I didn’t get on here last week so I wanted to count my blessings for the last two weeks…
Thanks to all of you, who still come here faithfully and read up. Your comments and emails always bless me.
My son wanted to treat me to dinner this week. He knew I didn’t get paid for a couple of days, so he asked if he could treat me to a pizza. It was such an amazingly big hearted thing to do with his allowance money. I was humbled by his genuine need to feed me something tasty. We got his money out and talked about how much the pizza was and what kind of tip to give. His math brain amazes me. He gets money and math in ways some 4 and 5th graders don’t.
I get so many comments on facebook and emails from ‘Finding Kylie’ readers. I’m blessed by each one. Lately I’ve been receiving pictures from them. I’ve asked that those who have read the book, go and take their pic with it in creative ways. This post here explains it a little more. Oh some of the pics I get. Someone even mailed me a pic showing the book with Rupert, from David Letterman’s show. I’m loving all these pictures and how creative they are. Keep them coming!
My new part time job is a huge blessing – especially because it helps us a little more with our bills. And we all could use a little of that. BUT also because I get to work with beautiful clothes that make women feel wonderful and pretty. I love spending someone else’s money to make them feel beautiful. I love the way these women light up when they try something – that maybe they wouldn’t have picked for themselves, but they try on because I’ve brought it to them in the fitting room. I love the satisfaction of the sale when they leave with something totally unexpected but completely flattering. If I have to work part time, at least it’s something I have an amazing time with.
My son turned 6 last month and is growing leaps and bounds. He’s always been an affectionate kid, and I thought he’d grow out of that as he got older. If anything he’s growing into it more. Experts say your child is set for who is he at his core by the time their six. All I can say is someday he’s going to make some young lady very happy. I have to just pray that he doesn’t get his big heart broken too many times before he meets the one, so that he’s still open to sharing his heart. I hear this phrase every morning and every night – “You’re the most beautiful woman in the whole world – I’ve got the sweetest mommy in the whole world!” And it gets followed with a big bear hug. Now what young lady won’t want to hear that when she’s fallen head over heels with my son? I just pray he won’t woo the masses because he’s prone to flirt with women of all ages. I love seeing the twinkle in an elderly lady’s eyes when he’s told her she’s pretty.
I had been struggling with my sequel deciding how much balance to give it. I want to reach the masses and plant a seed for Christ. So should it be just like ‘Finding Kylie’ with a fleshed out character line up, with real and intriguing story lines? Or should I have it more about the main characters Christian journey? I felt like I wouldn’t be a real Christian if I didn’t put more Christianity in my second book. I felt guilty for not wanting to put more God in my book, but felt I had to. It was almost as if the devil was taunting me saying, ‘you’re not a good Christian if you don’t give Him glory on every page’. It became a huge burden…one that God lifted for me.
I had this discussion with a Christian author and friend of mine, George Goodman, who simply stated these two simple things. “Kim I’m not being a luke warm Christian when I tell you this…your job is to plant the seed – not to water it and grow it. Someone else will do that. If you want to reach the masses, don’t push anything on those pages that’s not part of the true character’s human story line. People that aren’t Christians won’t really get into a book like that. If you’re able to plant a seed, than you’re working for God and giving Him glory. AND you can do that without turning people off. Once you’ve gained a true following, you can take liberties in future books to do more in your faith.
My second worry was one of the carnal nature of my main two characters lives and how their story progressed. His second comment was, “One statement keeps coming to mind, and I feel like God is telling me to give this to you. ‘Meet your characters where they are and then take them to where you want them to be. So if Chastity has to do somethings a normal 20 year old would do in life….let her face her reality and bring her to a different realm of thinking throughout the book. This character is not you with your convictions…she’s her own person — meet her where she’s at Kim.”
Man this conversation has changed my entire heart and mind for this story. Last night I built framework for up to 35 chapters, and am vigorously typing it out. I can’t wait to take these characters, where they should go – not according to my standards but their own. I did that in ‘Finding Kylie’ and am excited to be able to do that for ‘Facing Redemption’.
Thank you all for reading this far…have a blessed week!!!
PS for those of you who love a great devotional book please go check out my friend, George Goodman. He wrote ‘UNLIKELY’. Here’s the link at Amazon.