God was so loving and gracious to allow Bob's heart cath to go swiftly and smoothly, bringing about such wonderful results. Betty Elliot said after the death of her husband in the jungle of Ecuador that even if things don't go well, God is still God and worthy of our praise. She's so right. However, I must also sing His praises when things go well. It will form the habit of praise at all times and God is worthy of that.
Today, He sent even more encouragement. Xulon, the publisher of my book ran a special, making it possible for "The Color of Roses" to be advertised in the New York City book fair late next spring. It's not something I should turn down. The calling period to take advantage of the sale is 3 hours today only, 9AM-Noon. I debated on whether to call early and leave a voice message or take the chance of getting through when dozens, maybe hundreds, of other authors would be competing for her phone line at 9:00.
She greeted me with a merry laugh saying she had 74 voice mails to wade through! I got to talk to her first! I'm glad I waited. I'm glad Bob and I prayed about spending still more money without seeing much come in. Not only was it good to talk to a person instead of leaving a voice mail, she was so good to give me a pep talk. Ever notice how those crop up so frequently in my blog? God never fails to send encouragement when I get discouraged. Awesome. So, when am I going to believe Him and move on?
Her advice was to remember that with the first book being self-published, I became an entrepreneur and entrepreneurship always has heavy start up costs. She said it takes 1 - 2 years to see a profit and most see a loss those first 2 years. I was aware of that because I was a Mary Kay consultant 30+ years ago, but that doesn't make the decision on whether or not to spend more money any easier. My high school Problems of Democracy teacher used to talk about his uncle who threw good money after bad, investing in aviation during the Depression. It was so bad, he had to farm his kids out because he couldn't afford to feed them. Then, WWII started and he became a very wealthy man.
Yes, I know the risks. I also know not everyone succeeds. That's why it's called risk, and that's where the concern comes in. I begin to wonder if this was my idea and I asked God to bless it, or is it truly what He wants me to do?
Kimberly's next gem was, "By the way, your book did VERY WELL in the Frankfurt Book Fair." How much more encouraging could she have been? I would hope the day is coming, sooner rather than later, when I stop whining and presuming on God's patience and just be faithful in the small things, trusting Him in all things. He truly is worthy of my trust. And He's truly awesome.
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