From as early as fourth grade I knew I wanted to be a writer. I joined the newspaper staff at our school but what I really enjoyed was not so much writing news as much as I enjoyed the opportunities of expressing myself with the written word. I loved creative writing assignments and while other students writhed in anguish I cherished those times. It was my delight to read my short stories to our fifth grade class and see the listeners being drawn into my story mesmerized and shocked by the endings.
While I loved to write, I also had a fascination with reading books which I attribute to my grandmother’s love for reading. She always had a book in hand. She was the one who took me to get my first library card. I will never forget walking into that building and being overwhelmed by sheer volume of books. Shelf after shelf lined with books on every topic conceivable held me enthralled for hours on end.
I was less than ten back then and today my fascination with books has not changed. I love to write them and I love to read them. My heart thumps a little faster when I walk into a book store. I feel at home surrounded by books. It is the only time I enjoy shopping as peruse shelf after shelf. I seldom go anywhere that I do not have a book with me in case I find a little time to bury my nose is good read.
It is with great delight that I write to inform you that my latest book entitled Behold the Faithfulness of God is set to be released around the first of December. This has been a book in the works for the past eight years. It has been a labor of love as well as one of born out of travail and sorrow. I felt the Lord calling me to donate all the money made from this book to the FBC Paradise building fund as we seek to relocate our church.
Over the next several weeks and months I will be seeking to promote Behold the Faithfulness of God. I have a book signing scheduled in Lufkin early in December as well one in Paradise and at Valu-Right in Bridgeport. I have prayed through the writing phase of this book, prayed for God’s provision to publish it, and now I am praying through the distribution phase. I have asked God to use that book to impact lives and to encourage people who are living in difficult situations and doubting the faithfulness of God. This book was written from my own personal experiences of questioning God’s faithfulness in times of confusion, calls to persevere through trials, and finally to bask in my Father’s love for me and my family through His faithful answers to numerous prayers.
I covet three things from you. First, would you pray for God to use and distribute this book all over the world? I have pledged to the Lord that whether we sell 500, 5000, or 5,000,000 books that God gets all the money for the relocation of our church. I have asked God to show this book His favor and to open doors to promote it and get it in the hands of people. Second, if you know of places I can go and preach to make this book available, especially on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights, I will try to work them into my schedule. The promotion of this book is not about my name being in neon lights but it is about the expansion of God’s kingdom in the heart of every reader as well as the expansion of His kingdom in Paradise as our church continues to reach out to those without a relationship with Christ.
Finally, I ask you to pray with me as I near completion on two other books. One is a devotional book called Sitting with the Savior and the other is a book I have been working on for the past two years entitled Running Toward Risk. I need God’s inspiration and anointing to finish them and for God to open doors to publish these books as well. After that, I have some thirty other titles or ideas for additional books for the future. Only God can supply the energy, the discipline, and the time to write.
I do not fully understand why God birthed such a love affair in my heart for books. They are scattered throughout my house in little piles Brenda is constantly tidying up. I am in the middle of reading six or seven books currently and constantly looking for an opportunity to get lost in another good read. My office walls are lined with shelves with some 5,000 plus books. It pains my heart that I cannot get to all of them to crack them open and turn page after page while my eyes scan the flurry of words and lasso thought after thought.
I admit it. I am a bookaholic. I am addicted to reading and writing. I know there are more of you out there. I do hope you will get a copy of Behold the Faithfulness of God and if the Lord uses it in your life I hope you will recommend it by word of mouth to other avid readers or to some who are struggling through their life journey.
Father, thank you for books. Thank you for the many authors whom You have used to teach me and to impact my life. Thank you for a grandmother who instilled the love for books into my life at an early age. Thank you for the calling and the open doors to write for you. I pray you would use these books and others you call me to write for the expansion of your kingdom one book and one heart at a time.
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