If you’ve been following me over the past month you know that I’ve had a pretty um…eventful?…month. On January 5th I decided to start writing on this blog again. What happened next is nothing short of a miracle. In four days I had over 6,000 hits and 1,600 people who signed up to receive emails from my blog. Four days. Since then the numbers have continued to climb and the response I have received has been absolutely astounding. ‘The Chair’ received 2,435 views in just one day! For a homemade blog written by a nobody, country girl who has no clue what she is doing…those numbers are CRAZY! I will never be able to say thank you enough to every one of you who chose to invite me and my craziness into your life. I know you had a choice and you still chose to stick with me. The tears are flowing just typing this…I truly am blown away and so very humbled.

Today I decided to return a phone call that I received two weeks ago. When I heard his voice on the answering machine I immediately thought…yeah, right. A publisher? Asking to speak to me? OK… So, I deleted it.

Then, I got at least one sometimes two e-mails a day from the same person over the past two weeks. All the while in the back of my mind I could hear God saying, “Call him back. Return the e-mail. Go for your dream. Just do it”. But, I didn’t. Every time I saw a new e-mail come through I immediately deleted it. The fact is I was terrified. Yes, I had shared some things with this publisher in the hopes of getting some kind of feedback. I had searched and searched the internet for a company that was Christian based and had a great reputation. But, that was about it. I don’t know one thing about Publishing…and honestly I just wanted to find out how it all worked and if there was a way to get my story out there.

Anyway, today I stared at the e-mail that came through and ran the test of “What Could Happen” in my mind. Finally, I decided that being a chicken would not get me where I wanted to be in life so I picked up the phone and called him back. After two hours of intense discussion (and lots of prayers!) I decided that I would just JUMP. So, that’s what I did. I jumped into a brand new world that I have no idea how to operate in, but I have an unbelievable sense of peace about and It. Is. CRAZY!

Turns out, I have a platform that apparently has the potential to be big. Gulp. Not only will they publish my book, they will market it for me, and he told me to be practicing my public speaking skills because I would be getting calls for that in the future as well. Yeah…I’m gonna need a brown bag to breathe into please….

All I know to say at this point is this: God can do AMAZING things if you just let Him. Two weeks after Greg died I sat down and wrote for 48 hours straight. What came out of that marathon writing session was a VERY raw, VERY emotionally charged, VERY sad story that I have since re-written six times. As this story has unfolded, I have been shown grace, mercy, and love beyond my wildest dreams. That’s God. Looking back I can see how He has lead me to each writing session and He has given me the words He wants me to say for each one. I can’t take any credit for any of this, all of the credit goes to God alone. The story that I have now is filled with lots of emotions, deep meaning, funny stories, romance, love, and hope.

My deepest desire is that through the telling of this story God gets the glory that He deserves. What He has done for me and my family over the years is mind-blowing and I could not be where I am today without His guidance in my life. This book is in the very beginning stages of editing, publishing, and cover design. I will be working with a whole team of people over the next couple of months to get the best version of my book out on the market as quickly as possible…. and by market I mean Amazon, Barnes & Nobel, Christian Bookstore Suppliers, American and International Author Trade shows, and all internet e-book markets….Yeah, I just re-read that for like the 200th time. I still can’t believe it!

In the meantime, I will continue to blog about my crazy life. Some days are great…and funny. Some days are sad…and terribly hard. My goal is to always just be real…and honest…and 100% me. Thank you for loving me and supporting me through your prayers and words of encouragement. I don’t know what God has in store, but I know that I am willing to jump into this new adventure and see! If you don’t listen to anything else I ever say, please listen to this: God wants to give you LIFE…and He wants you to live it ABUNDANTLY. The only way to do that is through Him alone, there is no other way. I am living proof of what God can do if you step back and let Him lead you.

Love to each and every one of you!

Em