Why Write a Book?
So, I wrote a book during the lock down, how about that? Technically, I finished a book during the lock down. I have always wanted to write more. Back when I was in high school, Mrs. Morton encouraged me in my writing and that is the first time I remember being complimented on anything I had written. I had written a short story and she accused me of stealing it from a book.
For the first time, I considered the idea that I might want to pursue a career that involved writing. I started at OU with a degree in journalism, hoping to be a sports journalist someday. That didn’t last too long before I ended up graduating with a degree in English Literature on my way to graduate school to study counseling.
Those two degrees were excellent training for many of the things I would end up doing, but the extreme load of reading and writing that they involved left little opportunity to write anything creative or of my own choosing. Life gets busy with family, work and ministry and while I have had a few chances to write now and then over the years, most of my writing was in the form of reports, sermons and emails. As I said earlier, I always wanted to write more, but somehow, I never found time for any long form writing. When we made plans to spend at least 6 months in the US at the end of 2019, I set a goal to finally set aside more time for writing. The only problem, as we neared the end of that time, I had finished an article for publication in a journal, but had only made it a couple of chapters into my book before getting bogged down.
So the truth is, it took us getting banned from Turkey and being locked down in the US before I finally found my rhythm and buckled down and finished this book. With few distractions and little else to do because of the lock downs, I finished the book in about 6 weeks. Since then, I was considering publishing options, editing the book and finally preparing to launch. I have a great appreciation for those who crank books out regularly, most of which are much longer than mine, but I can begin to see how it might get done.
Back to the original question, “why write a book?” Personally, I’ve always felt I was better able to express myself in writing than by speaking. I’ve learned to give a presentation and preach a sermon, but the strength in any talk I give is in the effort I put in preparing and writing ahead of time. These last few years, we’ve had a variety of experiences that I found myself talking to friends and family about over and over again. In these conversations, I felt like we can convey little snippets of what God had done in our lives, but could never paint a full picture. For me, a book seemed like the perfect opportunity to not only talk about our own lives, but to try to concisely put together a map.
This book is a map of what I understand God to be teaching me through the journey of life. A map can serve a variety of purposes but for most of us, when we think of a map, we want it to show us the way to go. With this book that is really what I’m trying to do. I see this book as a long conversation between myself and the reader. Over the course of that conversation I want to communicate many of the things that I feel I’ve learned from life, God and studying His Word that I feel would help you have the life God desires us all to have in Him.
Whether we are close friends or you barely know who I am, I want what God wants, your eternal salvation and the peace and joy that come from a life lived with Him. I wrote this book for my kids, for my friends and for maybe even people in the future who I will never meet, so they might know the truths that are so important to me. In John 8:32, John writes the following words of Christ:
You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
(CSB)
Nothing in this life is more freeing than the truth. The more clearly we see that, the better our life will be. We will understand what God is doing in the world and we will begin to understand the solutions that He offers all who will receive His truth. In a future post, I will talk more about the pragmatic elements of writing and publishing a book, but for now, know that this book represents the truth that I would share with everyone, in hopes that you might be set free.
If you read my book, I would appreciate your feedback through reviews on Amazon and direct comments if you so desire. If you find it helpful, please share it with others.
This post originally appeared on my blog, but I have to re-post it here, because Facebook has blocked my blog.