Unexpectedly grateful heart part 17

Have I mentioned how excited I am about my new book? The Road to Bethlehem is a daily devotional and prayer guide based on the first two chapters of Luke. It was written originally for a group of parents who were praying for their children, and has been reformatted as a devotional guide. Sometimes I look at the insights and think, "How did I write that?  How did I even know that?" Of course, the answer is the same as always. It was the Still Small Voice that whispers in my heart. 

It's my first e-book and is available for Kindle on Amazon. You can expect to hear more about it later. 

What I'm especially excited about is that the paperback version of The Road to Bethlehem is now available. I have boxes of books ordered, but they are not scheduled to arrive for two more weeks. As you can imagine, I really want to see my book NOW! 

I hit upon a perfect solution. I ordered my book from Amazon, and got it with Amazon prime, so there was free shipping. This sounds really crazy but the boxes of books are purchased directly from my printer, and the book I ordered from Amazon is sort of purchased from myself. Of course, Amazon can't tell that, so I had to pay myself a royalty!  That's not too bad since the buyer is paying the seller and the buyer IS the seller, but is still a little surreal.  You can tell, I'm determined to get a book in my hands. 

I hurried home from work today, expecting to find my book. No package in the mailbox. No package on my doorstep. Thanks to Amazon, I could track my package. The craziest thing happened. My book was shipped to Memphis, then shipped out to Jackson MS!! They drove right past my house to take it to Jackson (hours away) so they can bring it back to me tomorrow! That does not seem sensible to me, especially when I want to see the book tonight.  

This is my first attempt at print on demand publishing, and it's very different.  My first book took what seemed like forever to finish. There were proofs to check and paper to touch, designs to modify and approve. This modern bookmaking is totally different and very amazing. Everything can be done online and adjusted instantly. It's extremely efficient, though not nearly as artistic. It moves very quickly. Before, when the book went to the printer, I knew for sure it looked like it wanted it to look. This time, I will find out how it looks when  it arrives. 

With my first book, the boxes that arrived were anticlimactic, because I already knew what it looked like. When that book arrives tomorrow, you can bet it will be very exciting! Here's the really hard thing about tomorrow, though. I have a meeting after work! I'm going to have to anticipate all through work, then anticipate some more. 

Anticipation. It's really nice, and adds considerable spice to the waiting. It's one of the things I am grateful for today. I'm grateful for surprises, anticipation, hopes and dreams fulfilled. I'm grateful to order instantly, ship overnight, and track packages. I'm grateful for the modern conveniences that make it so much easier for me to live this wonderfully rural, country-girl life of mine. 

What are you grateful for today? What makes your life easier? What do you enjoy? Don't forget the Source of every good and perfect gift, and be sure to say thank you to the One who makes it possible. 

Happy thanksgiving!

An early thanksgiving

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3:16, 17 NASB)

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; Sing praises to our God on the lyre, (Psalms 147:7 NASB)

Today is a day of thanksgiving and praise for me. We will get back to Luke tomorrow, but today is a wow day and I'm spending the day recognizing what God has done and thanking Him for it. 

After 46 days, the blog has had just a few shy of 5,000 views. (By the end of today, it will likely be over 5,000) God has done it. He's given me the words to write and has drawn people to the blog. The stories of lives that have been touched are just thrilling to me. If you haven't heard me say this yet, let me assure you that it has nothing to do with me (except as the typist/plow horse) and everything to do with God. 

Even more amazing to me is that 93 days ago, I wrote the first Luke devotional. In  those 93 days, an entire book has been written, formatted, reformatted several times due to computer glitches, and published as an ebook (a completely new format for me). Everything that was critical worked so smoothly, from obtaining ISBN's to LLCN's (the registration numbers books need) to learning the Kindle format to the upload. When the book was uploaded last night, I received a message back that said the number of misspelled words was zero! He equipped me and trained me and helped me, and He did it in record time. Just for comparison, my last book took ten years to complete. 

I'm later than usual with the post today, and I apologize. I was too excited to sleep last night, and my sister and I had to be up long before dawn to make it to the Charity Sale at Belk. She needed shoes for her son Ben's wedding and I needed a dress for it.  That's a praise all it's own, but a story for another day. 

I want you all to know how much I appreciate your prayers, your encouragement, your kindness. These last few weeks have been so very hard as I struggled to balance my medical practice, the farm, the blog, all my boards and committees, as well as life in general, with writing, editing, and formatting the book. I didn't think I could do it. Actually, I knew I couldn't. God, however, had a plan and He accomplished what He started. 

The Road to Bethlehem went live on Amazon as a Kindle book at 3am today. Please pray now that God will use it to accomplish all He intended. There are thousands, well probably millions, of parents who are broken hearted over the spiritual condition of their children. One of the key words for the book is prodigal so perhaps those parents will find it and get a fresh infusion of hope. There is a brief section at the end that speaks to the parents of prodigals and offers them the opportunity to pray for their children in the same way we have. I promised a dedicated website for parents of prodigals by Dec. 1, so your prayers are needed as I begin yet another whirlwind of work. 

Today, we are thanking God for His faithfulness and the hope He has given us. We are praying, as always, for our children, but today we are also praying for the parents of prodigals who are desperate for the hope that only God can give as well their children who are one bent knee from redemption.