Ten Years Ago...

Today's post deserves so much more photographic fanfare than I am able to provide. But please allow the words of my heart to overcome what my photography lacks.

Ten years ago I published my first book. Can you believe it has been ten whole years? I know some of you were reading all the way back then and you remember when the Advent book was born!

Ten years ago, I loved pictures as much as I do now, but I didn't know about staging and styling for things like books. I knew about capturing screen shots of the cover, which I did, but all the little cute Instagram-worthy photos were lost to me. (I wasn't even on Instagram then anyway. Did it even exist ten years ago? I don't know.) 

Ten years ago, I was muddling through the loss of love while trying to celebrate a dream-come-true, and it was the most awkward kind of mess that I didn't always handle well. But in the middle of the hurt, this little book-baby of mine was a beautiful gift and was the one shining joy of that year. 

I still remember my first glimpse of the book in its physical form. I was at the lake with friends and knew there was a chance my author copy had been delivered to my house. So I called my friend Ronda to see if she could check at the house before coming to the lake for the weekend, and when she walked in the door, she had the box in her hands! I squealed with so much delight and posed for my picture - lake hair and all.

I still remember coming home from work on a good, old-fashioned sweltering summer day and finding the box of books piled on my back porch. My first order - ready to ship to friends and family who placed orders with me!

I still remember the first time I got to talk about the book publicly - at my church! They interviewed me about it at the end of the service and then had an all-church lunch and book signing! 

If the girl in that picture looks familiar to you (besides me, I mean) it's because about two years later, she was a bridesmaid in our wedding! 

I still remember when my little town of Greentown hosted a book signing for me at the local library.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure those kids are in junior high and high school now. How is this possible? (Their parents were friends of mine from college.)

I still remember when my Marion church had a book signing for me during their annual Thanksgiving dinner!

And Indiana Wesleyan's bookstore had a signing there, too!

And there was a small interview on the radio that led to big things...

So even though this is the only "cute book" picture I have for you:

...the memories of a decade ago are rich in the experiences I had. 

(I would have taken some purposefully styled pictures, but alas, I have not yet been reunited with my Christmas decor.)

This little book has become a tradition for some. They've told me they read it every year during their family devotions. Others are reading it for the first time. And whether people read it once or often, I'm always grateful for the privilege of sharing my words with them. 

This book was born out of a Christmas season when I struggled to feel the joy. God met me in a tender way and helped me see portions of Scripture in ways I hadn't before, and I wrote about what I learned. 

If you haven't had a chance to read it yet and would like to, you can order it online here - and you should still have plenty of time to get it (even with all the shipping delays that surround us these days) before December 1. (I forgot to add, until Becky commented, that the company I published through doesn't print a backlog of books to sit in a warehouse. So if you go to Amazon and see it is out of stock, you can still order and they will fill the order.) 

If you're around the Fort Wayne area, I do have some copies in my possession once again and would be happy to talk with you about getting one to you!

I'm so happy my little book baby hits double digits this year. I'm so thankful for the blessing it was in my life a decade ago. I'm so thankful for the kind words people have shared with me about it! 

Happy Birthday, His Advent!