It’s an amazing blessing. An exciting accomplishment.
The day of my book release did not, however, dawn with the supernatural beams of triumphant sunlight or trumpet announcements I was anticipating. I did not wake up and feel like a different person or see life in a new way. The world did not suddenly take notice of me.
Instead, I had diapers to change, breakfast to clean up, clothes to fold. I had to do my daughter’s hair and drive her to school. And I had to drop my 10-month-old foster son off with a woman who was going to take him to a state-mandated visit with his biological parents.
I’ll be honest…I was a little put out by all the un-specialness. It was supposed to be my big day! I was a published author now! Where were all the cupcakes and confetti?
It was when I pulled into the parking lot of the drop-off location and began to wrestle my foster son from his car-seat that I first started rethinking my day. This little boy with wispy blond hair had no idea my book had just released. He didn’t care how hard I’d worked or how badly, how desperately, I was hoping for success. All that mattered to him was that I would be there when he got back. When the visit was over.
And I was.
I drove him home just in time to pick my daughter up from school. I put him in bed for a nap, got her settled at the table to do homework, and started making dinner preparations.
By the end of the day, I was exhausted, as usual, but as I lay in bed, I found I was not done with the rethinking that had begun earlier. God brought to mind a passage from the Bible that says: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”
These verses are from 1 Timothy 6:17-19, NIV. I pondered the words: take hold of the life that is truly life. What is truly life? Real and true life? According to these verses, it’s not having my book published. It’s not achieving financial or critical success with my book. It doesn’t have anything to do with books at all.
No, according to 1 Timothy, real and true life happens when you put your trust in God, when you are rich in good deeds, and when you find your foundation in the hope of eternity rather than the fleeting nature of this life…or of book sales.
I am thankful for the blessing of becoming a published author. It is a tremendous thrill and I thank God for giving me this gift and granting me the opportunity. I thank God for all the little ways He directed my steps on this winding path. But realizing a lifelong dream is not what true life is all about, and I’m glad. Because if it was, what would I do now?
If you’re in the midst of pursuing a dream or a goal, keep going! Give it everything you’ve got and trust God with the results. He put that desire in your heart for a reason. But don’t lose sight of the life happening all around you…the life that is truly life.
Katie Powner is an award-winning author who lives in Montana…where cows still outnumber people. She is a two-time OCW Cascade Award and ACFW First Impressions Award winner, as well as a two-time ACFW Genesis Award finalist. Katie loves candy, Jesus, and red shoes (not necessarily in that order) and is a mom to the third power: biological, adoptive, and foster. The Sowing Season is her first book.
To learn more, please visit www.katiepowner.com.
Can an unlikely friendship give them the courage to start again?
Forced to sell the dairy farm he’s worked his entire life to make successful, Gerrit Laninga, now sixty-three, doesn’t know what to do with himself. He sacrificed everything for his cows–his time, his health, his family–with nothing to show for it but bitterness, regret, and two grown children who want nothing to do with him.
Fifteen-year-old Rae Walters is stricken with panic every time she climbs behind the wheel. But any failure, including not passing her driver’s test, jeopardizes The Plan–the detailed blueprint for high school and beyond that has her following in her lawyer father’s footsteps. Though she’s always been committed to The Plan, now that the pressure to succeed is building, doubts about whether she has what it takes begin to haunt her. What was supposed to unite her family in purpose could end up tearing it apart.
When their paths cross just as they each need a friend the most, Gerrit’s and Rae’s lives begin to change in unexpected ways. Can they discover together what really matters in life and learn it’s never too late for a second chance?
Website: www.katiepowner.com
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Twitter: https://twitter.com/katie_powner
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Sowing-Season-Katie-Powner/dp/0764237594/
Baker Publishing Group: http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/the-sowing-season/404780
What’s it like to realize a lifelong dream to have a book published? @katie_powner shares her experience! #writing #goals #Christianfiction
“Realizing a lifelong dream is not what true life is all about, and I’m glad.” – @katie_powner #writing #goals #Christianfiction
“Don’t lose sight of the life happening all around you…the life that is truly life.” – @katie_powner #writing #goals #Christianfiction
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I laugh at how your day played out because I felt similarly last November. While out doing life, mundane and ordinary tasks, I wondered, "What's the manual say for how I'm supposed to behave or feel?" After months of prep, was I missing something? It felt…disappointing. Still, you make a great point. The celebration of what God has done took place the moment I said yes to the call to write. The rest is, well, the rest.
I'm glad I'm not the only one, Mary! Yes, there is that feeling of disappointment…a feeling that comes anytime we put too much expectation on something temporal I think. You sum it up perfectly: the rest is, well, the rest! Thank you for commenting!
Katie,
I just published my first novel 2 weeks ago and I felt the same way. Instead of having little ones to care for, though, work was incredibly busy that day (and many days since!) Thanks for the reminder that life goes on, day by day, and it's in the little things we do for God each day that matter. Your book sounds intriguing!
Congratulations on your first novel, Karen! It really is a huge accomplishment, even when it feels like a letdown. I'm really learning that I'm glad these accomplishments don't satisfy our souls, because if they did then we wouldn't seek God for that. Thanks for your comment!
I love your gift of putting things into perspective, Katie. Thank you for another convicting and inspiring post! (And congrats on your dream come true, but, even more, on a life you're living well in service of the King.)
I appreciate you saying that, Jerusha. The perspective all comes from God, who keeps putting things in my life that cause me to remember what's important. I'm thankful He does!