“We Are Held” (My Very Last Book-Writing Retreat)

I’ve been “hoping to write a book someday” for twenty years. Although I still feel like a mid-20-something girl on the inside, I’m actually in my early 40s now, so that means I’ve spent my whole adult life hoping for a someday dream.

But not just hoping and dreaming.

I’ve been writing all this time, not to get noticed or offered a book deal, but because not writing would be like saying my name is not Christine - it’s just not possible. 

The book I’m almost finished writing for you is coming to fruition because I said an imperfect yet wholehearted “YES.”

I’ve never done this before.

A year ago, I didn’t have any idea how I was going to write an entire book.

Today, I look at my computer screen in the Scrivener app and see thousands of words that are true and authentic that have poured out of me.

As Andrew Peterson says in Adorning The Dark, I’ve tried “to use whatever gifts I’ve been given to tell the truth as beautifully as I can.”

It’s been tremendously hard work. A slog, some days. A fight. A reckoning. But it’s happening.

From where I sit today, I have no idea what it’ll look like to launch and promote my first book (!) a year from now. What I do know is that I’ll have what I need when I get there.

I hope what I’m sharing will help you, too, put feet to concrete dreams and take some steps forward in flickering moments of bravery. I hope it will help you, too, live a rich, nourishing life of purpose and community, right where you are.

There are a lot of things I don’t know. But after writing 64,907 words over the last year, fighting through doubt, fear, and unbelief, I can say this for sure:

While we may feel afraid and shaky at times, we are HELD and bolstered. We are stronger than we think we are. We have God’s strength pulsing through us.

More to come soon…

Much love,