Peter loved writing music, and would write a song every once in a while, but dedicating time to the craft just didn’t seem possible with the demands of small children and church planting. During the year that rocked the world, Peter and Grace’s world shook as well as they felt God calling them away from the church they planted. This shift created the margin that neither Grace nor Peter knew they needed. God started putting words on their hearts, and ideas for what might be next for them both. Throughout their marriage, they have always been partners. This partnership for much of their marriage meant cheering one another on in their endeavors both in employment and ministry. But 2020 shifted something in both their hearts; they realized their creative potential could be magnified if they worked together. Poems of grace was born in 2021 as a joint creative effort to utilize all of the unique ways that God has wired them to be poems of His grace.

Peter and Grace’s philosophy of creativity is this. We are made in the image of the Creator God who set us apart from the beginning of time to be living, breathing trophies of His incredible grace. Because we are made in His image, our creativity points back to Him—the crafting of a sermon, writing of a song, lighting in a photograph and strokes of a paintbrush are all incredible expressions of His Light, Love and Beauty, and we get to share it. We want every area of our life to declare the goodness and majesty of our Creator, and we want you to see it too. But we don’t just want you to watch us do it. We want you too to see yourself as His magnificent poem of grace with creative potential brimming beneath the surface of your heart. We want to encourage you to create for Him and live your life in such a way that others can’t help see the beauty too.

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Peter and Grace Assad are poems of grace, and so are you.

Creativity drew Peter and Grace together. Peter first saw Grace singing in a choir at his church at age 16, and Grace first saw Peter at a piano at Camp Iroquoina playing a song he wrote. Peter worked up the nerve to email Grace under the guise of wanting her to sing in a talent show with him, and the rest is history. Peter is a self-taught pianist and artist and classically trained vocalist—walking contradiction if you ask me. Grace grew up singing and writing—her original aspiration was to be a journalist before medicine and healthcare stole her heart. When they met, singing quickly gave them an excuse to deepen their friendship and nurture a budding romance.

They married in 2009, serenaded by a choir of Peter’s college friends masterfully singing a choral piece, “Snowflake,” written and composed by Peter. They settled in Kansas City, Missouri, and eagerly put down roots in the area. Peter pursued music and pastoral ministry in 2010, and Grace started her career as a NICU nurse at a local children’s hospital in 2012. They began their greatest creative work—parenting—in 2013 and added three beautiful image-bearers into the family over the next five years. All the while, creativity was simmering under the surface.

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Why poems of grace?

“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, [...] But God...made us alive together with Christ. [...] For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:1, 4, 8-10 ESV

The story of God is a phenomenal one—from Genesis to Revelation, from beginning of time to present day 2021. God is a remarkable storyteller, and these verses in Paul’s letter to the Christians in ancient Ephesus sum up God’s remarkable story for mankind succinctly and poignantly. We were spiritually dead—without breath or hope in life—and now we have abundant life and freedom through His immeasurable grace. Paul then goes on to describe us as God’s “workmanship.” In the original Greek language, this word is translated from the word "poiema" (from which we derive our english word "poem") and conveys the idea of being a masterpiece or trophy on display. We are God’s living, breathing, walking, talking trophies of His majestic grace. When God’s grace is embraced, His remarkable story collides with our own and we can now walk as living masterpieces of His phenomenal work. God then uses every available resource that you possess as a declaration of His love for you and those around you. Your very life becomes a testament of His extravagant work, and His grace can reach as far as your abilities will take you—and beyond because He gives you His Spirit to help!

Peter and Grace’s stories have collided with the story of the God of the universe. They want to use every available resource at their disposal to magnify His incredible grace. Whether it is through storytelling, songwriting, sermon crafting, painting or singing, they want to help you see this incredible story of betrayal and forgiveness, unfaithfulness and steadfast love, utter despair and eternal hope. Spend some time with us here and see how God’s story draws you in and compels you to look for the beauty that is everywhere around us. Thank you for taking time to sit with us here and look upon God’s beauty.