Hello my dear readers! As I’m typing these words, it seems like this is a dream..a wonderful dream but one that can’t possibly be happening. But it is!

I shared with you several months ago that God was leading me to write a 40 day devotional for you and for me. For those of us that this blog was created for. Those of us who have forgotten how fierce and important we are to this world.

And for those of us who thought our story was over and for those who thought their story couldn’t be redeemed, I’m here to tell you, dear sister, that was a lie!

After the death of my husband Bud, I was sure that nothing good could come from all this pain, but God had other ideas. I believe that the Bible is true, so I have to believe that when God said He created us to do unbelievable things and that He had them planned from the foundation of the earth, then I have to believe that He knew when He would call Bud home after running his race. But He also knew that He would walk me through this devastation and give me the ability to do great things for Him.

I have to admit that it sometimes takes months before I have the strength to grab my laptop and start writing. But somehow God has spoken life and hope to me over the last several months and before I knew it, the book was completed! In fact the very last entry was made less than 2 weeks ago on a long walk up in the hills by my house. I named that one “Beauty for Ashes” and it was one of the most personal ones so far. But I’ll give you a sneak peek…God can turn your devastation into beauty; He can use that disappointment to bring you oil for gladness. In other words, He can do the miraculous.

A friend recently posted about an author named Brian Jones and his book “Second Guessing God: Hanging on When You Can’t See His Plan.” I wish I had read this book earlier on in my grief journey because one quote from the book transformed my mind and perspective in such a powerful way. The author recounted a story about a season in his life where he felt like He had lost his faith. He was describing to one of his mentors that he felt as if he was standing on the edge of the ocean and as the tide came crashing at his feet, the sand from underneath them was being washed away. His mentor said these words that changed the author and me and I am certain anyone who has ever read them.

He said, “Brian, when you feel like all the grains of sand have been pulled from under your feet, you’ll discover that you’re standing on a rock.”

I needed to hear those powerful words at just the moment that I read them and they have changed me forever. God is our solid rock; He is unchanging and unwavering. The photo above is me standing at the ocean’s edge in San Diego at our favorite beach. It was one of the places that I said goodbye to Bud. It was just a few months after he left this life and I remember thinking that nothing could ever put the pieces of my broken heart together again. But God..

I thought about the words from Brian’s book so often as I continued writing and something occurred to me. The author had no idea that his words would change my life. He was just writing from a place of vunerablity. Like me, he must have felt the Lord leading him to write his book but he never knew whether those words would matter to anyone but himself.

Honestly, that’s where I am right now. Will my words matter? Will they have an impact? Will some beautiful daughter of God read my book and find hope? That is my prayer and that is why I wrote even through the pain. I will pray over each of them as they go out into this world and pray that they make a difference!

If you’d like to join me on this new journey, subscribe and share my posts and the blog! I’ll be sharing with you as I walk through each step of the publishing journey.

It’s going to be exciting, dreamers! I hope this inspires you to dream again..