His Light On Our Path, Publishing Update
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His Light on Our Path … Publishing Update
A couple of weeks ago, my phone flashed with the name of my good friend, Heather, scrolling across the top.
Good time for a break, I thought.
“L O R I …!” …. “L O R I …!,” Heather groaned in a pained voice.
Oh, no! I wondered what had happened.
“What? What is it, Heather?”
“I just read your blog. About your book. Tears are coming to my eyes. I’m SO SORRY.”
“Oh,” I laughed. “It’s ok. I’m fine!”
Catching up with her email it had been a week or two since sharing my disappointment about my book proposal being rejected by my favorite publisher.
I hadn’t realized I had left you hanging, going on my jolly way forward in the Lord’s abundant new provision without passing on any new information to you! My publishing journey has proved God’s faithfulness once again. His mercies and strength were there for me in the morning.
It wasn’t long after receiving the disappointing publisher’s email that new joy filled the cracks and crevices of my heart again. A few days later I could see his light shining on the next steps he was guiding me to take.
Enjoying a spiritual direction session with Beth Booram at Fall Creek Abbey, on a delightful Abba Sisters Retreat a few weeks ago, she mentioned a line from Robert’s Frost’s poem A Road Less Traveled that the Spirit has been directing me back to ever since.
“Knowing how way leads to way.”
How we wish God would lay the map of our lives out in front of us. You know, show us our path from beginning to end. Wouldn’t it be fantastic if we could see the towns along the way, where there will be mountains and how far we still have to go?
Well, that is known as prophecy. We read about it in the Old Testament when God’s people were headed into times of great crisis; things like war and crossing the Red Sea. It’s rare and only happens when God has good reason to let his people in on the details they must know to be faithful.
What’s much more common is the “He is light unto our feet and a lamp unto our path” experience. He shines just enough light, if we’ll stop whining and thrashing, for us to safely and reasonably comfortably, take our next step.
It’s the daily life with God experience where “way leads to way,” one divinely led step leads into another and another.
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Spring is here! The snow is almost done in Michigan but it’s not uncommon for winter to spit and start blowing in a short-lived storm covering the ground with fresh white one more time. There was a Saturday a few weeks ago when we woke up and that was the case. My husband and I pushed aside our laptops and chores and threw on our coats to hike the trail in the State Land outside our door. Breathing in the sunshine and crisp air, I was happy as a lark.
I’ve walked this trail for about 20 years but still could very easily get lost if I went off the trail, free trekking into the woods. Unlike me, my husband has a natural GPS built into his brain.
Loving nothing better than to blaze his own trail, as we walked, he careened off to the right into the woods. I happily followed, walking in his footsteps as he led us to the creek edge along the bank and back to the road. I would have been really nervous to do this on my own. But I felt no fear. I was completely secure, knowing he knew the way. All I had to do was enjoy the day and follow.
I feel the same way now. I don’t know what publishing route will open. But I see footsteps illuminated in front of me:
The Proposal needs editing.
A few other publishers I want to “pitch”.
My writing group filled with excellent editors, cover and interior designers, all the subcontractors I will need if I custom publish.
Chapters 3 – 12 need to be crafted from messy first draft to manuscript.
Spiritual Giant testimonials to gather.
A fabulous 2023 Journey with a Giant group excitedly walking with Spiritual Giants that I get to lead and watch God work.
I’m just as happy now with my eyes fully on Him as I was before I got the publisher’s email. Knowing when it is all said and done the perfect path with have revealed itself.
The journey isn’t over. The path is still evolving, and I get the privilege of walking the steps He illuminates and watching it unfold.
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Question:
In what part of your life do you need God to illuminate your next step? As you ask God to reveal it, what steps do you see?