How it all got started…
It started with an argument that led to two passions colliding.
I began writing my first Bible study because the question of what a godly woman looks like was something with which my sisters and I always struggled. Whether from the expectations and ideas the media tells us, society demands, or our insecurities pulling us, or even different churches having polarizing opinions, we always felt overwhelmed, never measuring up, defeated, frustrated, incomplete, and exhausted trying to be it all.
After hearing some ladies talk about Titus 2:5 and how they interpreted it I got so irritated at that scripture that I had to tell myself and to ask, "This is God's word, and if I have this strong of emotions against it one of two things need to happen. One, I need to humble myself and ask God to change my heart; and/or the interpretation I know, is wrong and I need to dig deeper."
I felt the Holy Spirit tell me to dig deeper, so I did. As I researched each word all the way to its root word, God taught me the deeper meaning of these words in my personal life through life lessons. Which is why this endeavor has taken about ten years to complete, the longer I chose to resist what God was trying to teach me the longer I would linger in that lesson till I fully understood it, as to be able to teach it.
With that, all the questions I ask and exercises I have the reader do I have done myself and asked/answered myself, and worked through first. I want you to know you aren't alone. If it brings the reader to tears, sorrow, pain that moves to healing relief, or even if it stirs up bitterness, frustration, fears, regret, or conviction, I have been there too. And we can move through them.
I want the reader to know they don't have to fight this battle alone and struggle through by themselves. We really have a host of sojourners going through similar struggles, questions, and doubts, but my hope is that with this study they may find the freedom that only God's Word can bring, and leave encouraged and confident, to walk boldly in their identity in Christ Jesus.
How it’s going…
The vision God has placed in my heart is still coming together, but ultimately it is to encourage and equip others that there is purpose in the pain, there is no past God can't redeem, and the power we have when we finally find our freedom and identity in Christ Jesus. Though I have a passion for writing encouragement to apply to everyday life, writing children’s Christmas books holds a special place in my heart.
A family tradition, of which we had many growing up, was getting a new Children’s Christmas book every year that our Grandpa would read on Christmas Day. Even as we got older, we kept the tradition. One year we couldn't find one that resonated with us and that year God inspired my first children’s Christmas book.
And after that, it started a spark and passion to write children's Christmas books that brought Christmas back to the true reason we celebrate but also keeping the wonder and awe that Christmas brings to life.
On my first mission trip to Africa, I will never forget, nor do I ever want to, the wonder and curiosity these kids had. They had so little yet saw life as full; full of wonder, full of fun, full of adventures to be had, full of things to be discovered and experienced to the fullest. This is what I hope my children’s books can ignite, wonder and curiosity in a child and may they never lose it.
