Biblical Minimalism ~ The Book Is Published ~ All Glory to God!

"Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire comes, it is a tree of life."

Proverbs 13:12

(NKJV)

Hello, everyone!

I love the above verse, and it surely applies to the news I am sharing with you here today.  As many of you know, my family and I have been on a mission of minimizing our lives over the past few years, and the Lord laid it on my heart to write a book about it and include the many spiritual lessons He has taught us along the way.  

When I finished writing our family's story, we knew we needed a powerful cover for our book—one that would portray the compelling call of Jesus to follow Him wholeheartedly and without reserve.  I couldn't imagine what that would actually look like, until the day Zach called to me and said,  "Mama, you HAVE to see this picture I found online!"  I can hardly put into words the emotions that washed over me as I stood behind Zach staring at the computer screen.  It was my first time seeing Helen Thomas Robson's amazing photo, "My Friend."  I was so overwhelmed as I said, "That's it, Zach!  That is the exact epitome of everything I am trying to say in this book!"  

He and Kevin both agreed, and the quest was on to find out who took that photo.  After some searching online, I found Helen, and soon, we were on the phone talking like old friends.  I told her some of our story and how deeply her photo moved us.  I began to inquire about obtaining the rights to use her photo as our book cover, even though I was no where near ready to publish.  The book needed a thorough, professional edit, and the cost was inhibitive.  Helen, so graciously allowed me to use her photo as the banner of our Biblical Minimalism blog, and we agreed that I would call her back if and when the time ever came that the book would be published.

After a long waiting process, the Lord made a way, and the book was finally edited and recently prepared for publishing. I contacted Helen again and was able to secure usage rights for the book cover!!  Zach applied his amazing graphic design super skills, and he designed the cover so beautifully.  We could not be more pleased with the outcome! 

Here it is!

Last week, I completed the laborious task of publishing, and our book is now available for purchase—both in paperback and ebook form by clicking HERE!!

The other day, my dear husband came home from work, and as I met him at the door, I saw that he was holding something behind his back.  He had that little mischievous grin on his face, and I wondered what was going on.  Soon, he showed me.  In his hands, he held an envelope from Amazon, and I instantly knew what it was!  The "proof" copy of our book!  Kevin, Zach, and I stood by our kitchen counter to open it together.  It was quite an overwhelming feeling to stand there and hold in our hands the thing that, not only have I poured so much time and energy into over the past few years, but we have walked out together every single step side-by-side.  Soon, we prayed together, praising God for allowing this to come to fruition and dedicating this book to God.

I'll be honest.  When it came right down to the point of hitting that "publish my book" button, I was terrified.  If this were a ficional book, it wouldn't be nearly as hard to "put ourselves out there."  But, this is our story - so near and dear to our hearts - a story that we walk out and live every single day.  Things are revealed in this book that are deeply personal to us, and when I thought of hitting "publish," it felt like releasing something sacred to a world that is far too often unkind and unforgiving.  We are all three very private people which made this even more difficult.  But, GOD.  He kept dealing with my heart, showing me things like:

1.  We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.  (Revelation 12:11)
and
2.  The whole reason He has led us on this journey is to help others through sharing the lessons we have learned.  When we laid down our lives and consecrated to following Him with all our hearts, He accepted that sacrifice of surrender and led us in a path that would teach us what others need to hear.  To hold that in and refuse to share what God has taught us for the sake of protecting our privacy is rooted in pride.  I could feel, deep in my spirit, that it was time, and it was His ultimate will for us to move forward in this process.  You know how sometimes you just "know" something is God's will?

I am not going to say that I overcame fear to do this, but I am often reminded and comforted by Elizabeth Elliot's words,
"Sometimes when we are called to obey, the fear does not subside and we are expected to move against the fear. One must choose to do it afraid.”

By His grace alone, we did this afraid, and now it is done.

With the publication of this book, our family ministry has expanded.  It is exciting to us, yes, but is also requiring an enormous amount of faith!

Please join us in giving praise to God for making it all come together, for providing the finances needed, and for miraculously making this happen!

We are not in this to become rich, by any stretch of the imagination.  Our fervent desire is to further the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to get this book into the hands of every person who wants to read it, whether or not they can afford to purchase a copy. If you would like to support our ministry and purchase a copy (or multiple copies!) of our book (available in Kindle and Paperback format), just click HERE!

We have also added a "Donate" button option (located in the right sidebar of this blog) to enable those who feel led to make a one-time or recurring contribution.

To those of you who have so graciously agreed to be on our launch team, your books will be coming in the mail to you just as soon as possible.  Thank you for your patience!

Many, many thanks and blessings to all of you for being so loyal and encouraging to us on this amazing journey!  May God bless each one of you in a special way.