Hi my friends, Ann here.
Ok, now I’m going to tell you the back-story to this book, and how I shared it with Bryce.
Let’s go back nine years ago. Bryce and I were in our early forties then and we were in the thick of our SUM situation. He would take the boys out to swimming lessons once a week, and as I was dealing with a lot of my own mental turmoil relating to faith, I used that time to quietly pour myself a glass of red wine and write up my faith story. Each week, a chapter would pour out of me.
I would feel so happy with each resulting chapter. I’d say to myself “I love this chapter!” It was also a super cathartic experience.
At the time, in this ministry, we had been partnered up with each other for prayer in pairs. I had a prayer partner called Dawn in the USA, and I would send each chapter to her. She would devour it eagerly on arrival, and say “Wow, it’s great! Write another chapter, I can’t wait to read the next one!”
So, Dawn egged me on. And, over the course of time I wrote nineteen chapters. Many of these chapters captured the fact that I believed God had given me a promise that Bryce would become a Christian.
These nineteen chapters formed a book. I had a book, there and then. But I asked God ‘Should I publish it?’ and the sense I got was ‘No.’ Instead, I seemed to hear God say ‘wait for part two!’ After that, I duly wrapped the book up and put it under my bed.
Six …… long…… years….. ensued.
Part two happened. My friends, I will not tell you anything about that yet, you will find out in the book… but let’s just say it was like living out a situation from a fantasy novel. I eventually wrote it up. I now had a full book, ready to be published. And now I felt God wanted it to be made public.
Gah!!!!! This would mean publicly sharing a story that felt intimate and close for me. What’s more, parts of the book were about our marriage. Yet, God seemed to want me to do it.
Oh. Dear.
Yes indeed. I was in a right pickle. I had not told Bryce about that book. I’d never needed to as it had always been some quiet little cathartic piece of writing for myself. But, as the weeks rolled by, it seemed to be a matter of obedience: God was asking me to get this book published.
Now, Lynn wrote her first book, Winning Him Without Words, about how to live well in a spiritually mismatched marriage. She co-authored it with Dineen Miller. Both of their husbands were non-Christians. It was a super, super brave thing for Lynn and Dineen to do. But what happened next was their husbands each said, “That’s lovely dear”, and then proceeded not to read the book. God covered it. I assumed this would happen to me.
God would cover it; I would be fine. Right?
So, with that in mind, one day I squeaked out to Bryce “I’ve written a book…” (Picture a very squeaky voice at this point ’cause I was super nervous).
I then said, “And you can read it if you like” (Even squeakier).
He paused. Thought about it. Then nodded. “Yes, I’d like to read it!” he said.
One thing led to another and I gave him the manuscript, pictured above. I had to. There was no way I could publish this book without giving him that opportunity.
He sat down in the rocking chair in our living room on a Sunday, took the manuscript out of my hands, and laid it out on his lap.
He then proceeded to sit for several hours, and quietly turn the pages.
My friends, I will continue on Wednesday.
The Pair-Shaped Promise is available now, on Kindle and in paperback. Order your copy here!
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