To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
It's been a while since I posted anything on here. I've had a lot of things going on, not the least of which was finishing the publication process for my first book, Hazard at the Haunted House. Now that that particular task is finished, it seems that the time is right to get back to writing this blog, and I believe that book actually makes a good topic for a post.
You can read a little about the book and find purchasing links here if you're interested, but I won't spend too much time on that, because that's not the purpose of this post. Rather, I'd like to tell you a little bit about how the book came about and what it has meant in my personal life. You see, that book helped me to learn that there really is a time and a purpose for everything that happens in life.
"One day, I'm going to write a book." I can't tell you how many times I said that over a period of a decade or more. Let's just say that I wish I had a dollar for every time I said it. There were a couple of abortive attempts during that time, but I'm not sure how serious I really was about them. I think there were several reasons that it took so long before I decided to tackle the challenge. Honestly, I believe in one respect I was afraid of failure. That was a personal issue that I fought for a very long time, and have really only begun to overcome fairly recently. Be that as it may though, I think the primary reason was that, little known to me, it simply wasn't the right time.
I believe that the desire I had was a good one. I believe that there are few things in life that are worth more than a good book. I can relate to the Thomas Jefferson quote, "I cannot live without books." Books are an excellent way of sharing knowledge and understanding. However, I believe that for my book to be as edifying as it needed to be, there were some changes that had to be worked in my own heart.
I've spoken in the past on this blog of how I've experienced things that I never would have imagined I'd ever go through, and how those things have helped me more fully realize the grace and sufficiency of God. One of the things He used to bring me through the (so far) most devastating events of my life was writing. Just under two years ago, when I felt that I was near total despair, the idea of writing a book came back to my mind. This time, for better or worse, I was going to give it my best effort. It was finally time.
I say that it was time for two reasons. First, the time I begun my "career" as an author was the time that I needed it the most personally. At that time, it was edifying for me personally, and helped to rebuild my spirit from the pain it had recently suffered. Second, the trials that I was going through helped to turn my heart to the Lord in a way it had never done before. I was already saved, and had been for many years, but when I faced those trials, they drew me much closer to the Lord. A heart that is close to God is a heart much more able to do something edifying to others. And so it began. I started out with a very basic idea and started writing. Hazard at the Haunted House, a story about the importance of obedience and family, was the end result. Other books, which will hopefully be released in the future, followed.
That explains why I said that the book taught me about the timing of things, but briefly, I'd like to explain what it taught me about the purpose of things. If I had not gone through the heartbreak that I did two years ago, the book might have never been written, Now that it has been, it is my prayer that it will be a blessing in the lives of young people and that it will help them grow. If that happens, it will be something good that comes out of something very bad that happened.
You see, all things aren't necessarily good, but they work for good in the life of a child of God. If they draw that child closer to his Father's side, that's good. If they equip that child to better help and serve others, that's good. If my writing this book -- something that happened because of something bad happening -- helps others, that's good.
I certainly hope and pray that my book will help young people to learn something that will be good for them spiritually, but even if it doesn't, it has already taught its author a valuable lesson: God's timing is always right, and He has a purpose for everything.
Ecclesiastes 3:1
It's been a while since I posted anything on here. I've had a lot of things going on, not the least of which was finishing the publication process for my first book, Hazard at the Haunted House. Now that that particular task is finished, it seems that the time is right to get back to writing this blog, and I believe that book actually makes a good topic for a post.
You can read a little about the book and find purchasing links here if you're interested, but I won't spend too much time on that, because that's not the purpose of this post. Rather, I'd like to tell you a little bit about how the book came about and what it has meant in my personal life. You see, that book helped me to learn that there really is a time and a purpose for everything that happens in life.
"One day, I'm going to write a book." I can't tell you how many times I said that over a period of a decade or more. Let's just say that I wish I had a dollar for every time I said it. There were a couple of abortive attempts during that time, but I'm not sure how serious I really was about them. I think there were several reasons that it took so long before I decided to tackle the challenge. Honestly, I believe in one respect I was afraid of failure. That was a personal issue that I fought for a very long time, and have really only begun to overcome fairly recently. Be that as it may though, I think the primary reason was that, little known to me, it simply wasn't the right time.
I believe that the desire I had was a good one. I believe that there are few things in life that are worth more than a good book. I can relate to the Thomas Jefferson quote, "I cannot live without books." Books are an excellent way of sharing knowledge and understanding. However, I believe that for my book to be as edifying as it needed to be, there were some changes that had to be worked in my own heart.
I've spoken in the past on this blog of how I've experienced things that I never would have imagined I'd ever go through, and how those things have helped me more fully realize the grace and sufficiency of God. One of the things He used to bring me through the (so far) most devastating events of my life was writing. Just under two years ago, when I felt that I was near total despair, the idea of writing a book came back to my mind. This time, for better or worse, I was going to give it my best effort. It was finally time.
I say that it was time for two reasons. First, the time I begun my "career" as an author was the time that I needed it the most personally. At that time, it was edifying for me personally, and helped to rebuild my spirit from the pain it had recently suffered. Second, the trials that I was going through helped to turn my heart to the Lord in a way it had never done before. I was already saved, and had been for many years, but when I faced those trials, they drew me much closer to the Lord. A heart that is close to God is a heart much more able to do something edifying to others. And so it began. I started out with a very basic idea and started writing. Hazard at the Haunted House, a story about the importance of obedience and family, was the end result. Other books, which will hopefully be released in the future, followed.
That explains why I said that the book taught me about the timing of things, but briefly, I'd like to explain what it taught me about the purpose of things. If I had not gone through the heartbreak that I did two years ago, the book might have never been written, Now that it has been, it is my prayer that it will be a blessing in the lives of young people and that it will help them grow. If that happens, it will be something good that comes out of something very bad that happened.
You see, all things aren't necessarily good, but they work for good in the life of a child of God. If they draw that child closer to his Father's side, that's good. If they equip that child to better help and serve others, that's good. If my writing this book -- something that happened because of something bad happening -- helps others, that's good.
I certainly hope and pray that my book will help young people to learn something that will be good for them spiritually, but even if it doesn't, it has already taught its author a valuable lesson: God's timing is always right, and He has a purpose for everything.
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