By Sarah Van Diest, @SarahVanDiest
My brother asked me this the other day, “Are you just bursting for April 3rd?” He asked because April 3rd is the release date for my first book, God in the Dark, and why shouldn’t I be “bursting?” It’s a tremendous honor and blessing, to be sure.
But I had to think about it. Was I bursting?
And this is how my answer came back to me:
I didn’t know.
It actually sounds a little sad to me to get to April 3rd. I’ve loved my launch team so very much and the small, intimate community we’ve built. Moving on from there to a land of who-knows-what doesn’t sound so appealing to me at the moment. I love where I am.
But then I have to laugh because before the launch team started, I was in love with the small, intimate group I had with my editors, Caitlyn and Robin, and my publisher, Don, and a few others. I didn’t want to leave that lovely place and move into the unknown of the launch team.
And then I laugh at myself again because before that I so loved the small, intimate group of the original recipient of the letters (which make up this book), and my husband who also read them. I loved that community so much and couldn’t imagine anything better.
And if I am truly honest, I can go back one more step, to when the letters sat on my computer screen and they were there just for me. Hitting send to share them with another set of eyes was not easy, but the hope that they might bring light to another’s world pushed me on. I believed, or rather hoped, that they might help, so I sent them. And they did their job.
As I recounted this chronology in my mind I was drawn to a verse I used in the original letters: Psalm 119:32 “I shall run the way of Your commandments, for You will enlarge my heart.” Woah! I have lived this. It is true! It was nothing I did, beyond the faith of a mustard seed that the words I had written might bring light to another, which enlarged my heart. It was the Father himself gently stretching the boundaries of my heart to hold so much more than I could have imagined. I feel as if my heart is bursting – and in the best sense possible.
I do not know what the future holds, but April 3rd will come and go, and the Father holds the days of my life in his hands. He has already enlarged my heart far beyond what I even thought I wanted. And I am forever thankful.
I am so grateful for his care, and for his wisdom. He knows. He understands. And he is kind.
Trust the hand of the Father today. Follow where he leads you. Let him enlarge your heart, for he is faithful to his word.
Educated as a teacher, Sarah taught school for nearly 20 years. As a young woman, she lived in China amid the rice paddies and water buffalo near Changsha, and then later taught English in Costa Rica for four years and raised her two sons.
Sarah is married for the second time, the mother of 2 boys and the step-mother to 3 more. She and her husband, David, work together in their agency The Van Diest Literary Agency. Her full name is Sarah Ruth Gerke Van Diest. She’s 5’5” and cuts her hair when stress overtakes her.
She is a freelance editor (including a New York Times and USA Today bestseller), blogger (The Write Conversation) and writer for hire. Her first book releases with NavPress in 2018.
http://christianliteraryagency.com/
The Conversation
Sarah, my most unexpected surprise as a new writer has been the relationships I’ve been blessed with. I wrote my book in isolation and with zero knowledge of the publishing world. I had no idea such a community existed and can’t imagine writing now without it. As for bursting for a book launch, I hope I can speak on behalf of your launch team and say, “Oh, yes, we are!” 🙂
Beautiful, Karen!!! I just love how the Father works!!!!
Thank you for these words and thank you for writing your book, as well. It was faith – and the Father’s faithfulness, I’m sure, that kept you company in that isolation.
Honored to be walking this road with you, my friend!
Never alone,
Sara