Some two years ago I was going through a very difficult time. I had been sick for nearly 3 months. Sleep came to be in spurts- an hour here and an hour there. The insomnia was terrible. Many of my friends make fun of me because of my tendency to sleep in the closet, literally. This strange habit developed due to my inability to sleep longer than a couple of hours at a spell on my bed. So I would get up, throw a blanket on the closet floor, and fall back to sleep usually quite fitfully.
This lasted for another 5 months. It was the sickest I've ever been, lymph node issues, adrenal collapse, parasites, worms, lesions in my throat, systemic yeast infection, etc.. It was horrible. I trust that I will never have to endure such a season in my life.
One night I had a particularly hard bought with insomnia tossing and turning for hours on end before finally catching a few winks. When I awoke I had a thought. "You've always wanted to write a story about Africa. Why don't you take advantage of this down-time and start?"
At first, I thought that my illness was giving my some kind of brain fog. A book? What would I write about? Where would I get the ideas? If I did write it who would read it? How would I get it out? Besides that what did I know about writing books? Especially a novel?
These were all good questions. Unfortunately, my good questions almost talked me out of undertaking the endeavor. The difficult part wasn't finding time or even starting; it was getting enough motivation to actually believe that I could put together a novel. The idea had been birthed in my back in 8th grade. My teacher at the time, Mrs. Richardson, gave all of us an assignment to write a 12 to 20 page fiction story that we could develop into a novel some day.
I remember writing a short story entitled, "The Samburu Sun". During that time a desire was impressed in me to write a full novel about the Africa that I so love and cherish. Several years later I read parts of "The Shack," and thought "hmm... how cool would it be to write an African allegory with spiritual components." Then, several years ago in Dar Es Salaam, my good friend Ron Johns introduced me to another allegorical masterpiece by a Brazilian author talking about the importance of finding of the purpose for one's life. At that moment I determined that I would write a book that combined all three elements: fictional Africa, spiritual parallels, and quest for individual destiny.
The dreams was in my heart, but the motivation to write no where to be found mainly because of fear and insecurity. At my very lowest point physically and emotionally the Lord gave me the strength to start writing. Slowly, the dream in my heart from my pre-teen days took shape. I wrote with the intentions of keeping it short. The more I wrote though, the more the story came to life and I felt as though I was writing something far bigger than myself. It was a story with a message for anyone who had ever dared to dream a dream bigger than themselves, only to feel everything internally and externally trying to thwart and crush that dream.
This past week the story came back from the editor. The Dream from Africa is now a reality. It is finally ready to be distributed. I will start by uploading a digital version via Amazon in the next few days. Then, possibly a hard-copy depending on demand. Some 20 years after the Lord first placed it in my heart, my dream to write a novel has finally become a reality. I want to encourage you today, not to sit idly on your dream, but to press forward and bring it to pass.
This lasted for another 5 months. It was the sickest I've ever been, lymph node issues, adrenal collapse, parasites, worms, lesions in my throat, systemic yeast infection, etc.. It was horrible. I trust that I will never have to endure such a season in my life.
One night I had a particularly hard bought with insomnia tossing and turning for hours on end before finally catching a few winks. When I awoke I had a thought. "You've always wanted to write a story about Africa. Why don't you take advantage of this down-time and start?"
At first, I thought that my illness was giving my some kind of brain fog. A book? What would I write about? Where would I get the ideas? If I did write it who would read it? How would I get it out? Besides that what did I know about writing books? Especially a novel?
These were all good questions. Unfortunately, my good questions almost talked me out of undertaking the endeavor. The difficult part wasn't finding time or even starting; it was getting enough motivation to actually believe that I could put together a novel. The idea had been birthed in my back in 8th grade. My teacher at the time, Mrs. Richardson, gave all of us an assignment to write a 12 to 20 page fiction story that we could develop into a novel some day.
I remember writing a short story entitled, "The Samburu Sun". During that time a desire was impressed in me to write a full novel about the Africa that I so love and cherish. Several years later I read parts of "The Shack," and thought "hmm... how cool would it be to write an African allegory with spiritual components." Then, several years ago in Dar Es Salaam, my good friend Ron Johns introduced me to another allegorical masterpiece by a Brazilian author talking about the importance of finding of the purpose for one's life. At that moment I determined that I would write a book that combined all three elements: fictional Africa, spiritual parallels, and quest for individual destiny.
The dreams was in my heart, but the motivation to write no where to be found mainly because of fear and insecurity. At my very lowest point physically and emotionally the Lord gave me the strength to start writing. Slowly, the dream in my heart from my pre-teen days took shape. I wrote with the intentions of keeping it short. The more I wrote though, the more the story came to life and I felt as though I was writing something far bigger than myself. It was a story with a message for anyone who had ever dared to dream a dream bigger than themselves, only to feel everything internally and externally trying to thwart and crush that dream.
This past week the story came back from the editor. The Dream from Africa is now a reality. It is finally ready to be distributed. I will start by uploading a digital version via Amazon in the next few days. Then, possibly a hard-copy depending on demand. Some 20 years after the Lord first placed it in my heart, my dream to write a novel has finally become a reality. I want to encourage you today, not to sit idly on your dream, but to press forward and bring it to pass.
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