Update on My Self Publishing Journey!!

I naively thought I would “leisurely” do blog updates along my journey with the self publication of my book, Seeking the Light of God’s Comforter—When Challenges Dim Our View. 

As you will note, this is February, 2016 and the journey began mid November, 2015. Although there have been some breaks during the holiday season the intensity of this journey has left little energy to “leisurely” do more than exhale for some moments and catch my breath. That said, it is a fascinating journey. I have learned a lot. There are miles to go and more to learn.

After I signed my contract, I was assigned a Project Manager. All parts of this journey go directly to her so, wisely, files are kept in one place. My project manager lives in Ohio. We “met” and were instantly sharing prayer needs with each other as well as the professional essentials I needed to know at that beginning time.

She assigned me to a copyeditor, a woman who lives closer to me geographically and who I actually met the beginning of this month. In November she was finishing up another project and then turned to mine on December 1. We worked “online” one-on-one and she was a dream to work with. I learned so much, appreciated her input, and she was sensitive to mine when I needed to explain why I had done some particular parts of my text the way I did. She scrutinized every word, punctuation, grammar usage, and connected two sections for their coordinated identification. We worked in tandem, my checking over what she did, our coming to a consensus until we were totally in sync. By mid December, all was ready to be sent on to the Project Manager. That work is waiting to go on to formatting along with my 67 colored photos. I’ll explain the reason for the wait later. 

While my copyeditor was working on the texts, the graphic designer was working on readying my design of the book’s front cover. Her work was sent to me. With email exchanges and tweaks (all going to the designer through the Project Manager with my input going to the Project Manager to the designer), the front cover is ready. It will be picked up later when all the interiors of the book are set and approved. Then the graphic designer will work on the spine and back cover design.

January put the next steps on hold, but for good reasons. My Project Manager and her husband have recently welcomed, via adoption, a newborn baby - God’s gift to them after a 7 year wait and many disappointments. Understandably she/they are on maternity/paternity leave as we all rejoice and want to give them this priceless time.

My next literal steps will be to drive south an hour and a half from where I live and have time with the publisher to show her my compiled 3-ring binder where she will review my vision of the formatting of my entire manuscript (including the photos). I will take those 67 colored photos, now in the right format and pixel size, in a zip drive. I’ll hand that over to her! We will discuss what is possible and come to some conclusions. She is the one who will then communicate these needs to the Project Manager (off maternity leave and learning to REALLY multi-task). 

As there have been needed transitions in various positions at the Publishing Company, I chose not to walk into  those occurring during January. A date will soon be scheduled to take the drive south and get on with the next part of this process.

Originally it was thought the publication date would be February, 2016. Not so now. As I have been waiting for six years to be published, a few more months is not of concern as I always have been on God’s timeline. My guess is perhaps a book will be in my hands by April. 

Stay tuned and thanks for ALL your prayers.

I am using this time to tend to some preparation for marketing.

Here are some throw-back images from February of 2010.

I was away from home and using the time to try and figure out how to approach the four Introduction Sections in my book, as well as doing other edits. 

A handful of daffodils got me started. 

There is music in these waiting times. 

The blooms will emerge and oh, the beauty will be worth the wait. 

Click Here to listen a favored song that has kept me inspired along the roads of these years - the roads God and I have walked together while He sang his lyrics of promise.

xo Lynn

The Courage to Trust in God's Delays

And the Lord answered me:“Write the vision; make it plain upon tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seem slow, wait for it;  it will surely come, it will not delay” (Habakkuk 2:2-3).

Mid October I shared in a blog post that an opportunity for me to publish my devotional book, Seeking the Light of God’s Comforter, When Challenges Dim Our View, had come into my life. On November 17, I signed my book contract! Yes - it is all real now and progressing!

There were some major aspects of the book texts I felt a need to complete before signing my contract. There were  Acknowledgements (so many people to thank), an About the Author page (that was a challenge), and I still had a handful of personal property release permits to get so that my personal photos, taken on another person’s premises, could be published without any concern about liability. People who said they would endorse my book needed to be alerted that the time had finally come and then get their words to me. 

It has been an intense number of weeks but finally, I felt I could in good conscience, sign the contract with Redemption Press. I clicked the send icon, I heard from the publisher, the texts I sent are on their way to a copyeditor. I soon will meet my project manager whose name is Amber! She is bound to become a very important new person in my life and surely a friend! 

It was a significant day for me as one of my hopes, when an early retirement from teaching was necessary in 1992, was to write inspirational non-fiction. The hopes were that it would be published to be of value to others. I had begun another manuscript but a severe health set back in 2005 shoved that ambitious effort onto a shelf. What emerged out of that turn in my road was the invitation, 3 years later, to write devotionals for Rest Ministries, an online Christian site for those living with a chronic illness. The book to be published is a compilation of some of those writings. And a future goal is to get back to that original manuscript. 

As I have thought of the blessing God has brought with the signing of the contract to have the devotional book published, I’ve been led to look back on all the delays that were needed to get to His right time and place.

I was reminded, not only of the Habakkuk verse that heads this blog posting, but of an article I wrote that was published in 2006. I am posting that article below for surely it means a lot to me now and it may mean something to you if you are in a waiting time.

Living in the Questions

Nearly 20 years ago, I cut out a piece in a church bulletin and tucked it among other bits and pieces that have meaning to me inside my Bible. To the best of my recall, it was written by Chuck Swindoll. The paper upon which it is written is so small, there have been times I could not find it when purposefully looking for it.

“It is your future.

Don’t back into it.

Don’t grope into 

its mists blindfolded.

Put the hand of your faith 

into the Hand of God.

Get used to His voice.

He warns you of dangers 

and of strangers.

He leads you to experience 

His prepared future.

It does not disappoint.

There is always more

 for those 

who walk with Him.

He straightens question marks

 into exclamation points!”

Many questions about my future were present when I first read these thoughts. More erupted over the ensuing years including the continuing daily challenges with vertigo, cancer, follow-up treatment, and an early retirement from my teaching career. Somewhere along the trail of my life I got to thinking more deeply about the message this bulletin excerpt presented and I came to a conclusion that brought me encouraging perspective.

What could it mean to really live within the questions in my life? A question marks the spot of a seeking moment. It stops me. I want the right answer and I want it now! Often, I discover that the right answer requires a different timing than my insistent now. In such cases, all I can really do is wait.

I picture the literal configuration of a question mark with its curves and swirl. It actually is shaped like the outside of a human ear. What if I were to crawl right into a question mark? This would curl me into the fetal position, quietly waiting upon the Lord. I would need to depend upon him much as I had to during my own gestation time. When the answer is ready, the birthing takes place and reconfigures the  ?   Into an  !  . Right timing—God’s timing. Right answer—God’s answer.

My Bible and the various meaningful bits and pieces I have tucked inside it serve to remind me that there will always be questions—but eventually there will be answers. If I choose to live in the questions, curled up securely where I can listen for God’s voice and directions, I cannot wander far. I'll be near enough to hear his voice exclaim the answers when his time is right.

?   !   ?   !   ?   !   ?  !

photo: Lynn's desk

Trusting the Hands of the Potter to Transform His Clay

One of my devotionals was posted on the Rest Ministries’ website today and sent out via subscription. Most often when writing words of encouragement to others in a devotional, my intent is to focus on the message that God has helped me to discover as my challenges overwhelm me. 

A reader, who deals with the same challenges, wrote to me after a devotional of mine posted some months ago. She was grateful to have found another who knows how she feels and what she experiences, as I had been a bit more specific about my chronic condition. She told me that she appreciated my bringing “vestibular dysfunction” to the awareness of readers. It had me rethinking my focus - not for every devotional - but to state with more vulnerability what it is that God has helped me deal with for decades. 

Thus, the following devotional is for now, and for whoever may find a blessing in it, and perhaps a kindred soul on this life journey who understand because she/he is walking the same path.

To view the devotional as posted on the Rest Ministries’ website,

 click here.

There have been some beautiful responses that help me to know that others are now more aware of the writer behind the words and the One who is guiding me along His way. To share that is a blessing.

Trusting the Hands of the Potter to Transform His Clay

 “But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; 

so the potter formed it into another pot, 

shaping it as seemed best to him” (Jeremiah 18:4).

A friend told me years ago that she had never known anyone to be, so literally, on the Potter’s wheel as I am!

I have lived with vestibular dysfunction - constant dizziness, eruptions of internal spinning vertigo, related bouts with nausea and a striving to keep my balance - since March of 1983. The cause is unknown though doctors believe a virus hit my right inner ear as evidence of damage is there.

It hit in one instant, has refused to leave, and has defied all treatments. 

In early March, 2013, a differing form of vertigo hit, blindsiding me with its vengeance. 

Similar in debilitation, it has a differing trigger and was diagnosed as BPV ( benign positional vertigo). 

There is a therapy that has been successful for others in correcting this. I sought its help, praying for relief. The process is a nightmare putting one into a vertigo state in hopes that small crystals, flaked off and  lodged in a semi-circular canal of the labyrinth, where they do not belong, will return and stick in the part of the inner ear where they do. 

As I write this devotional, early April, I have chosen to stop the treatments as there has been no signs of improvement, no guarantee that any will emerge. My therapist is in agreement as she has witnessed the agony I was enduring, unlike  other patients of hers in the past. I am choosing to let the Potter work with me on his own.

In the context of this Jeremiah verse, the clay the potter was working with was flawed as Israel needed to repent of its ways and be reshaped

However, my vestibular system, though newly flawed, falls, more directly into the translation given in the New Century Version of this verse:

“He was using his hands to make a pot from clay, 

but something went wrong with it. 

So he used that clay to make another pot 

the way he wanted it to be”( Jeremiah 18:4 NCV).

God’s care in transforming each of us is personally designed for the clay that is “us”.  He alone can accomplish the transformation because He loves and knows his original design. 

Prayer

 Lord, I know I am safe in your caring hands although the transformation process is hard. Remaining still in spirit, if not body, I put my trust in You as You complete your work in me. Amen.

Jamie Zach is a talented potter who invited me  

to come to his studio and take photos of him at work at his wheel.

 Audrey Assad sings of the restlessness we each experience until we surrender to rest in the caring hands of the Lord. This is not easily done when we are being transformed on the Potter’s wheel but paradoxically, it is only in surrender that we can release the restlessness. May her song soothe you as you let its message come inward and settle you.

Click here to listen to the song.

Through the Fog . . . To the Music

Through the Fog . . . To the Music

This past summer, August 4th, was a sunshine bright, comfortably warm, blue skies day in the Seattle area. It was a day that lived up to the song lyrics: 

“The bluest skies you’ll ever see are in Seattle.” 

Ah, I was so excited! 

I had been waiting months for this day. I had set aside the date to drive downtown, an 18 mile distance from my home. It was important to arrive at 1p.m. which was when tickets went on sale to the public for a future concert in the gorgeous Benaroya Concert Hall.

 This concert was to feature trumpet virtuoso, Chris Botti, in appearance with the Seattle Symphony. 

Ah, again!

Chris Botti is such a favorite musical artist to millions internationally, but all I cared about is that he is a favorite of mine. I could have ordered tickets online but I preferred to deal with a live person at the box office who I knew would search out the best seats I could afford. Of course, I figured there would be a long line as Chris Botti is so popular. 

I arrived in record time, got a quick parking space in the concert hall garage, (free for folks purchasing tickets), found my way upstairs. and not one soul was in the lobby. But a wonderful clerk was at the box office! He had me set up in no time with a ticket for an exceptionally low fee. I would be sitting in the center section on the main floor, six rows from the stage. 

How could I let this joy-filled day in Seattle pass me by and not drive over to our city’s Pike Place Market Center, which was only 3 blocks from the concert hall?  Here, the aisles are filled with vendors selling:

 fresh produce,
 fresh seafood, 
craft items,
 all kinds of wares,
 and 
the most abundant 
array of fresh flowers.

 I am sure the flowers would fill up acres were they still growing in the fields. This section of the market is one feast for the eyes. 

It seemed that all Seattleites had found their way to the market this sunny day. It took 3 trips around a series of blocks to finally find a parking spot that would meet my needs. I did not plan to stay long, just long enough to buy some flowers to commemorate the joy of the day. 

Yes, a 30 minuted parking space was just the one for me! 

Photos were snapped, bouquets bought for a song of a price, and I was on my way back home exclaiming, 

“Oh, what a wonderful day,” 
and thanking God for all that had transpired.

That was August and the months rolled by. As I turned the calendar to the new year’s January pages,  January 17th was shining forth like a beacon!

Unlike the sunny skies of summer in Seattle, we were having cold weather, some rain, and the day before the concert date, unusual fog - low lying fog - and it was not expected to lift. 

With some anxiety, but more faith than anxiety, I anticipated the drive to the concert to be paved with the light of my anticipation, if not the bright light of the August summer day. I had 4 miles of road to drive from my home to reach the interstate freeway. I was open to common sense prevailing, as well.

The whole evening was quite an experience, on all levels. The roads were dry, the visibility driving to the concert was clear enough as the strong lights that bordered the freeway beamed down. Yes, fog was evident in their stream but not in the path of the road where I needed to see. It was early evening and the taillights of many cars also helped light the way.

I was reminded of a Scripture verse from Psalm 119:105a:

“By your words I can see where I’m going;
they throw a beam of light on my dark path” 
(The Message).

The desires set forth on that sunny summer day had found their fulfillment route opened. God calmed flickers of anxiety and nudged me to trust Him to clear the way! It meant seeking his music in spite of the fog. What a metaphor for our lives - at least for our lives with Him as our Guide.

His Light brought joy to my soul even with the fog evidenced, as I was safe inside the light, not the fog. It almost felt as if I was suspended in the scene and not doing the driving, although I was at the wheel.

It reminded me that when my life path is shrouded in fog, I need to listen for his guidance; to either wait, to cautiously walk a ways, or to know I can move ahead. He often brings songs during the dimmer times in my life. I know it is Him as my circumstances are scored in minor notes. I need his Presence to ward off any fears and to hear the song He has for me, the one He recored before all time. He knows each section of my life's road and when I will need a stronger touch from Him.

I would have missed a gorgeous evening, saturated in the beauty of those using their gifted musical talents to fill the hearts and souls of those present. I would have missed lively conversation with those who sat next to me and near me when there was an intermission break. All were experiencing joy!

The fog was heavier en route home at 10 p.m. and the roads less populated. Highway signs were barely visible until I was right to them. Once off the freeway, it was nearly eerie. But I knew the road. I knew the One at the wheel with me. I had the music of his Presence as well as the literal music from the evening filling me to the brim. It outshone any fog and will be a bright remembrance when other dim-filled times are present in my life.

It was not summer, but summertime was surely evident! 

The following song and artist were part of the Seattle evening.

Emmanuel

featuring Caroline Campbell 

in Warsaw “here” - in Seattle 1/17

Seasoned

Seasoned

But the land you are crossing the Jordan 

to take possession of 

is a land

 of mountains and valleys 

that drinks rain from heaven. 

It is a land the Lord your God cares for; 

the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it 

from the beginning of the year 

to its end

(Deuteronomy 11:11-12).

     On the first day of each new year, I read this Scripture passage. It is a reminder that another year has arrived which will hold seasons of days. It seems a new beginning, a fresh slate for hopes and dreams; promises fulfilled. I want to take possession of what God has for me and at the same time, I want what He has for me to be very very good!

In the days leading up to the new year, 

as I am in the boat crossing the Jordan 

and leaving the shoreline of the year past, 

I ponder the days of the old year. I extract its highlights and if possible, peruse my daily journal entries to be reminded of the cries of my heart and the joys of my heart that I recorded so I’d not forget them. 

Some of these times stand out without going back to their written remembrances. 

In recall, through the written words, 

in the moments that they occurred, 

when all was fresh in the unknowing of what was to come, 

in the wondering, 

in the despairing,

in the prayers typed out,

in Scriptures that brought hope,

in the rejoicing of times of delight,

I am grateful I took time to record the days.

Yes, there definitely were mountains and there definitely were valleys. There were also the days where life went on as is usual with the basic tasks that each of us need to accomplish.

 I came through them all! 

It is important to remember this reality because I will face joys and challenges in the year ahead. 

Knowing what lies behind, I garner up confidence walking into the unknowns of the new days to come. I will walk with the awareness of God’s faithfulness to me during all of my past days. 

He guided me then. 

He will guide me with the fresh steps I take 

if I choose to let him.

True, the Lord cares about the land and the year, but He cares about me more. 

His presence is steadfast. 

His eyes are continually on me. 

He desires me to cooperate with him. 

He accompanies me with his grace.

I need not dwell on each day of the whole new year. That would be overwhelming. God sees those days ahead. I release them into his hands. I commit to accepting his grace as I live out one day at a time. 

Will I discover it to be a mountain day

 or a valley day 

or somewhere in between? 

Maybe it will be a day comprised of all three!

As I read this Scripture, I know that I will have questions as some of my days emerge.

 That is alright. 

The seasons from my other years 

have helped me to recognize 

that my not- knowing is 

simply part of God’s all-knowing. 

He sees the land’s obstacles. 

      I trust and follow his lead. 

    I become a seasoned traveler by 

choosing to accept 

both the mountain and the valley days. 

Each nourishes me as I drink the rain from heaven,

God’s presence itself.

Prayer

 Lord, you are my constant comforter 

as I face the seasons of my life 

and the unknowns of each new day. 

Thank you for being 

my hope, 

my trust, 

and my guide 

as I treasure You in each moment.

Amen.

Mt. Baker

as viewed from 

Mt. Constitution

Orcas Island, Washington

Photo by Lynn