When we pray God's Word

Well, I haven't been pregnant anytime recently or given birth to any new children, but I did give birth to a new book, and I've ridden quite a roller coaster ride of emotions over the last month because of it. I guess you could call it post-book-launch-depression.

Launching a book is a lot of work in and of itself. Launching a book with a spiritual message is at least ten (or a hundred) times harder because the enemy is fighting you every step of the way. Taking away my precious kitties in the same month the book came out is just one of the ways that Satan attacked my family. Snowflake has been gone for almost a month, and Snowball has been gone for two weeks, and I still find myself in tears often because I miss them so much.

By the time the book finally launched on the 14th and then I hosted a book signing at church on the 23-24th, all my energy, excitement, and enthusiasm completely drained out of me. Despite the suggestion to keep up with the self-marketing for at least another week, I decided to unplug for awhile. Not sure if it was the wisest thing to do for the book launch, but emotionally, physically, and spiritually, I just needed to.

I'm so thankful for the wisdom I've gained from the more experienced authors in my writer's group so I could somewhat prepare myself for these emotions. It's true that you need to settle your worth with God long before throwing yourself out there into the book world. It doesn't matter how many people share your book, you will still notice the ones that don't. It doesn't matter how many great reviews you read about your book (you can read them here: http://www.amazon.com/Painful-Waiting-Leaning-Adoption-Surviving/product-reviews/1943004072/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=recent) because you will still wonder why there are not more. People can rave about how much they loved your book, but you will still feel the sting of people who won't even read it or acknowledge it.

Thankfully, God steered me away from that thinking and showed me this:

The night I found out Colombia denied our adoption petition, I spent the entire night pretty much on the floor in tears. I didn't know what to think, say, feel, or even pray. So I picked up my copy of Beth Moore's book, Praying God's Word, and I just prayed Scripture. I wrote this particular verse on a card and prayed it nearly every day for a year.

Now look at the mission behind Authenticity Book House (taken from their website), the company that God strategically and unexpectedly connected me with just as I finished writing the second book: 

• ABH selects authors with confirmed Christ-like character and ministry effectiveness.
• ABH publishes books based on validated kingdom contribution, not market potential.

Then I read this review, now almost seven years after that tearful night: 

When we pray God's Word, I think it's pretty evident that He answers in very specific ways.

Worth the wait

Here are just a few family pics (or should I say snapshots and selfies) that we've taken over the last few years with both Juan and Julian. Can't imagine life without either one of them.

 The day we met Julian

 Integration Day--we'd had Juan David for a week

(Our second summer with Julian)

If you're waiting on God for something, don't give up. 

A day to remember

Wishing a happy 14th birthday today to my sweet Colombian princess. 

I still pray for her daily, and I hope God allows our paths to cross again. I've asked for help so Juan can reconnect with her, but so far, our search has not led us anywhere.

We still celebrate her special day, though. Juan acted a little uncomfortable this time, but Julian appreciated it and likes knowing that we still celebrate both of them.

Guess what special delivery arrived, precisely on this special day? My books! I've already sold 3 of them, have had a few more requests, and I'll be set up to sell and sign them this weekend at church.
Looking forward to seeing how God uses these books.

I find it no coincidence that the book launched on Julian's birthday, and then the books arrived on their sister's birthday. 

Beauty from ashes. 

More tears today

R.I.P. to the most beautiful kitties ever. I will always miss you.

Snowflake and Snowball

Adopted in the summer of 2007

Passed away in April of 2016, within 13 days of each other

We will never know what actually happened to make you both so sick at the same time, but we know you died feeling loved and cherished.

Though I walk through the valley

Check out my guest blog post from yesterday on my friend's website: (This same post will appear on the ABH blog at the end of the month).

This is my story, and I'm sticking to it.

http://betheproof.org/legacyliving/though-i-walk-through-the-valley/

Together at last

My babies. 

I ordered books from a printer about two weeks ago so I could have them available as soon as possible.  The book order got delayed by a little over a week, so unfortunately the books are not here. However, when I noticed my book was already up on Amazon earlier this week, I ordered myself a copy. Hey, I wanted to make sure I was the first one to get my hands on it! It said it would arrive tomorrow, but thankfully it sat waiting in my mailbox for me by the time I got home today. I am keeping this copy for myself, but the next one I get my hands on is going straight to Julian. 

They sure do make a good pair. :)

I'd like to say that everything launched smoothly today, but alas, it did not all go as planned. Should I have expected differently, considering the nature of the story held within those books? The one main glitch we ran into had to do with a technological issue that prevented my book from being added to the link I attached to absolutely everything I used to launch the book:  all my Pinterest and Canva quotes, all the guest blog posts scheduled far in advance, even my own blog post today with all the quotes on it. 

ABH suggested I change the link to the Amazon link on all the quotes, blogs, etc., for the time being. When I realized how much work that might entail to change it all now and then change it back once it's on the website, I decided to just accept it as another way Satan is trying to work against me. The damage is done, I can't change it, it is what it is. 

First thing this morning, I gave the day over to God. This little glitch didn't surprise Him, and He allowed it. I will just hope that anyone truly interested in the book would have known enough to search on Amazon when they didn't find it attached to the ABH link I provided. 

I am so grateful for the beautiful reviews that are already posted. I believe they speak for themselves. I will post them on another blog post soon. 

(By the way, we touched base with Julian this morning and again this evening for his birthday, and he had a really great day in the company of good friends.)

Happy birthday, Julian!

I am wishing the happiest of birthdays to my oldest "son", the one I never adopted, but I love him the same. God gave him to me as a gift that I will cherish forever.

Julian, you changed my life forever. I pray for you every day, and I hope God lets us reunite again within the next couple of years. I am so glad you and Juan David are able to be a part of each other's lives still today, that  his adoption actually gave you back to each other rather than separate you. Happy birthday with lots of love.

Launch Day!!!!!!

It's finally here! 

I am so humbled to share my heart again on the pages of my second book. It's been a long, long journey--through the entire adoption experience and then through the publishing process to get our full story out there. 

If I had my way, the introvert in me would have quietly published this story completely on my own through Create Space and made it available to friends and family and a few blog readers. I see now that God had a much bigger plan for this book and this story, after leading me to a conference on self-publishing and sitting me right beside a couple with plans to start their own company to help new authors like me get their story out there as a form of ministry.

This entire experience is completely out of my comfort zone, and it's pretty exhausting for an introvert to self-market and build a platform. It's just as emotionally and psychologically exhausting to pour your heart out in such a public way. But now it's all poured out, and God is filling it back up with blessing after blessing.

Here are most of the quotes we shared via Pinterest and Canva from Painful Waiting. Some have the  ABH website on them, some don't. Feel free to save and share any of them on whatever social media you use, but please make sure you add a link to http://www.amazon.com/Painful-Waiting-Leaning-Adoption-Surviving-ebook/dp/B01E49V65A/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1. If you share them on Twitter or Instagram, use the hashtag #painfulwaitingbook. Slowly, but surely, I'm building my platform on Pinterest, Facebook, Google+,Twitter, and through guest blogging. I'm a bit slow in getting started with Instagram, mostly due to issues I had with my phone. I'll get there, though. :)

Not sure I did the greatest job with this one, but it's one of my favorite poems about starting each morning out right. It's the poem written on the side margin of this blog. 

Get your copy today at www.abhbooks.com/books!