Over the past few weeks as people have heard about my new book coming out, I’ve been getting a lot of the same question…. ”
“Why a second book?”
So I figured if a few people had this question rolling around in their minds, YOU might have wondered as well. So here are my 3 reasons….
1. I saw too much pain – I was completely unprepared for the impact that Hope is Alive had on people. The freedom and hope people experienced through the book really blew me away, but it also made me a magnet for pain. Don’t get me wrong, I’m extremely grateful that people feel so free and comfortable telling me their stories of struggle. In fact, that’s a huge part of how God has confirmed His calling on my life. But the more I experienced this, the more I understood just how hurt, broken and in pain so many people are. So I felt strongly that I needed to further develop my message, beyond just addiction, in order to help more people walk out of darkness and into the light. More people needed to know the power of HOPE and that was the main reason why I started writing again.
2. I had more to say – My first book just kind of came out of me. No real thought-out purpose or plan. God just took my scribblings and made something beautiful and useful out of it. I didn’t really take the time to sit back and think through what parts of my life I was including and what parts I wasn’t. As the book was released I realized that there were several parts of my personal story I had to tell. I sensed God had breathed a passion inside of me to talk more about the pain of my past. I felt strongly that I had to share stories that I had never exposed before. I thought, if I could be even more vulnerable and more honest about my past then just maybe I could enable others to take that same step towards freedom.
3. I said I would – You might not think this is that big of a deal. But then again you probably didn’t spend a solid decade lying to everyone you knew. Keeping my word is really important to me today. It shows me that I’ve grown, that I’ve truly changed and that all the work I’ve put into my new life was worth it. Today I want to be able to say that my words have meaning and writing a second book is proof of that. You see, I did an interview last year when Hope is Alive came out and I told the reporter that I would write another book within one year. Even when I uttered those words I was thinking to myself, “What are you saying!” But ever since that interview I knew that I had to keep my word. I had made a promise and I had to follow through. The cool thing was God was already developing a new message inside of me. He stepped in, as He always does, and showed me exactly what He wanted me to do. All I had to do was say yes.
This new book was challenge. It was tough to talk about the areas of my past that had never seen the light of day. But my hope is that just one person might find it useful. That somebody, somewhere will find the courage they’ve been lacking to pick up a phone or say a prayer and begin their journey to claim their pain and rescue their dreams!
Hope Changes Everything comes out Thursday, but you can order a copy today. Just click here: Hope Changes Everything
