Finding Blessing—Book Release!
Well, friends! You know what today is!! Release day for Finding Blessing!!! The crazy thing is that Finding Blessing has already had a release day . . . almost five years ago today (1815 days, if we wish to be exact!). So in one sense, this could be considered a re-release.
The problem was that this story-in-swaddling-clothes needed work. And when actual faults were muddled together with personal preferences and a few unnecessarily sharp words and judgments, the heartbroken author flung her manuscript in a drawer, confidence shattered, affections wounded, not even sure whether she could ever face this story and its memories again
At that point, the title seemed to me like a mockery.
But here we are—five years later, five years stronger, with a new iteration of Finding Blessing, and a new sense of purpose for the story that, after all, was my first flight into the realms of authorship.
Finding Blessing (Fellowship of Light, #1.5)
The snowflakes swirled in mesmerizing sequence, and the wind howled as it pressed against the side of the vehicle. Six members of the Hall and Matthews families sat in tense silence within. If only they could reach their destination safely!
Other winds than the present snow-laden blast had blown contrary to their plans during the week-and-a-half before Christmas. As the young friends organized a performance of “Good King Wenceslas,” difficulties swirled around them like the eddying winds of the snowstorm or the “cold wind’s wild lament” which had assailed the good king and his faithful page.
And when catastrophe threatened to bring all their plans crashing down, and a change of perspective gave them a new idea of the important things in life, they were left with a choice. Could they choose to follow in the steps of the noble king, or would the real lesson behind the story of Wenceslas be lost?
Beyond a Story
The amazing thing about life is that it doesn’t stop when we read “The end”. Sometimes, in the past few years, I’ve lamented that fact. Sometimes I’ve fought it and struggled with it, and resented it. It’s both the most agonizing and the most liberating realization.
Because when we go through an experience that ruins forever the past, and seems to ruin the future, we don’t just get to sit down in the ashes and live heartbrokenly ever after. Life keeps moving on.
And that’s where the BLESSING found ME.
I threw that crushed manuscript in a drawer (figuratively) and wrote other things with a vengeance. Other things that wouldn’t meet with the same criticism. I added two books to my series, and wrote numbers of other stories as well. Several times I tried to return to my broken little story, and every time the pain was too much. I couldn’t face it. I couldn’t get rid of the ringing voices in my mind telling me it wasn’t good enough. I couldn’t get rid of the throbbing in my heart telling me it wasn’t fair.
And then, one day, I could. I sat down, and I pulled out that old, tattered collection of conversations and characters, and I felt excitement instead of resentment. I saw the future instead of the past. And with renewed courage, I sat down and wrote Finding Blessing.
Finding Blessing—A Challenge
Why am I telling you all this, you ask? Because it’s a promise of hope for each one of us. A promise that when we dare to keep on living and growing out of our most hurtful defeats and our moments of believing the lie that we’re not good enough, the day does come when we can turn back to our tattered dreams and see the future instead of the past.
Today, I’m filled with gratitude to be able to introduce to you Finding Blessing—the fruit of a difficult journey, and, because of that journey, a constant reminder that it is indeed possible to “find blessing,” even when it lies hidden in the most difficult things we are called to go through.
Wherever in life you find yourself today, I want to challenge you to remember that life doesn’t stop when we read “The end”, and to believe in the blessing you haven’t yet found. If you keep walking in God’s ways, I promise you it will come in His own time!
To purchase Finding Blessing in paperback or kindle, click here.
And don’t forget to check out the other stops of our launch tour below!
Launch Tour Stops
November 22nd
Author Interview by Esther Jackson | The Lost Review of Odd Books
November 24th
Book Review by Esther Jackson | The Lost Review of Odd Books
November 27th
Book Review by Kylie Hunt | The Film Director’s Wife
Book Review by Katja Labonté | Old Fashioned Book Love
For more information about the series, see my launch post for A Desperate Experiment (Fellowship of Light, 0.5):
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