The Writing

Whew! I've been writing like a mad woman lately!  The first chore of the morning is feeding the horses and, while they are eating, the morning devotional is composed, typed, and posted.  After morning chores, the work of the new book begins.  Well, new BOOKS.  It turns out I'm writing two books.  The first book is The Waiting:  When the answer to your prayer is delayed and your hope is gone.  I'm excited about this book.  I've taken some of the devotionals from Luke 8 (The Jairus series), added some extra devotionals, pulled out some nice quotes, and am steadily making a book.  It's 123 pages so far.  The second book is The Journey.  It will include the morning devotionals from Luke 9 as well as some personal commentary about my own faith walk.  It's harder writing.

My first book took nearly ten years in the preparing.  I've learned a lot since then.  The Advent book took 90+ days.  Well, maybe less than that.  It was insanely fast.  This time, I'm treasuring the effort, allowing God to direct the pace, and finding more peace in the work than I ever thought possible.

What I had forgotten is how much work is required besides writing.  I've spent the entire afternoon doing footnotes, but have thanked God steadily for how easy He made it.  All the footnotes are done and compliant with Chicago Manual of Style, which is a miracle in itself!  The formatting has begun and, after I have proofread the entire text about a jillion times, it will be converted to a PDF and sent to a printer.

I've also spent a little time this afternoon deciding about page size, internal paper weight, paper color, bindings, cover, and quantity of books to print.  There are quotes to compare and cover designs to choose.  The amazing thing about all these tasks is that God planted a great love for books in this little girl more than a half-century ago.  There has been tremendous joy in handling a beautifully made book and, believe it or not, years before I ever considered publishing, I spent hours reading (for fun) about fonts, type styles, and the selection of paper. God spent decades preparing me for the tasks He has given me today.

Those disciples we've been studying in the mornings were given power and authority as their only tools, yet had all they needed for the tasks given to them.  In the same way, God plants in us exactly what we need for the tasks He gives us.  I've been reminded of that truth all over again today, and it is thrilling, humbling, and very exciting. When the book is ready, I will be as glad as anyone, but the best part of all is the journey with our Lord while the work gets done.