Big, BIG News
It's been a bit of a balancing act over these last few months to manage everything.
I've thought long and hard...
I've worked all day sometimes into the night...
And then I've sat down and done it all over again...
Are you ready?
I have BIG news!!
A NEW BOOK!
Why These Women?
Four Stories You Need to Read Before You Read the Story of Jesus
Coming: February 2022
You are the first to know and I am so pleased to share with you the result of this last year's journey. It began, of course, long before, as I have worked with these women and their stories for years. But this year, they took on increased relevance and urgency for me. I think they had something to say and I hope we have said it.
It was about this time last year that a look ahead to Advent prompted me to revisit the four women listed in Matthew's genealogy, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. Based on material I originally created for Grandparents of Jesus, I created Zoom sessions in which some of you participated. If you did, you know how these stories took on new life and meaning. We asked sacred questions to plumb the relevancy of their lives for ours. We focused, laser-like, on why they are positioned as they are, like a kind of prequel to what will follow. I ended up believing that, indeed, their stories have a great deal to say about the Great Story they introduce.
An excerpt: For a year now, I have been traveling in their company, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and Bathsheba. They have absorbed my daytime hours as I pored through books and scripture, as I scribbled down ideas, and later prayed for the inspiration, words, and turn of phrase to put all this together. At times, they visited my dreams and always, they were on my mind and in my prayer. There were times when this year resembled an archeological dig as I explored and pieced together ancient concepts. At other times, these women were startlingly contemporary. Certainly, stories not unlike theirs were a staple of the evening news. In a year of challenges, I sometimes prayed as did Rahab, "make clear to me, in my peril, what is truly of You, and what You would have me do.”
Head's Up!
I will be looking for folks who would be interested in joining the ARC (Advanced Reading Copy) Team. I will send out more information in the next two weeks about what is involved, but if you absolutely know already that is something you want to do, feel free to just Contact me now. And if you are as excited as I am, at this good news, I would also just love to hear from you.
