And then, I Wrote a Book

“There’s a story there.  If only I could get my life together enough to write it…”

Just yesterday, my daughter reminded me that I had said those words last week; a comment about something I’d observed during a rare moment of clarity.  Rare because, honestly? Time lately has mostly just felt like a blur.

My life has changed so much over the past year; really probably the past year and a half.  There has been joy, and there has been loss.  Some things I thought would never change have sort of quietly faded away; while at the same time, others I never expected or imagined have entered or even re-entered the picture.  Very little of it has had anything to do with anything I ever planned.  But it’s all obviously what God has had planned for me. 

I probably have as many questions as I have answers right now.  And yet I know that, in it all, He has a plan, and that His plan is always good for those who love Him. 

And I do love and trust Him.  That doesn’t make handling upheaval and uncertainty seamless or even easy – but for me, it’s what makes it possible. 

Especially when I struggle with the feeling that, as I live my life reacting to the unplanned twists and turns that seem to fill so many of my days, I also lose little pieces of the things I had planned.  After a while, that can honestly begin to feel like losing little pieces of myself…

And when I find myself feeling that way, I think it’s very worthy of some thought and attention. 

Inevitably, that always leads me to remember one of my very favorite things C.S. Lewis ever said:

“The great thing, if one can, is to stop regarding all the unpleasant things as interruptions of one's 'own,' or 'real' life. The truth is of course that what one calls the interruptions are precisely one's real life -- the life God is sending one day by day.” 

…So, yes.  What if God really is giving me exactly what He’s always had for me.  What if the things that are fading away are things He never meant for me at all?  “What if” His plan really is, yet again, so much better than my own?  (Spoiler alert!  It always is!)  …Usually, receiving and fully embracing what He wants to give us does involve “losing” the parts of ourselves He would have us lay down…

One area where I have been struggling most when it comes to whether or not I’m doing what I’m called to do is with my writing.  Over time, writing has become so important to me, and something that – at least for now -  I do still feel in my heart is something that, somehow, God would have me do with my life and with what He has given me.

What has that looked like lately?  Have I been writing here and sharing the stories of my life and the lessons I’ve learned from them the way I originally intended to?  The way that, quite frankly, I really enjoy doing?  No.  For a long time, there simply has been no time for me to do that.  …But would you trust me when I say that the stories keep on happening and stacking up at a rate that even I sometimes can’t believe?  They do, and they are.  They’re just not making it to here.  At least for now. 

But that also does not mean I have not been writing.  Because I have.  Mostly things I once never would have imagined or planned to write – beginning with my dad’s obituary during the very first week of 2026.  From there, my writing this year has stayed more personal, including in and for the Bible study group I have led.  When I stop to think about it, I probably have written on just as many days as I have not – just not the things I “thought” I’d be writing at this point in my life. 

And that is precisely the thought at the heart of what prompted me to make the time to share something here – the way I “used to”, and honestly, the way I hope to – someday – start doing again:

I still have the hope and the dream in my heart to write a book one day.  In fact, the longer I live and the more stories that stack up, the more strongly I feel the pull to do that.  Somewhere in my documents I’ve actually started it, and I “think” I even know its title…

But, if it ever turns out that finishing it really is in God’s plan for my life, it will not, in fact, be my first book.  Because – much to even my own surprise – I’ve now already written that! 

Had my own plans not been as “interrupted” as they’ve been along the way, who knows if the book I have now written would always have the distinction of having been my first book?  I can’t know, but I’m beyond thankful that God has orchestrated it all exactly the way He has.  Because I love that my first book will always be exactly the one it is.   

And if it turns out I only ever write and leave behind one book, then I’m glad it’s this one.    

I never thought I’d write a children’s book, much less that I would write one for my very own granddaughter.  But, I did!  Inspired by my first year with our precious Oakleigh Rose, I wrote it as a gift to her on her first birthday.    

This book is for her.  I didn’t write it for publication.  But I do want to share at least a little bit of it here.  Because although the details of this little book are a personal message from me to Oakleigh, the true message behind it is universal. 

The earliest words a child hears matter.  For better or worse, they leave a lasting impact. 

That’s never truer than when it comes to the earliest things he or she hears about who they are; and about how and what they are.  I believe, with all my heart, that the earlier a child begins hearing how much and how deeply they are loved by God, the better.  That the sooner they learn in their hearts that He has created them on purpose and for a unique purpose, and that He will always lead them and show them how to live that out, the better off they will be. 

That message will be so different, in so many fundamentally important ways, than the ones they’ll hear from this world.  And they’ll start hearing those early.  All the more reason that they should begin hearing The Truth even earlier. 

It is never too early to begin planting the seeds that will grow into the roots that will sustain their lives. 

And in that way, I see that the message here is universal beyond just children or those of us in positions to teach and influence them:  We all need to know how much we are loved and valued by God.  And that it’s only in Him that we find our identity, our purpose, and real Truth.  Because we all live in a world that loves to tell us everything but…

When I stop and give that reality the thought and attention it deserves, I realize that – at least in this chapter of my life – there is no more important, no more lasting work I could do in this world.      

And that is something else I think we all need to know:  In a world where, increasingly, it feels like most everything is seen or even done to be seen – often, the most truly important work we will ever do is much quieter, much more personal, and much closer to home than we might think. 

…I’m doing my best at living the life God is sending me day by day.  I’m loving the people He has given me to love.  I am humbled by the privilege of the chance to make a lasting impact on them.  And if, only with His help, I ever manage to do that, I want it to be one that points them to Him. 

And who knows?  Maybe that’s exactly what He’s always meant for me to do. Maybe it’s all He’ll ever mean for me to do.  Maybe that’s as wide as He has ever meant my influence for Him to reach. 

If so, it’s not only enough – it’s far more than I could ever deserve.