1. My first idea is to have either a daily or weekly devotional/group guide for possible churches or bible studies that want to read the book together. I think that The Shack is a very good guide on having a relationship with God and it helps to teach you why God may do some of the things that he does that you may not understand fully; for example why bad things happen to good people. The Shack can be very confusing to some people in how different it is from the average person’s stereotypes of God and Christianity, so having a group guide to discuss with others can be very helpful. The guide will go chapter by chapter through Mack’s life and will be able to help relate his life to the lives of the people who are reading the book. On page 92, Mack asks God “If you couldn’t take care of Missy, how can I trust you to take care of me?” I think this in some way is a question everyone struggles with, and through the use of the reading guide, people can possibly get that question answered by looking into their own lives and by looking into how Mack got that question answered.
2. My second idea is for wall decals or some kind of home decorating art with quotes from The Shack. This idea will mostly target families (especially mothers) and possibly teenagers. One example of a quote that could be used is from page 100 “A bird’s not defined by being grounded but by his ability to fly” The decals would most likely be black and written in calligraphy to make them aesthetically pleasing. This idea will not only appeal to those who have read The Shack, but also to people who have not read it. I think that this is due to the fact that the quotes are understood by anybody reading them and you don’t have to have any knowledge of the book to understand what the quote means. Also seeing the quote on their friend’s wall, they could possibly be intrigued to read the book. The quotes are also nice daily reminders of how you should live your day to day life.
3. This world is filled with chaos, disaster and sadness, and many of times the events that occur in your life are uncontrollable. With these uncontrollable events, many people experience grief and suffering due to loss of a loved one, divorce, or many other things. So one way that people can deal with these unfortunate events is through counseling or grief seminars. The Shack by William Paul Young is a fantastic story of a man being able to work through and deal with the murder of his daughter by rediscovering his relationship with God. On page 228 God tells Mack “Don’t ever discount tears. They can be healing waters and a stream of joy. Sometimes they are the best words the heart can speak.” By using things like these in seminars, The Shack can be used as a tool to those who may be experiencing the same things, and how they can overcome these events and start to move on with their lives. The Shack isn’t some fantasy novel about happy little events in a made up world, yes it may be fiction but the things that Mack has to go through in his life are certainly possible and maybe even real to some people. This book also helps to explain to people the grace and unconditional love that God has for everyone and the happiness that comes from a relationship with Him.
