I blog on Facebook more often than I blog on my blog. This is another instance when I was “thinking out loud” and wrote my reflections on Facebook. Now I’ve decided to copy those thoughts to my blog. It all started like this a couple of days ago…
Most of the time, I really don’t think about my age, but I looked at the calendar today and started to think about turning 57 in a couple of weeks. Well, that sent me on a wild tangent. I started reflecting about a whole lot of things. I think I’m most reflective today simply because of the title of the book below on the left, For Such A Time As This that is coming out this month at the same time I’m turning 57. I am only a featured author in that book. There are 20 other contributing authors, so it’s most definitely not just about me.
This is the picture I posted on Facebook as I was reflecting on these 2 books.
A lot of people will make a statement and then say “for such a time as this”, but what does that really mean? At this stage in my life, I am convinced one thing it means to me personally is related to being an author…. A storyteller for such a time as this.
Not that I don’t want to be an author (now), but once upon a time, I really didn’t. NOT.AT.ALL! Like I’ve said before, this was God’s idea, not mine. I was reluctant, but after I surrendered MY will to become HIS will, I knew it was something divinely orchestrated that I was appointed to do. I am smart enough (better known as having enough faith) to know better than to try to convince God that he has given me something to do that I can’t handle.
So I started writing because that is what he gave me to do, certainly not because I felt equipped to do it. (He had to equip me too!) After all, I’m a nurse, not a writer. I used to be a computer programmer analyst too, but that’s another story.
Meanwhile in the midst of being an active “participant” in someone else’s anthology and coming along for the ride in promoting it and posting stuff all over social media and my website and blog about it, I am truly spending most of my time, every available minute that I can get a clear head, working on that other book above on the right, The Birthday Gift. If all goes as planned, I will re-launch the rebranded version on 12.01.2021, but right now my head is spinning.
As I think about what has changed in that book since I first released it in May, 2020 until what the bonus material will reveal in that same book this time around gives me justifiable reason to pause and reflect. I’m really writing The Birthday Gift for such a time as this. Now is the time, and it just so happens that I’m also part of the other book, aptly entitled For Such A Time As This.
I will be 56 when one comes out, and less than a month later, I will be 57 when the other comes out. Both really are for such a time as this, but for vastly different reasons. It just wasn’t supposed to happen until 2021…. because of the times in which we are living these days. The message in both truly are for such a time as this. So when you see me post about both books, please know this is NOT my idea, and it’s certainly NOT for me or about me. It’s something much greater for which I have no control over. The books are actually for the readers who will benefit from reading them… for such a time as this. They are for y’all, not me.
That was the gist of my Facebook post. I guess the older we get, the more reflective we become. It seems my reflections have been working overtime lately though. Perhaps you are even reflecting on some things in your life as you’re reading this.
I’ve blogged about both books before, so I hope you are excited about both of them coming out over the next 30 days. Just to give you a few more details in case you have not visited my website lately:
I’m actually rebranding The Birthday Gift, which is my first fictional work. It was originally released in May 2020 and will be relaunched in December 2021 with an upgraded cover and new features inside including a “behind the scenes” section of epic proportions. I’m the only author featured in the John 3:16 Global Placement Mission. As a storyteller, I have been commissioned to write a series of 5 fictional books for this project. The Birthday Gift is the first one.
While this appears to be an intriguing tale of heartbreak and hope, what this book as well as the 4 others that will be part of this book series all have in common is that they will deliver the gospel message found in John 3:16.
What really made me reflect is the role I’m playing in the other book though as a featured author. I only have a 1,000 word chapter in that book. There are 20 other co-authors who all have 2,500 word chapters. The author compiling all the stories asked me about being featured in the book. It’s title alone has opened up new doors and a new audience that I had not been able to reach yet. That makes it quite surreal to know this is happening at the same time I have begun working on my new 5-book series… which is truly for such a time as this, but that’s not the title of the series. The series is actually The Birthday Gift Book Series.
If you’d like more information about the anthology, you are welcome to tune in on Saturday, November 13 at 7:00 P.m. EST for our Book Launch Celebration. You will have the opportunity to hear from all 20 co-authors who will be sharing hope, wisdom, inspiration and a little about their chapters. Reserve your free virtual seat for the celebration here.
Visit my website for more information about this anthology and find out how you can order the paperback. You will get a free copy of my eBook, The Birthday Gift if you place your order by November 15th. Details are on my website here.
Now I’d like to pose a question to you. Is there anything in particular that you have been reflecting on lately that you would like to share in the comments? I’d love to hear from you and see what’s on your mind… for such a time as this.