So many of you have sweetly asked me at church or at Wal-Mart, here on the blog or on Facebook, “When’s you’re next book coming out?”

And I smiled.

And probably shrugged and said something like, “That’s up to God!”

Well, God did it.  Again.

I’ve tucked the secret away for the last few weeks, but I received the note from my wonderful editor over at Discovery House at the end of April saying, “Congratulations!  We have decided to publish this second book.”

I cried.  Again.  Second book same as the first.

I laid face down and prayed, thanking God and asking for His help and His favor.

When I typed out the first words to my very first book, Ask Me Anything, Lord, I told God exactly what I wanted.  I wanted this to be Him.

I didn’t want to look back in a few years and say, “Look what I did through hard work and perseverance, or through networking, contacts or social media prowess.”

I was willing to work hard and give everything I had to obey Him and write the book, but I didn’t want to make anything happen.  It had to be Him.

It was.  The story of that first book had His fingerprints all over it.

Then I had a new project on my heart and I actually wrote it, all 55,000 words of it.  I prayed over it.  I sent it to agents and publishers and toted my book proposal to a writer’s conference and networked.

I did everything I’m supposed to do.

Nothing happened.

Last summer, I laid on my bed and told God, “It would be easier if You told me to stop writing.  This is hard.  I could be relaxing with my kids at the beach instead of sending out query letters and writing blog posts.  So, maybe I should quit?”

I finished my prayer and I waited for the neon sign of divine approval to pack it all in and head for the ocean with some sand toys and sunscreen.

Instead, in that very moment God gave me what my mother-in-law aptly terms, “a download.”

Woosh.  An idea for another writing project.

I didn’t want another idea, I told Him.  I wanted the holy stamp of approval to quit, not the nudge to write some more.

But you can’t ignore ideas like that.  They take up all the space in your head so you can’t remember your grocery list or what you were making for dinner that night.

I had to write that idea down.  Pronto.

Through the fall and into the winter months, I prayed and read, collecting quotes, tucking away Scripture verses, emailing my editor, writing up the book proposal and then waiting, waiting, and waiting.

I didn’t push, strive, stress or fret over it.  I just obeyed step by step and rested in the knowledge that if He wanted this book to happen, He would do it.

He did.

So now, here I am receiving God’s astonishing grace  in the form of a second book.

All glory to Him!

What’s it about?

Glad you asked!

I’ll be studying the excuses that people in the Bible gave to God when He called them and how we often fall back on those same excuses ourselves (like me telling God, ‘this is hard and I’d like to quit now.  Thank you very much and Amen.”) Like Jonah saying he didn’t want to go to Nineveh or Moses saying God had picked the wrong guy or the ten spies who didn’t want to go into Canaan because giants lived there!

When God calls us to follow Him, sometimes we also want to answer: “Yes, God, but….”

“I want to obey, but I’m ashamed….”

“I want to follow You, but I’m afraid…..”

“I want to believe You, but I could be wrong and I’ll mess this up!”

I’ll be writing about all these fears, insecurities and excuses we give God when He asks us to obey Him, whether He’s calling us to missionary service or to teach Sunday School, to adopt a child or to mentor a young mom at church.

I wanted to write you this message first as a way to praise God because that’s the bottom line:  He is awesome and worthy of praise!

I also wanted to thank you.  Thanks for following this journey with me, for reading the blog, for buying that first book, for sharing my posts, commenting on them, and for the millions of ways you’ve all blessed me!

And I need to ask for your help.

Would you pray for me?

My manuscript is due at the end of this year.  I’ll be juggling all my normal responsibilities plus trying to enjoy  summer break with my four kids (whose idea of summer does not involve sitting around at home while mom writes) and trying to put this book together at the same time.  I cannot do this without God.  I desperately need His help.

I need Him to give me the words to say, the thoughts to share.

I’ve been praying two verses over this project.  Would you pray these verses for me also?

May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us– yes, establish the work of our hands.  Psalm 90:17

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.  Psalm 19:14 NLT

Would you also follow along in this journey?  Every time you share posts on Facebook or send your friend an email with my blog, every time you comment here on a post or like my author page on Facebook, that helps me share more about God’s Word and about these writing projects.  Plus, then you don’t miss any updates or news I might have!

The book-writing process is snail-paced.  You might not hear updates from me all the time.  But I promise to keep you in the loop from choosing book covers to selecting a title to letting you know when and how you can actually hold a copy in your hands.  It’s going to be a blast!

In the meantime, thank you so much for your prayers.  They mean so very much to me.

In His Name and for His Glory,

 

 

 

Heather King is a wife, mom, Bible Study teacher, writer and worship leader.  Most importantly, she is a Christ follower with a desire to help others apply the Bible to everyday life with all its mess, noise, and busyness.  Her book, Ask Me Anything, Lord: Opening Our Hearts to God’s Questions, is available now!  To read more devotionals by Heather King, click here.