It's here! "Grace Found Me" (365 Thoughts for Busy Women), my latest book, has been delivered—exactly nine long months from the day the manuscript was completed.
A writer is like a mother-in-waiting, praying for the day the stork flies down to bring in the baby.
What's the book about? The Author's Note explains it all:
"Grace found Me" feels like my own faith journey. In it are 365 personal musings, thoughts, and conversations with family, friends, acquaintances and people along the path on which I tread. It seems so personal that it might have been the journal of my adventures over the years.
I resisted writing a devotional for busy women because I thought I lacked insight to inspire others. But as I read the Word and wrote each page, I realized I have traveled long and far on the frenzied road of life, negotiating through and overcoming a series of potholes, crossroads, and detours. These obstacles shaped my spirit and steeled my resolve to slog on. Maybe I have some, or enough, insight after all.
With my every step, grace didn't show up. It swallowed me whole, like a bottomless, refreshing river, spilling over and seeping through cement, steel, and every conceivable surface, trying to also find other travelers in similar straits.
I was once a young, busy career person slash mother who didn’t know which among her hundred chores she had to do first, and for how long, before she moved to the next one.
Today, I am still a mother, but no longer a career person (defined as being in a paid workforce); the children whom I am to nurture no longer need cushioning. They have grown up well, despite my fumbling, play-it-by-ear mothering.
Roles are reversed. Now these punks who couldn’t have survived mumps and measles without a doting mom think they have every right to tell me what to do.
This is the state in which I am, and so before I started writing this book, I had to stretch my mind to way back—okay, way, way back. I invited a dozen Christian ladies, some unmarried and some with young children from around the neighborhood, for a chat. This is called Focus Group Discussion in the workplace, but I’d rather call it my version of a kiddy activity called Show and Tell.
Over pizza and mineral water, each one graphically described to me her full plate, and how so much, too much, is still expected of her. Then I also sought out the wisdom of older women (intercept interview, it was called), how they remained on their feet.
And it all came back! My tears, my fears, how my life came apart and how it came together, how I repeatedly died and lived again. When things overwhelmed and I got lost, grace found me—in time, just in time, giving me direction, protection, and conviction to renew my mind.
Grace is easy to find. Rather it easily finds you—but only when you allow yourself to welcome and be embraced by it. Grace is free, but it is something we can only find in God that we cannot find in ourselves. And the good news is, we need not buy or earn it; because we could never, ever, afford nor merit it on our own. But the bad news is, we can't proceed with our life journey without it.
These reflections hope to make you realize that you are not alone. You are traversing the route to our eternal home with fellow pilgrims. Every day, you will find here a conversation in which you had or will have a part, or which you have heard or will hear behind a wall. And in these reading moments, grace will find you.
You may want to give "Grace Found Me" as a gift to a fellow pilgrim this Christmas. Please check out the OMFLit Bookshop.
A writer is like a mother-in-waiting, praying for the day the stork flies down to bring in the baby.
What's the book about? The Author's Note explains it all:
"Grace found Me" feels like my own faith journey. In it are 365 personal musings, thoughts, and conversations with family, friends, acquaintances and people along the path on which I tread. It seems so personal that it might have been the journal of my adventures over the years.
I resisted writing a devotional for busy women because I thought I lacked insight to inspire others. But as I read the Word and wrote each page, I realized I have traveled long and far on the frenzied road of life, negotiating through and overcoming a series of potholes, crossroads, and detours. These obstacles shaped my spirit and steeled my resolve to slog on. Maybe I have some, or enough, insight after all.
With my every step, grace didn't show up. It swallowed me whole, like a bottomless, refreshing river, spilling over and seeping through cement, steel, and every conceivable surface, trying to also find other travelers in similar straits.
I was once a young, busy career person slash mother who didn’t know which among her hundred chores she had to do first, and for how long, before she moved to the next one.
Today, I am still a mother, but no longer a career person (defined as being in a paid workforce); the children whom I am to nurture no longer need cushioning. They have grown up well, despite my fumbling, play-it-by-ear mothering.
Roles are reversed. Now these punks who couldn’t have survived mumps and measles without a doting mom think they have every right to tell me what to do.
This is the state in which I am, and so before I started writing this book, I had to stretch my mind to way back—okay, way, way back. I invited a dozen Christian ladies, some unmarried and some with young children from around the neighborhood, for a chat. This is called Focus Group Discussion in the workplace, but I’d rather call it my version of a kiddy activity called Show and Tell.
Over pizza and mineral water, each one graphically described to me her full plate, and how so much, too much, is still expected of her. Then I also sought out the wisdom of older women (intercept interview, it was called), how they remained on their feet.
And it all came back! My tears, my fears, how my life came apart and how it came together, how I repeatedly died and lived again. When things overwhelmed and I got lost, grace found me—in time, just in time, giving me direction, protection, and conviction to renew my mind.
Grace is easy to find. Rather it easily finds you—but only when you allow yourself to welcome and be embraced by it. Grace is free, but it is something we can only find in God that we cannot find in ourselves. And the good news is, we need not buy or earn it; because we could never, ever, afford nor merit it on our own. But the bad news is, we can't proceed with our life journey without it.
These reflections hope to make you realize that you are not alone. You are traversing the route to our eternal home with fellow pilgrims. Every day, you will find here a conversation in which you had or will have a part, or which you have heard or will hear behind a wall. And in these reading moments, grace will find you.
You may want to give "Grace Found Me" as a gift to a fellow pilgrim this Christmas. Please check out the OMFLit Bookshop.
4 comments:
C O N G R A T U L A T I O N S, my Grace! Can't wait to read it!
amor,
mabelita
That was quick! Thank you, Mabelita!
Makipagragragsak kami amin kenka ditoy downunder. Remember Crossroads.
There is a special copy reserved for Crossroads.
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