the publishing journey

Been a long time dream...i mean a long time dream...to one day write and publish a book. I can trace it back to 4th grade with my teacher, ms. burnette. everyone had, i hope, a ms. burnette in your early years. she was an amazing teacher who saw things in me i could not see. she gave me my first journal and said "one day, you'll write a book." ms. burnette did not realize the seeds she was planting during those innocent, 4th grade days. (sidenote: i hope to one day see ms. burnette and thank her...that would be an awesome moment.)

over the years, i have always loved reading books and writing. melody will tell you that our garage is packed with books to fill the shelves. just always had a love for books and the impact they have on people's lives and on my life.

so, several years back I had written a devotional book on the psalms. it laid dormant for several years...used in a few settings, but not too much. last december, though, God clearly told me to go back and edit the writing. so, i took about 3 months to edit and get it together. then, spent some time working together a book proposal. finally, about 2 weeks ago, melody and i sent it off to about 15 publishers.

this past week, i have received 3 letters back. all of them rejection letters...but i have to say they were nicely written. all of them said that they were looking for other materials right now...like children's publications. so, even though it was a "no", i was still encouraged through them.

there is a local friend who is willing to help me self-publish, if we decide to go that route. so, we can atleast make them available through the ministry.

overall, though, I am real excited to actually be getting some letters back. I'm excited to see what God is going to do through all of this. the call to write is strong. i sense that God wants us to do more of this...to get the message of freedom and life out to people. excited to see what the next pages hold...