Pregnant, Engaged, Living With My Boyfriend
I’ve heard from several different writers how writing a book is similar to being pregnant and having a baby. I would have to agree. The miracle of conception, the growth, the first kick, the celebrations, the due date, the arrival…and finally holding and touching the long-awaited one…and then all the work after; the feelings from both these events are surprisingly similar. The thought makes me swallow hard and choke up a bit.
It was right around this time last year when I received a message from the editor at the publishing house. She wrote me a note on my Facebook page requesting my book proposal. My oh my, so much can happen in a year! From there we emailed back and forth, the proposal went to her managing editor, then the editorial team, then the marketing team, then to several cancer survivors, then to the publication board. In the middle of all this book review process, I was able to attend the Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference. At the conference I met and soon after signed with my agent, Karen, and the Steve Laube Literary Agency.
The book contract has gone back and forth since August between the publishing house and my agent. I am so grateful for the expertise of both Karen and Steve and how they know and understand terms I would gloss over (kind of like each time I update an app on my computer or phone and click the “I agree” button without really reading any of the legal stuff). They have been great. The publishing house has been great. It’s been both a slow and fast process.
So now I await the arrival of the contract. I know it is just about on its way. The date for turning in my completed manuscript on the contract reads January 1, 2013, so I know it will come sometime before the first of the year…and so I am learning to
wait
and rest
in God’s timing,
and trust
His purposes
and His plan
will be accomplished.
Not mine.
For me, right now, I feel like I’m pregnant, engaged (but without ring) and living with my boyfriend. I’ve known of the book clearing the final review step since June. The “baby” is growing and I’ve felt the first kicks as I completed the first draft. Everywhere with everyone I’ve got green lights and thumbs up. The book is for sure happening. But something about signing the formal contract and being able to declare “it’s official” from the mountaintops adds to the credibility of the process.
What my book publishing journey reminds me of is MARY (and honestly when I first started writing this post I wasn’t even aware of the connection to Mary and Christmas…whoa ). You can read her story in the Gospel of Luke, chapter two. Mary walked a road unlike any she pictured for herself. She was engaged but found pregnant. Her process seemed kind of backwards in the eyes of her family and friends. But Mary held tight to the God she loved, fiercely loyal, heart willing, regardless of the circumstances. Mary’s example encourages me to rest and not fret. To look to the Lord, not around comparing my path to others. To trust in His timing. His unseen ways. God’s purposes would be accomplished in her life, through her life. His purposes will be accomplished in my life and in your life, too.
Two things: first, since I do not see the end of the story, I need to be careful about judging others who have paths different from mine. No two paths people walk are the same. Second, some lessons are only learned in the waiting time. Sometimes, okay, often, I want to rush ahead to the outcome. Valuable treasures are formed in the darkness, in the waiting.
“And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden wealth in secret places, in order that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.” (Isaiah 45:3)
How about you, what lessons have you learned in the waiting time?