Book Launch!

I didn’t start off writing a book; I started off by stepping out of the boat. Inspired by John Ortberg during a summer Bible study that was meeting in my home ten years ago, many of us launched out that summer.

At first, I thought I was going to change jobs, but that wasn’t it; instead, I began to study the Bible more intensely than I had ever studied God’s Word before. I researched and read and prayed and prayed and prayed. I listened. I learned. I shared what I learned. And as the years went by, I met many interesting women.

Some had names -- Miriam Rahab, Ruth, Tamar, Hannah – but many were known only by their occupation (prostitution!) or by their mistakes (bathing naked in public!) or by an affliction (hemorrhaging that would not cease).

One was a worship leader. One was desperate for a child.

One slept with her father-in-law. One lived with her mother-in-law.

Several shared the same husband.

They were rejected women and lonely women and women living with regrets.

Some were desperate. Many were searching. Others were exhausted. All wanted peace.

As diverse as the flowers across Texas in the springtime, each woman beckoned me to pay attention. Each carried a unique fragrance that reminded me that God is at work even when we can’t sense that He is.  

And all were worthy of reflection.  

And then after five years, I realized I had a book of stories that were similar to the lives of the women I saw everywhere -- in the grocery store and in the church congregation, in restaurants and in Bible study, at school and walking their dogs on the street.

And now after ten years, a book has been launched that shares the lives of many of these women from the Old Testament and the New Testament; but it’s also a book that shares a special time that I spent with God, studying the lives of these women.

God and me. Together. Ten years. One project.

A long time in our earthly lives; not so long in eternity.

Jesus died for my sins. Mine. (And yours, too, of course!)

So even if one person reads my book and is moved to sense more of God, then the ten years I spent writing it would be worth it. Every minute.

And today, the paperback has been launched on amazon.com!

Like a Sweet Fragrance.

A decade of God and me.

Ten years ago I was inspired to step out of the boat. Today, I pray Like a Sweet Fragrance inspires you to look for God in whatever situation you might find yourself.

And then go do what God made you to do – spread the sweet fragrance of Jesus throughout the world wherever you go.

“But thanks be to God!

For in union with Christ we are always led by God as prisoners in Christ’s victory procession.

God uses us to make the knowledge about Christ spread everywhere like a sweet fragrance!”

(2 Corinthians 2:14 GNT).

Snickers, Ghirardelli Milk & Caramel Squares, and Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Frosting (Writing Lists #3)

I love to read, and I have an eclectic list of writers who are on my on-call list, authors I depend on to “do it for me” and keep me entertained and interested, yet challenged and inspired, writers like CS Lewis, Mark Buchanan, Frank Peretti, Frederick Buechner, Anne Lamott, and then there’s Robert Parker when I want a quick fiction fix with fast dialogue. Most writers I enjoy reading are a strange and wonderful menagerie, willing to open their veins and bleed, risking humiliation for the sake of honesty. I learn from them and ponder their thoughts, I acquiesce with some and are inflamed by others, and they’ve influenced my life; however, it’s not the writers I read but the people I love and who love me -- my husband and children and family and good friends -- who impact me the most, for they are the ones with whom I’ve shared my life.

John Ortberg, another lovely writer with a free-flowing, extremely clear style says that God “can take what you have to offer and make a difference that matters for eternity.” The value of who we are doesn’t stop when our life on this earth does, and that’s another valid reason to write:  to leave behind a written legacy of an examined life, the life we’ve actually lived which isn’t necessarily a list of lessons learned, but a life of moments shared. And the beauty of writing is that we have control over what is seen for we have freedom to tear it up or chew it up or set it on fire or whatever we want, which is pretty awesome considering how little control we have over, well, almost anything!

Writing lists excavates the forgotten, nudging us to prod deeper than the surface, shoving aside the obvious and discovering the omnipresence of God in what was once a fleeting moment, an epiphany which is, by far, the icing on the cake.

And speaking of icing, food is a great go-to for generating a list. For example, we can list our favorite desserts or favorite ice cream or favorite fruits or favorite Mexican food restaurants or favorite comfort foods. We can list the weirdest foods we’ve ever eaten, the healthiest foods or the opposite! An endless list of possibilities, food-listing provides.

As we create those lists, forgotten memories will resurface.  Sometimes, one particular food will grab my attention, and other times I’ll meander until one emerges louder than the rest, but as I list, I’ve learned that’s it more fun to let go, allowing the writer in me to roam for that’s where the surprises are. At times, that discovery is a delicious detail; at times it’s harder to chew. Regardless, it’s the flavor of my life. The bitter and the sweet and the sour and the salty.

For example, today I’m going to list my favorite chocolate treats, mainly because I haven’t had any sugar in awhile except for Dove dark chocolate, which is another story…

I really like…

1. Snickers
2. Ghirardelli Milk & Caramel Squares
3. Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Frosting in a can
4. Aunt Ruthie’s caramel chocolate brownies
5. Blue Bell Triple Chocolate Ice Cream
6. A Hershey chocolate bar – plain, no nuts
7. Smucker’s Hot Fudge Topping on Blue Bell vanilla ice cream
8. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
9. Hot Toll House Chocolate Chunk Cookies  

And now, instead of choosing one, I’m going to sample several just like I do when Ian brings me Valentine candy, nibbling one piece, then putting it back in the box before finally discovering the candy I want to eat. And if I need help, I might ask myself:

1. When was the last time I ate it?
2. Do I like eating it alone or with someone?
3. Do I woof it down or suck on it or nibble a bit at a time?
4. How much of it can I put in my mouth at one time?
5. How much can I eat before I want to stop?
6. Do I like to drink something when I eat it? If so, what?  
7. Does writing about chocolate make me want to eat it – duh?!

And then as I meander through the chocolate maze, I’ll eventually tumble into a moment to savor, not just the Lucy moments that make us laugh, but the difficult and dirty ones, too. And in that smorgasbord of memories, moments that have made up my life will reveal themselves -- my sister licking her Snickers and snickering at me since I had long devoured mine. Scraping the icing off the entire chocolate cake and hearing my mom’s furious screeching. Going downstairs in the middle of the night and scooping dark chocolate Duncan Hines frosting out of the can with a cold metal spoon, a furtive activity that would have kicked me off The Biggest Loser!

Yet for all the sweet memories, there are others, too, not so sweet but meaningful and important and valuable, moments for me to chew on first and share later. Or not. For now, it’s enough that I bravely face them alone, asking questions and contemplating the answers. For example, when did food become such an issue anyway? When did I cross the line between enjoying it and then worrying about it? How old was I when I began feeling guilty about eating?

These questions are worth contemplating, for they matter to me; to anyone else, who knows? But if I’m inspired to write them, I will, bleeding and crying and coming to terms at times with thoughts once unuttered and actions not understood.

I asked my freshman students the other day, “What goes at the end of your introductory paragraph?” One young girl responded, “A period!”   I was expecting the logical answer, “a thesis statement,” but what I got was the literal, an answer I’ve continued to ponder. Because she’s exactly right. Sometimes you have to stop, put a period at the end of that part of your life, and then get on to the next thing. And for me, the therapy of writing, the praying to God, and the finding of peace is yet one more way I see God’s active involvement in my life.   

And the icing on the cake is that it might help someone else, too. For the fragrant legacy of our lives doesn’t end when we leave this earth. Maybe one day I’ll have a young granddaughter struggling with food issues and she’ll read about the time her grandmother once ate a gallon of Blue Bell ice cream or woke up with a dead peanut butter sandwich on her pillow or had to weigh in each week on a platform scale before her drill team peers. And maybe knowing my struggles, she will benefit from the ponderings of my heart for God can take anything and use it for his glory. Even chocolate!

Snickers, Ghirardelli, and Duncan Hines – oh my! Follow the chocolate dessert road, and you might be surprised where it goes!