Last Friday Mommy made it back from her work trip to Nashville in time to help work the final day of your school’s book fair.
So in addition to all the books and other fun stuff you had already ended up with last week (basically like a small Christmas), you still had one more day to grab any items you just had to have.
The most interesting thing you came home with was, to my surprise, actually a book!
Of course, the name of the book is none other than “Where’s the Poo? Sticker Activity Book”.
Because yes, that is a real thing, and you now own it.
I can confidently say that in all my elementary school years, I never once encountered a book about poo… that also happened to be a fun activity book including “over 200 poop-tastic stickers!”
I spent most of 2023 writing a book about Enneagram, which I plan to have published in early 2024. During the process, I ended up unpacking a lot of personal issues I have been carrying with me. Specifically, one of the things I learned is that I have a lifelong habit of being very critical of myself, while assuming that everyone else is just as critical of me… which is not actually the case.
In the opening chapter of my upcoming Enneagram book, I began my paraphrasing the lyrics of this song:
I keep beating myself up over all the stupid stuff I did and said – You probably don’t remember it but I’ve carried this with me – I didn’t forget, even if you did – I keep beating myself up – Too much is never enough – I’ve still got one foot in the doorway – You may have moved on but I guess I stayed – I didn’t forget, even if you did – I’m going on an apology tour – Gonna make things right from my former life – Going on an apology tour – Gonna tell you I’m sorry – Better late than never – I’ll be coming to your town – Gonna turn this thing around – I’ll be knocking at your door – Gonna settle this thing for sure – On my upcoming apology tour – What if the only evidence of my crime is locked away in my mind? Perhaps a tree has fallen in the forest and I’m the only one who heard it – I didn’t forget, even if you did – Would it make me a better person if I convinced you I learned my lesson? Would you be able to see I’m a different me than the one who lived in less humility? I didn’t forget, even if you did
This month has been a big one. After you watched me work so hard over the past four months, I have now officially written my first book.
Of course, now we need to wait on the editing and publishing process.
Knowing how much you love drawing, coloring, and making artistic crafts, I suggested you write your own book.
I simply suggested the title to you: Bouncing Babies Jumping over the Rainbow.
You took care of the rest: the entire story as well as the illustrations.
I was so proud of you, as you read your story to me.
A few days later, you came home from school with a paper declaring, “My family is worth more than gold because they say that my drawings are very very good.”
I’ve already given you your next idea for a book: Bouncing Babies Meet the Ewoks.
Flash forward to last weekend, as our family was driving back from visiting my parents in Alabama. My wife sat in the passenger seat, reading Tracy’s book, Unstoppable God. Meanwhile, I drove up Monteagle Mountain with tears in my eyes; tears which I hid from my wife.
It is impossible to hear Tracy’s story and not be grateful. I think Unstoppable God is an instant cure for anyone is starting to feel jaded, asking the question, “Why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?”
Tracy’s book is, by default, the answer to that question.
To see Tracy with her wonderful family, you just would never guess what all she has been through. It is always inspiring to see a person choose to praise God during times others would question or curse God.
Unstoppable God is not a book about Tracy Goodwin. It is a book about how God worked through a person’s life who refused to give up on Him.
Like I always say, you have to either choose to victorious or you end up allowing yourself to become a victim.
Tracy chose to be victorious, through God’s divine intervention. Had she chosen to see herself as a victim, I don’t know that she would still be alive to tell her amazing story of overcoming impossible odds.
It is definitely one of my life goals to write a children’s book and eventually my own series.
Therefore, I am happy to see my friend of a decade, Ben Wilder, have his first book published. It is called, Big and Small, God Made Them All.
A couple of weeks ago, Ben visited my house and we made this video together to promote it:
Before the book was published, Ben asked me to write a quick synopsis for the back cover. I feel honored.
Here’s what I said:
“How do you begin to legitimately introduce the gospel to a young child? You present them with God’s creation of the universe. Then you explain that this same God loves them too. That is exactly what Ben Wilder has done here.”
In addition to being able to write an inviting children’s story through poetry, something else Ben did a great job of was finding the right illustrator; who happens to be Laura Watson. The pictures are very well matched for the story.
I am so proud of Ben’s new book. And… one lucky reader won their very own copy just from reading this blog post.
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