I love how Dr. Seuss did that and kind of fooled us all in a good way. Now, Lael, what's your favorite children's book?

Lael -I had to think about this one, too. Honestly, like David, I have a lot of good memories reading the Dr. Seuss books. We had a bunch of those growing up. Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs

In the Ham, and Your Old Turtle, even. That's an interesting one. But recently, actually, I read The Wind in the Willows. And that was a really sweet read. It took me a little while to get through it because of life stuff, of course, but I had always heard about it. Like, I want to, I was my, my interest was piqued. I'm like, I want to read this book. And I love the characters. Love the writing in it. Feels very cozy and like it has an atmosphere of contentment in it. And also, Toad is just such a fun character, too. He's obnoxious. He's crazy. How do the other characters deal with him? I just love that dynamic between those characters. So that's my current favorite one right now.

Valerie - That's a good one for certain. And I think we can all relate to the characters that have to deal with Toad because there's always that character in our own lives who is like, okay, we're doing this again. We get to clean up the mess. And so, yes, yes. One of my fondest memories is watching that old cartoon at my grandma's house. And yeah, it's just fun, crazy characters. And you can just kind of see all the different personalities and people you'll meet in your life in that story, for certain. Well, what is the most impactful book in your life, David, other than the Bible?

David - Yeah, this was also a tough one. But I, you know, I was looking over the bookshelf and giving it some thought. And I think for me, there was a book that I read coming out of college called When God Weeps. And it was a book co-authored by Joni Erickson-Tata, who many.

People know, and Pastor Steve Estes, and the book is really about how do we trust God through our pain. And I just think it's such a beautiful book, and it's, I won't spoil it, but it's an incredible book and connects the pain that we feel with God's good purposes in our life, and that we can look to Jesus who walked the same road that we walk. And obviously, in many ways more so, took the pain of the cross and the world's sin upon him, but a beautiful book, a beautiful book.

Valerie - I'm going to have to check that one out. I love Jonah Erickson-Tada and just how she communicates that God doesn't rejoice in our pain, that He's going to use it, He doesn't cause it. And so, I love that message that she has in her ministry, for certain. So, how about for you, Lael, what is the most impactful book in your life other than the Bible?

Lael - Well, a couple of years ago, a friend of mine from church had a copy of Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortland. That was a great read. It's very, I love Dane's approach to just, it's more down-to-earth than exploring Jesus's gentleness and lowliness. And as someone who's dealt with

Anxiety and stuff like that throughout her life, and just really taking time to meditate over Matthew 11, 20 to 30. That's what he spends most of his time on in the book. And just really taking time to analyze that and think about it, meditate on it. And the fact that we don't have to hold those burdens that we have every day in our lives, and even, now, the burdens of past sins that we've committed in our lives. Cause Christ already paid for it all on the cross, and his life was a living sacrifice for us. I wouldn't have to carry it. I wouldn't have to try to strive to be like, I'm not being enough. But the truth is, he's more than enough. And I think the book does a good job of focusing on that. We can lay it all at his feet. Can cast our cares on him. He's willing to. Not something like, oh, I have to pick up this mess again, oh my gosh, but he's willing and more than happy to do so. And that's his heart, and that's the heart of awards. So that was a really good book for me recently. So yeah, that's a good read.

Valerie - Very neat. I like the message that you walked away with, and you know, just we want to put, you know, kind of like in your art, you personified God and these human elements because we are made in his image, but we often forget that he's not human. So, he is beyond; he is eternal. He's not gonna get, you know, not gonna give up on us. He's not gonna get so frustrated with us that he walks away, which is kind of in our humanness and I love that it shows us just how big, how amazing God is and just like your book that talking about the galaxies and the stars and just you get to see this never-ending galaxy is just again something in God's hand it's something so small to him but it is so big so I love that. But what can we expect next from the two of you? David, how about you?

David -Yeah, Lael has just been such a pleasure to work with and such a talented artist that I had to come up with something else to work with her on. We're working on another project now called The Lamb Loved First. And it's a similar style to In the Beginning Gone Smiled. It's poetry, and it's allegorical in the sense that the Lamb represents Christ. I mean, I'm biased, there have been times where I'm just thinking about Christ and reading this book and just completely in awe of what Lael said, that he carries our burdens and he seeks us out while we're still enemies. And so excited to be working on this, and I think it's gonna be great.

Valerie - That sounds very exciting. Lael, are you good at sheep?

Lael - Am I good at sheep? Well, I have, that's the thing. I'm working on, you know, researching sheep and lambs and all that. I enjoy that stuff. So let's, I have a ball doing that, but yes, you will see some lovely looking sheep in this book for sure.

Valerie - Do you like all Disney and go to the farm and research that way, or are you more image-driven?

Lael - Um, yeah, more image drawn. We only have so many locations around where we are, but, uh, I mean, my in-laws have the little farm, but no sheep, unfortunately. But, um, yeah, so I have to stick to videos online and images. So, but that's fine.

Valerie - There are some pretty cute videos out there of sheep and lambs bouncing around. Well, I'm excited to see more of that project as you guys release more about that. Where can people find out more about you, David, in your books, and Lael, in your drawings?

David - Yeah, so I created just a little webpage that showcases the book, and then it will be a place where we post about the new book, The Lamb Loved First. The website is called divinerhymepublishing.com. Yeah, and I post the full video, a recorded video of the book, so people can go and see the whole book and see if it's something that they want to purchase.

Lael - Yeah. So, as of right now, I'm not too active on social media, but I do have Instagram. Can follow me at Lael’s underscore creations. I usually post on there when I have the time, but if you want to look at my portfolio, most of my recent stuff is on there. I have a Facebook account as well. It's Lael Brinkley's artwork slash missions. And then on my portfolio website, it's LaelBrinkley.myportfolio.com. Can get a more organized look at all my content on there, from my illustrations to character design, prop design, and more about myself, my bio, storyboards, and even. But yeah, you can reach me in those. I do have a YouTube page too. It's been a long time since I've posted anything, but if you want to subscribe to my channel as well, I'd appreciate that too. But you know, no pressure.

Valerie - I'll make sure to have all those links in the descriptions of the video here, so that people can find you guys easily. Thank you so much for joining me today.

David - Thank you. It was our pleasure.

Lael - Yes, thank you so much.

Valerie - And thank you for joining David, Lael, and me on this episode of the Bookworthy Podcast. Check the show notes for any books or links that we discussed, and let us know in the comments, would you rather have a rewind button or a fast-forward button in your life? Be sure to like and subscribe so we can discover more great books together.

Happy reading.