giving away my first book

The picture above is of me and my friend, Amanda. I've known Amanda since she was three, friends through church and our mom's sang in the same singing group. When I worked at Mount Carmel Family Bible Camp recruiting their summer staff, I recruited Amanda. She was thrilled to come and I was thrilled to have her spirit on our staff.

She is one of my favorite people on the planet. She's like sunshine. She's a happy, joyful, fun girl and to be with her means you're probably also feeling happy, joyful and fun.

When she came to work at Mount Carmel she was at a crossroads, deciding what direction to take. At camp she was surrounded by awesome people and solid teaching. And then she decided to grab hold of the truth and she has been in a dead sprint following after Jesus ever since.

Since then, there have been so many times that I have looked up to Amanda and her solid foundation in Christ and wanted to be more like her. She is such a bright light and so encouraging to me. She's a dear friend who always leaves me wanting to run the race a little harder, shine a little brighter and love and serve with all my heart. Isn't that the sweetness of having a sister-in-Christ? She spurs me on when I'm feeling weary, and I can spur her on too.

I think it was three summers after we worked together at Mount Carmel that I was pregnant with Ivar and we were up at camp at the same time. She and our friend Lindsey came to eat dinner with me and Rory and wanted to know everything about pregnancy. And they begged me to write down everything I was learning and feeling so they could read it one day. I'm not just saying that. It was like they both had me by the arms, telling me to write about this first baby.

So I started right then. With the two of them in mind I started writing little pieces about pregnancy all the way to Ivar's first birthday. I called the book Two Lines to One Year. (The two lines being the two lines on the pregnancy test). A few of the pieces I published on the blog, but most of them I didn't. After Ivar was born I would bring him to my in-laws, Marlene and Madison's, house and then go and write at the Prior Lake Library for a few hours. Looking back I can't get over how fortunate I was to have this time to myself and time to process all I was feeling as a first time mom.

In the end (and with a whole lot of motivating by Rory) I self-published a very rough draft. I had two copies printed and when they came in the mail I felt so proud. I read it through and then I got pregnant with Elsie and the two books made the move with us to the country.

It was not until a few Sunday's ago as I sat in church, thinking of all the things I needed to do before going to Amanda's baby shower that afternoon that it dawned on me: "I wrote Amanda a book! I get to give her that book!" The book is dedicated to Amanda and Lindsey and it says, "if you are the only two who ever read this little ditty, I can think of no greater readership." I came home and pulled it from the bookshelf and wrapped it up.

I drove to Eagan and sat with all of Amanda's awesome family and friends and then got to give my friend a book I had written. It was the best feeling in the world. I felt proud of this little rough draft and so grateful to give her something to read while she is walking the same rocky road of being a new mom. She loved it. Cried big tears and I was so glad for the time I took to write each word.

I got home and took the other copy off of the shelf and went up to bed and read the whole thing. Some stories I'd omit now. Some I'd greatly edit. But on the whole, I loved it. I loved my heart behind it and some of the stories were hilarious. I was proud of that little book.

Now I don't intend to actually ever publish that one. But it stirred something in me. Something that's been brewing for a long time. And since I'm getting a little long winded here, I'll save part two for tomorrow.