I’ve been holding my breath since New Year’s Eve and I can finally start letting it out. As thrilling as it’s been these last several months to hear from so many of you that you can’t wait for my book to come out, I realized that even the milestone of having it printed a few weeks ago wasn’t enough. I still felt tense. I needed to find out what people thought of it once they read it, not just that they liked the idea of the book, before I could relax. I’m starting to hear some of those comments now, and I’m overwhelmed with praise for God.

The first person who read my book in printed form was my neighbor. I gave her a copy the day after the first box arrived at my doorstep. She kept me updated with her progress report throughout the day (“I just read the part where you . . .”) and finished it that evening. And she loved it. My father, who hasn’t read anything more than Mechanics Illustrated for years, read my book in two days while they were visiting last week. I’ve heard from a few other friends who’ve read the whole thing in one or two sittings. Either that means it’s on the level of Dr. Seuss or it’s compelling. They tell me that they can’t put it down. Friends who traveled the journey with me say that they “laughed, cried, and remembered.”

That’s exactly what I hoped for. My heart is singing with gratitude to God. And the tension is melting off my shoulders.