The year was 1997 I think. My husband and I had declared bankruptcy; the trustee had disallowed the rental we were paying to own a computer. It, the printer, and the fax machine were confiscated. Our home business was essentially cut off at the knees.
God was faithful to me during that time, as He always was. (See my posts from last summer/fall regarding bankruptcy - just search on my search bar at the top left of the page).
I was always in the habit of writing letters to people; I still love to do that. In the letters I would share what God was teaching me at the time. Writing is very cathartic for me. (Perhaps you've noticed - grin.)
Anyway, I called my mom up one day in 1997 and she said, "Oh Skip's here. He wants to talk to you."
So I said sure... and during our conversation he said, "You know, we've all been talking about you." (I thought - oh great, now they talk about me behind my back!!) He continued. "We all agree that you should write a book."
I was flabbergasted. A book? The objections started pouring out of me. "But Skip, I don't even have a computer! how can I write a BOOK?"
He was nonplussed. "We all believe you can write a book. You have a real talent for writing. And someday you might have a computer again. I bet you could at least write an outline down, save it somewhere and then write a book when you get a computer again." I was still not convinced. "Well, at least pray about it," he said. "I really think you have it in you." We finished our conversation and he passed the phone back to Mom. I don't remember what else we talked about; I was still reeling.
After I hung up, I told my hubby about Skip's suggestion. He believed that I could write too, but he was so discouraged by the bankruptcy that he hesitated to advise me. Finally he said, "Well, it can't hurt to pray about it. If it's God's will, He'll find a way to make it happen." So that's what I did. I laid the situation out before Him (as if He didn't already know) and said that in order to write a book I needed a computer. I couldn't afford one; at the time they were running about $2,000 apiece for a 386 computer and if I were to get a used one, it would cost me at least $500 or more, money I certainly didn't have!! I left the whole thing in God's hands, and within two days I had an outline for a book, and put it aside. And then ... I just forgot about it. I had a lot on my plate at that time - small children, a tight budget, and no credit. I was in survival mode.
Two weeks later Ralph, hubby's brother-in-law, came to visit unexpectedly. We didn't know what he did exactly ... except that he worked for Unisys and he was on PEI on business writing a software package for some company. I never mentioned Skip's suggestion to him. He started talking about his work - email - software. Hubby and I exchanged looks.
Suddenly Ralph caught on to the fact that we didn't have a computer. He shook his head in disbelief. "I can fix that for you no problem," he said. "The place I work is throwing out old computers all the time. I can put together some components and build you a computer from stuff they are going to send to the junk pile!" We made some noises about him not needing to do that, that we had no money with which to reimburse him. He insisted and refused to charge us anything; we thanked him profusely.
A week later, we got this huge box in the mail. In it was a 286 computer, loaded with Dos 6.1, Windows 95, and Microsoft Word. We had never mentioned that we would need a word processing software. He just loaded it on for us.
Okay, God. I get it.
For the next five or six months I sat at that computer and wrote and cried. And wrote and cried. I put down all the stuff that had happened to us since we got married, and spoke of the faithfulness of God through it all, even through my dad's death and the bankruptcy.
Reading it through one day after it was done, I realized I could never publish this book as it was. It had turned out to be laced with baggage from my past, baggage I didn't know how to deal with, couldn't BEGIN to deal with at the time. It was almost a tell-all book, like "Mommie Dearest" by Christine Crawford, daughter of Joan Crawford. Ugh. Poison dripped from its pages.
I shuddered. No. This book ... though I would not delete it and might someday rework it - or rewrite it without the poison, would not be submitted to a publisher.
Fast forward twelve years, to February 2009. Finally I was in recovery through trying to help someone else with his problem - and I found myself dealing with these self-same issues, this baggage I had looked at in 1997 and not been able to face.
I was facing it now. Part of my recovery was writing. So I decided to write down my thoughts and my journey and keep it in a binder, so that once I got to the other side and started seeing some hope, I wouldn't forget how I got from A to B - and might (someday) help someone else get out of his or her miry clay of hopelessness.
It took several months of what you might call reconstructive spiritual surgery before I reached that point I had not even dared dream possible. As I came through and started to see some successes, I realized that THIS was something to write about and maybe help others to recover as well.
A book started to take shape, and I called it (what else?) "Get Unwrapped!". It took me about six months to write.
When it was done almost a year ago, I asked someone to take a look at the first complete draft of my book, as sort of a "human trial" so to speak.
It's not like a novel; it's more like a manual for recovery, So it takes a while to go through, even though it is not very long. So far, the feedback has been positive. I did another " field trial" with two more people, and the reactions I've gotten have also been quite positive.
On June 7, 2010, Skip passed away.
I started this blog the next day with a tribute to him. I said that he always wanted me to write.
But I guess this is the "rest of the story." I believe Skip now knows about this book and that he is thrilled for me. He is part of that great cloud of witnesses cheering us all on - but I think he cheers for me too.
So right now I am in the final stages of getting my book ready for publishing.
Since I'm not one for jumping through hoops and such, and I like to retain as much control over my work as I can, the option of e-publishing has always been an option for me. E-books are so cool. They're cheaper than paper books and they take up less space. Plus you don't get those awkward cramps in the back of your hand from holding a book open with one hand. They never run out of stock, and can be downloaded and read on the computer, or on an e-book reader like Nook or Kindle.
Consider my book the seed idea for this blog: a how-to manual for recovery from a lifestyle of rigidity, perfectionism, excessive care-taking, and misery, and deliverance into a whole new world of grace, freedom, happiness, and peace.
And when the book itself is completely ready, uploaded, and online for purchase, you can bet that I will be so pumped about it that you, my faithful readers, will be among the first to know!
God was faithful to me during that time, as He always was. (See my posts from last summer/fall regarding bankruptcy - just search on my search bar at the top left of the page).
I was always in the habit of writing letters to people; I still love to do that. In the letters I would share what God was teaching me at the time. Writing is very cathartic for me. (Perhaps you've noticed - grin.)
Anyway, I called my mom up one day in 1997 and she said, "Oh Skip's here. He wants to talk to you."
So I said sure... and during our conversation he said, "You know, we've all been talking about you." (I thought - oh great, now they talk about me behind my back!!) He continued. "We all agree that you should write a book."
I was flabbergasted. A book? The objections started pouring out of me. "But Skip, I don't even have a computer! how can I write a BOOK?"
He was nonplussed. "We all believe you can write a book. You have a real talent for writing. And someday you might have a computer again. I bet you could at least write an outline down, save it somewhere and then write a book when you get a computer again." I was still not convinced. "Well, at least pray about it," he said. "I really think you have it in you." We finished our conversation and he passed the phone back to Mom. I don't remember what else we talked about; I was still reeling.
After I hung up, I told my hubby about Skip's suggestion. He believed that I could write too, but he was so discouraged by the bankruptcy that he hesitated to advise me. Finally he said, "Well, it can't hurt to pray about it. If it's God's will, He'll find a way to make it happen." So that's what I did. I laid the situation out before Him (as if He didn't already know) and said that in order to write a book I needed a computer. I couldn't afford one; at the time they were running about $2,000 apiece for a 386 computer and if I were to get a used one, it would cost me at least $500 or more, money I certainly didn't have!! I left the whole thing in God's hands, and within two days I had an outline for a book, and put it aside. And then ... I just forgot about it. I had a lot on my plate at that time - small children, a tight budget, and no credit. I was in survival mode.
Two weeks later Ralph, hubby's brother-in-law, came to visit unexpectedly. We didn't know what he did exactly ... except that he worked for Unisys and he was on PEI on business writing a software package for some company. I never mentioned Skip's suggestion to him. He started talking about his work - email - software. Hubby and I exchanged looks.
Suddenly Ralph caught on to the fact that we didn't have a computer. He shook his head in disbelief. "I can fix that for you no problem," he said. "The place I work is throwing out old computers all the time. I can put together some components and build you a computer from stuff they are going to send to the junk pile!" We made some noises about him not needing to do that, that we had no money with which to reimburse him. He insisted and refused to charge us anything; we thanked him profusely.
A week later, we got this huge box in the mail. In it was a 286 computer, loaded with Dos 6.1, Windows 95, and Microsoft Word. We had never mentioned that we would need a word processing software. He just loaded it on for us.
Okay, God. I get it.
For the next five or six months I sat at that computer and wrote and cried. And wrote and cried. I put down all the stuff that had happened to us since we got married, and spoke of the faithfulness of God through it all, even through my dad's death and the bankruptcy.
Reading it through one day after it was done, I realized I could never publish this book as it was. It had turned out to be laced with baggage from my past, baggage I didn't know how to deal with, couldn't BEGIN to deal with at the time. It was almost a tell-all book, like "Mommie Dearest" by Christine Crawford, daughter of Joan Crawford. Ugh. Poison dripped from its pages.
I shuddered. No. This book ... though I would not delete it and might someday rework it - or rewrite it without the poison, would not be submitted to a publisher.
Fast forward twelve years, to February 2009. Finally I was in recovery through trying to help someone else with his problem - and I found myself dealing with these self-same issues, this baggage I had looked at in 1997 and not been able to face.
I was facing it now. Part of my recovery was writing. So I decided to write down my thoughts and my journey and keep it in a binder, so that once I got to the other side and started seeing some hope, I wouldn't forget how I got from A to B - and might (someday) help someone else get out of his or her miry clay of hopelessness.
It took several months of what you might call reconstructive spiritual surgery before I reached that point I had not even dared dream possible. As I came through and started to see some successes, I realized that THIS was something to write about and maybe help others to recover as well.
A book started to take shape, and I called it (what else?) "Get Unwrapped!". It took me about six months to write.
When it was done almost a year ago, I asked someone to take a look at the first complete draft of my book, as sort of a "human trial" so to speak.
It's not like a novel; it's more like a manual for recovery, So it takes a while to go through, even though it is not very long. So far, the feedback has been positive. I did another " field trial" with two more people, and the reactions I've gotten have also been quite positive.
I started this blog the next day with a tribute to him. I said that he always wanted me to write.
But I guess this is the "rest of the story." I believe Skip now knows about this book and that he is thrilled for me. He is part of that great cloud of witnesses cheering us all on - but I think he cheers for me too.
So right now I am in the final stages of getting my book ready for publishing.
Since I'm not one for jumping through hoops and such, and I like to retain as much control over my work as I can, the option of e-publishing has always been an option for me. E-books are so cool. They're cheaper than paper books and they take up less space. Plus you don't get those awkward cramps in the back of your hand from holding a book open with one hand. They never run out of stock, and can be downloaded and read on the computer, or on an e-book reader like Nook or Kindle.
Consider my book the seed idea for this blog: a how-to manual for recovery from a lifestyle of rigidity, perfectionism, excessive care-taking, and misery, and deliverance into a whole new world of grace, freedom, happiness, and peace.
And when the book itself is completely ready, uploaded, and online for purchase, you can bet that I will be so pumped about it that you, my faithful readers, will be among the first to know!
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