I have been a published author since 2010. Let me tell you, this author gig is a tough business. If you don’t already have a “stage” in this world… or a long list of capitalized initials behind or in front of your name… your books just kind of sit in a box in your office.
I remember when my daughter was in public school and she was telling one of her teachers about my first book and the teacher said she wanted her to bring her one… when my daughter did and told her what she owed for the book, the woman told her she didn’t want it. My daughter handed the book back to me and was in tears as she told me of the encounter…
I am just a woman from a small town who married young and started out marriage with a family who fell in love with Jesus Christ and His Word… and was given as a gift of the Spirit of God the ability to teach and speak the Scriptures. Trust me it’s not me… it’s all Him.
I have spent the last four years giving away as many books as I could afford to buy, because my heart for writing them was always to share the Word of God and tell of the amazing scarlet thread that flows from Genesis to Revelation and to teach others how the beautiful Gospel of Christ is woven into the Law of God.
Biblical literacy is my heart’s cry for all who profess the name of Christ…
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
Hosea 4:6
Now let me share with you how I was able to actually put these books into production…
When the Lord led me to write and submit Devotions From Genesis, It’s Not Just Ancient History my husband and I were barely making ends meat. The economy had plummeted and my husband had lost half his income (but not his job thanks to the amazing company that he works for) and I was a full time homeschooling momma. You can hear a little of that journey here: Money Matters.
When the Publishers sent in their acceptance of my manuscript, they also sent in the price tag it would cost for its publication. This price was not something my husband and I could afford.
So I resounded to be flattered by the acceptance and move on with our lives.
When my Daddy heard about my refusal to go forward due to the cost, he sat down and wrote me out a check to cover the publication and production cost. You see my parents believed in me and they believed that God had a plan for this book and this series. Had my Dad not helped me with Devotions From Genesis, Devotions From Exodus Part One, Learning to Live in Freedom, would never had happened.
My Daddy has always been there for me…
Yep there’s me in my high chair celebrating my Daddy’s birthday. I think anyway. There are too many candles on that cake for it to be mine 😉
And here he is getting ready to walk me down the aisle…
Now here’s where the enemy comes in…
Three weeks ago my Daddy was diagnosed with lung cancer. The cancer is in his rib, collar bone, lungs, lymph nodes, adrenal glands, and tailbone. As best that we can tell, the cancer has invaded every week point in my Daddy’s body. In my Daddy’s life he had several bouts with pneumonia, had been thrown out of the back of a truck as a child and broke his collar bone, he broke his tailbone while building our house, he pulled muscles in his chest at work, and also fractured a rib. The cancer has found all these places of weakness and has attacked.
Isn’t that just what that slippery serpent from the pits of hell does. He seeks out where we are weak and he waits in the darkness as he evaluates his perfect strategic attack on us… but though he attacks our weakness this is what we know that our God has said to us:
And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 12:9-11
My dad started treatments last week. So far there have not been many outward signs of the inward battle he is actively engaged in. However, today that changed. Today I received a text letting me know that the chemo was having its effect on my Daddy’s body.
So for those of you who see my Daddy on a regular basis… he will look a little different the next time you see him. As I shared this news with my husband he reminded me that my Daddy was in a battle… a real one… and in real battles we walk away with scars… and this was just a scar to show the evidence that my Daddy was indeed fighting.
Not only does this battle come with scars… it also comes with a price. Here is where you can help me if you will…
Do you remember that check that my Daddy wrote that allowed the door to this ministry to be open? Well, my contract states that if I sell a certain number of copies of my book, in either paperback or ebook, I receive a full refund of my author’s publication cost. I would love to be able to receive this refund so that I can return the money to my Daddy.
My Daddy has always given freely to his children and supported us in every way and never expected anything in return. I hope you can understand my heart’s desire to be able to do this for him.
Will you help me?
If you already have purchased the books I need as many reviews as possible up on Amazon. I have asked for this many times, and now you know why… it has never been so that I could get my own show on TBN… or make the best sellers list. I have always just wanted to share the Word of God and to sell at least enough books to give back what was given to me… its a validation of sorts.
So if you could please leave a review here, Devotions From Genesis and/or here, Devotions from Exodus Part One. I would be ever so grateful!
If nothing else, will you share this post?
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