The biggest change this past year was a move that almost felt like an international move although it’s not. We lived in the Washington D.C. region for the past seven years, and recently my husband accepted a job transfer to Hawaii! We will live in the Honolulu area for the foreseeable future. Throughout the fall and into the holidays, we focused on packing, preparing, and downsizing. We are excited about this new phase of our lives, although the preparations for the move were very stressful. Now that we have arrived in Hawaii, I’ve been able to rest more, and have been working on my writing projects while my husband is focusing on his job. Above all, we believe that God opened up this door of opportunity for us and that he has a new and refreshing season ahead for us.

The second big thing is a project that has been marinating in my mind for a while. Several years ago, I wrote to the bulk of a manuscript for a book that I felt like I should publish as close to the dead of winter as possible, because I believe that it’s one that needs to hit the press when readers are feeling the winter blues. It’s a book meant to be read while sipping a warm beverage in a cozy room (although, let’s be honest, if you like to read as I do, a book can be read any time and any place!) The words in my latest manuscript are meant for those whose perspective is bleak, because I fought winter blues and I struggled to see God doing good things during years of infertility, during financial struggles, and for several years while feeling like life wasn’t what I had hoped and dreamed that it could be. Even though my life looks “sunny” now that I live in Hawaii, it’s still imperfect, there are still “barren places,” and I still must choose to focus on the goodness of God.

I wrote the words in that book while my husband and I were childless and struggling to find the right job. During those years, God was constantly prompting me to look for and recognize his beauty in barren places. He showed me over and over again, through nature, circumstances, and ordinary days that I can see His goodness here in the land of the living.

If this book interests you, please subscribe to my email list, and keep an eye on my posts so that you can grab a copy as soon as it is available! I am prayerfully deciding whether it should be published this spring or this fall.