Katie's Story: Let God's Light Shine In Me
is available for purchase. I hope you saw my email a couple weeks ago announcing it's release. For several months, I have been ready to share this story with you and I am excited to finally be able to do that! The paperback and Kindle version can be purchased here (through Amazon) and the hardback is currently only available here (through Barnes and Noble).
Because of production issues related to Covid and staffing and all the things, the book's release was delayed several weeks beyond what we anticipated. While understandable, it was also a bit aggravating. A few months ago, I was building anticipation for a launch date, and I was planning some fun ways to do that. Some events were already on the calendar when Covid took over our lives. At the same time, I was making decisions about the book's interior and exterior design - giving nods and thumbs up to various drafts - in an effort to make it as perfectly Katie as possible. I was also working through a lot of questions and doubts. How many people would even buy the book? What would people think about it? Should I have written this or that or any of it?
I did not realize at the time, but my grip on Katie's Story was getting tighter and tighter, and I was throwing around the word "mine" like a toddler. I had worked intentionally on this project for at least 18 months and unintentionally for even longer. To say it held my blood, sweat and tears would be an understatement. This was my daughter's life story. What if people said it was "just okay?" I was starting to wonder if I could even handle that.
But then the book stalled in production. Which wasn't my fault. And it wasn't my publisher's fault. And it wasn't my designer's fault. And I kind of wanted to be frustrated with someone, but it didn't seem to be anyone's fault.
I was becoming a bit discouraged. Until I realized...
I had relaxed my grip. I wasn't holding on as tightly. I wasn't using the word "mine" anymore. And then I also noticed... the fears were gone. The doubts were gone. And the insecurities had simply vanished. It was as if God was saying the very same thing to me that he had said when Katie was being diagnosed.
This isn't about you. This is Katie's story.
I'm not sure whose "fault" it was that the book was delayed. But I do know that God used it to grow me a little bit more. To remind me that he allowed me to have a part in Katie's life. And he graciously allowed me to have a part in writing her story. Beyond that, I'm as much a spectator as you are.
Last weekend, I sat on a football field and watched as our oldest son graduated from high school. I witnessed this little boy who held my hand now stand as a young adult and accept the applause he had earned with his effort. Sure, I had a part in it. But this was his graduation. His life. His story. I am proud of what he has accomplished and so excited to see where he goes from here.
I feel exactly the same about Katie. I am grateful to have had a part in her life. And I am grateful to have had a part in writing her story. But this is her life. Her story. I love the young woman she had become, and I am excited to see what her life will accomplish as I release Katie's Story into the world.
