(See the links at the bottom of the book’s page.)
It’s hard to believe this book is finally a reality. Honestly? I wasn’t sure I could write it. The idea for such a book came to me about three years ago. When I had lunch with my agent and pitched it to her, I didn’t expect her to be so excited about it! And my publisher agreed with her. But as with every book I write, I doubt myself. Could I really do this? Nonfiction is daunting new territory for me.
And this book gets a little personal at times. I proposed one book – 24 women with little devotional thoughts. They said, “We’d like two books of 12 women and ‘dig deeper’.” When your editor asks you to dig deeper, you know you’re in trouble!
Being vulnerable with your life is not easy to do. Digging into your past isn’t easy either. Especially when you are dealing with biblical women who faced some really tough situations. How to equate that with OUR real-life tough situations?
This isn’t a book I could have written twenty years ago. Even ten years ago. It is a book God had to bring me to now when I need it and I sense others do too. I spoke to a friend about the book at church on Sunday and another woman standing nearby asked me the title. I told her. Just by the title she said, “I can relate to that.”
And can’t we all? Life, if you live long enough, is NOT going to match your dreams. It’s going to disappoint you at some time or another. People are going to let you down. You’re going to blow it. You’re going to lose something or someone you love. You’re going to be forgotten, abandoned, left out, lost, sad, and so much more. It’s part of our broken human condition.
I’ve had a lot of dreams crushed in my lifetime. I’ll bet you have too. I’ve been hurt in profound ways. I’ll bet you have too. And you know…Jesus sees us in our desperation. He might even be the one who allows us to feel the way we do, but it’s only because He wants us to see that He is the only one who will never leave us or forsake us. He sees what we hide from the world. He loves us anyway.
Lauren Daigle sings a song that pricked my heart the other day because it fits this book so well. it’s called “Trust in You” and it starts with, “Letting go of EVERY SINGLE DREAM, I lay each one down at your feet…”
Since I was feeling pretty much like my dreams had been crushed again, I decided to do what she suggested. I wrote out those dreams one by one and placed them at His feet. As I think of more, I will add to my pile of unmet dreams.
And then, as I thought about that act and later as my husband and I were talking and praying and discussing Scripture, I remembered a dream I had over forty years ago that God was right then bringing to fulfillment.
Our prayers and longings and dreams, when they are centered in His will, do not go unnoticed by our God. He might say “no”. And that’s hard to accept. But He likes “wait” a lot better and He tests us to see if we will remain faithful to Him in the waiting. Will we?
When Life Doesn’t Match Your Dreams is a book that offers hope. And I have to remember that same hope because it’s real. If I’ve learned anything in writing it, it’s that God is a God of hope. If He doesn’t grant a specific dream right now? He’s got something way more amazing in mind. And I can’t wait to see what it is!
Be blessed!
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