The Hard Kind of Good

I say this because I know what I am planning for you,” says the Lord. “I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future.

- Jeremiah 29:11

Hey fellow Wait-ers. I have some good news. (Like, really good.) ✨

A year ago, I started this book publishing journey for Waiting On Wonders with this little blog. I set my gaze on a publish date for a book, worked with a hybrid publisher and hit my deadlines to publish on March 1. Since then, you have come out in spades to support this project. Every.single.day. I'm undone by your comments and posts about how the book spoke to you that day. (And please don't stop... I'm WILDLY encouraged by every.single.one. and cannot tell you how much they all mean to me).

Early in 2022 as I signed a publishing agreement, I declared that if I sold 500 copies total over the lifespan of the book and saw my title on Amazon, I'd be thrilled. This would be hard - but truly good if it actually happened. Well, thanks to the Lord and so many of you, we've kind of blown this out of the water (insert the tears right here).

As of this week - only 3 weeks since launch - we've sold OVER 1000 copies of the book and not only did I see my title on Amazon, but for a whole day it sat at #3 on new releases.

Y'all.

I just can't.

Let me tell you why this is so incredible. For a variety of reasons, I opted to not publish traditionally. I am not backed by a large publishing house that has the millions of buckaroos behind marketing and promotion and distribution. It's just little ol' me and all of you getting the word out there. There is no fancy marketing plan or book tour or massive marketing budget. This is hard, but good. It's me behind a computer and you in front of yours just talking about it with your friends —OVER 1000 of them!

90% of books published in the way I've chosen to publish only sell 250 copies in the lifespan of the book. (Read that again.)Are you catching this?! We (the Lord and you and me) have sold over 1000 in just 3 weeks!! Praise goes to the Lord and His kindness that I just can't understand. Why he would choose to use me in the middle of my life to write a little book that is resonating with men and women around the globe is beyond me, but I'm in awe by it and HERE FOR ALL OF IT. It's hard to understand, but it's good. All I can say is thank you. Thank you to a good Father and to good, faithful Wait-ers like you. I'm so crazy grateful.

My dear friend, Jenna Surratt, recently just laid out a challenge as it relates to Ephesians 3:20. (Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.) She boldly asked, "Why are we not asking or imagining?" This sentence has been ringing in my ears for the last two weeks. So today, I'm asking and imagining these hard, but good, big things for this little book - and I'd love for you to do the same.

Here's my new goal: I'd like to sell 5000 copies before Christmas. That will be 5000 people who learn more about experiencing God's presence in everyday moments. This one is a stretch goal for sure, but not outside of the "immeasurably more" that I believe is possible. You'll see me tag #wow5000 on social media going forward, feel free to use it when you post and tag about the book (and thank you for doing so)!

Let's see how far we can take this thing! Are you up for it? Keep sharing, tagging, commenting and telling your world. I'd love to see God get as much honor through this devotional as possible and see Him move in ways we could never ask or imagine.

The Other Kind of Good

In light of all of that great news, we've also been walking through some other "hard kind of good" things as well in our personal lives. I've been watching the Lord roll the highs of the last three weeks and the lows of regular life all together and allow our hearts hold it all and let the the messy pieces have their moment. (A theme you'll see in Week 4 / Day Two of the book - are you there yet?) It's important to have both, the good kind of hard and the hard kind of good, and I'm learning God has purpose in each one.

The messy and meaningful - the miraculous and the mundane - it's all good. All these normal events are what make up the moments in our lives and where He wants to meet with us every day. Let's be found wide-awake to what He wants to say to us through it all.

Thank you for celebrating with me, pushing for #wow5000 and for believing with me that the hard kind of good, truly is.

How We Wait Today ✨:

How many of you can agree that much of what we would call “good” in our lives today was hard to see in the moment in was happening? Are you there now? That said, would you also agree that most of the best, the deepest, often most meaningful things that happen in us - those things that ultimately formed steel in us after all the tears dry- don’t come from the skipping-along-days? No matter what side of "good" you're on, His plans for us are just that—good. And if He's calling it good - I know we can take Him at His word.