Jess Hymus-Gant
Every person experiences seasons that test their faith, resilience, and hope. Loss, uncertainty, grief, and unexpected change often leave us searching for meaning in difficult circumstances. In the latest PublishU podcast, author Jessica Hymus-Gant shares the deeply personal story behind her second book, Treasures from the Thin Place, revealing how ordinary moments can become extraordinary encounters with God.
Jessica's journey is one that resonates with readers looking for Christian encouragement, spiritual growth, and practical hope in everyday life. Her conversation explores not only the inspiration behind the book but also the emotional process of writing a memoir rooted in faith and personal experience.
Readers may already know Jessica from her first bestselling book, Moments in Mummydom, which drew on her experiences as a mother raising a large family. While that book focused on motherhood with fictional elements inspired by real life, Treasures from the Thin Place takes a very different approach.
This time, Jessica shares her own story.
Rather than creating fictionalised accounts, she opens the door to deeply personal experiences that shaped her faith over many years. It is a book about discovering God's faithfulness during seasons of heartbreak, healing, travel, loss, and unexpected blessings.
The result is a memoir that invites readers to reflect on their own spiritual journey while recognising that hope often appears in the most unexpected places.
The title of Jessica's book introduces a fascinating concept: the "thin place."
Traditionally, a thin place refers to a location where the distance between heaven and earth feels especially small—a place where God's presence seems more tangible.
However, Jessica offers an even deeper perspective.
While beautiful locations can certainly help us feel closer to God, she believes the true thin place is found within the human heart. It is the quiet space where we slow down enough to recognise God's voice and become aware of His presence.
In today's fast-moving world, filled with constant notifications, social media, and endless distractions, creating these moments of stillness has become increasingly important.
Whether it is walking through nature, tending a garden, sitting in silence, or simply making space for prayer, Jessica reminds readers that God continues to speak—we simply need to learn how to listen.
One of the most encouraging themes throughout the interview is Jessica's belief that God is relational.
Rather than limiting spiritual experiences to church services or extraordinary miracles, she explains that God often communicates through everyday moments. Throughout her life, she has experienced unexpected guidance, answered prayers, timely encounters, and moments of remarkable encouragement that became defining chapters in her story.
Importantly, she emphasises that these experiences are not reserved for a select few.
Her message is simple but powerful: every person can develop a closer relationship with God by intentionally making room to hear Him.
This perspective makes Treasures from the Thin Place accessible not only to mature Christians but also to readers searching for hope, purpose, or a renewed spiritual connection.
Writing personal stories is rarely easy.
Jessica explains that revisiting painful chapters of her life was far more emotionally demanding than she anticipated. As she wrote about experiences such as grief and the loss of her mother, she found herself reliving emotions she thought had already been processed.
In many ways, writing became a form of healing.
By revisiting journals she had kept over many years, Jessica was able to recognise patterns, see God's faithfulness with the benefit of hindsight, and better understand how different seasons had shaped her.
Her experience highlights something many memoir writers discover: writing is not simply about recording events. It is about making sense of life's journey and allowing difficult experiences to become stories that encourage others.
Although Jessica had already completed PublishU's Writing My Book programme for her first title, she chose to enrol again while writing Treasures from the Thin Place.
Her reason was refreshingly honest.
She recognised that accountability plays an essential role in her writing process.
Being surrounded by fellow writers, receiving encouragement, sharing progress, and having regular check-ins helped her remain committed to completing the manuscript. Like many authors, she found that competing responsibilities could easily distract her from writing without structured support.
Her experience serves as an important reminder that successful authors rarely write entirely alone. Community, encouragement, and accountability often make the difference between an unfinished manuscript and a published book.
Although Jessica's experiences are uniquely her own, the emotions she explores are universal.
Everyone experiences disappointment. Everyone encounters seasons of uncertainty. Everyone searches for hope during life's more difficult chapters.
Rather than presenting herself as someone with all the answers, Jessica simply shares how God met her throughout her own journey and gradually brought healing over time.
Her story reminds readers that healing is often a process rather than a single moment, and that even painful experiences can reveal unexpected treasures when viewed through the lens of faith.
For anyone facing grief, searching for purpose, or longing for a deeper relationship with God, Treasures from the Thin Place offers a thoughtful and encouraging reminder that God's presence is often closer than we realise.
Sometimes the greatest treasures are found not by escaping difficult circumstances, but by discovering that God has been walking beside us all along.
This article is based on an interview with Matt Bird, founder of PublishU, helping first-time and serial non-fiction authors to write, publish and market books worldwide.
Connect with Matt on Instagram 👉🏼 CLICK HERE or LinkedIn 👉🏼 CLICK HERE
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