Waiting for Peace will be released on Wednesday, April 24! You can pre-order the Kindle version NOW Right here:
The link for the paperback version ($8.99) will go live on April 24.
Thank you for your prayers. This is both a big relief and very exciting. Every step of the way with the book has taken longer than I thought, and there is always something more urgent to take priority. I’m excited to finally make it available to be a blessing to others.
Why April 24? Well, first of all, I have to say that April 24 will always be significant to me because it’s my best buddy Dwayne’s birthday (and his Mom’s too). Dwayne was a friend not only through childhood, but still to this day. Though we live far apart, we check up on each other and Dwayne has been one of the first people I call and a blessed friend through all our trials.
But I wasn’t necessarily trying to honor Dwayne with this release date. Instead, I was thinking of April 24, 2019, five years ago. In the book, I share an anecdote about that day. Just the week before we had received Ember’s diagnosis of osteopetrosis. While it brought us some hope, we also realized how serious things were and our emotions were fragile. Breeze took Ember to an appointment with the GI specialist that morning and it did not go well. The doctor was not understanding and kind, and had not done research on this rare disease nor had anything helpful to offer. I was not with Breeze at the appointment, but she called me at work afterwards and gave me the update in tears. We were at our whits’ end and it was one of our lowest points. I couldn’t handle the emotions so I left my desk and went out to my car to pray and cry. I opened up the Psalter (via an app on my phone) and I sang the rendition of Psalm 22 that we had learned as a family. And in the midst of all that emotion… I was startled. That intense hurt and longing and overflowing emotion was already right there in the words of the Psalm:
My God, my God, to you I cry.
O why have you forsaken me?
Why are you far from giving help,
and from my agonizing plea?
Could it be that God knew how I felt? That in fact, David felt that way when he wrote the Psalm, and later, most unbelievably of all, Jesus himself felt that pain when he quoted it on the cross. Our Savior is also our greatest empathizer. And just as he felt that pain, he can also carry us through that pain. The Bible is not some distant book of stories or rules. It is our loving Father speaking to us, and in some cases, giving us the words to speak that give voice to our deepest and most anguished emotions. Even when we think our emotions are too much to handle, they are not too much for him.
And so my hope is that this book will also give words to those who are struggling, and will point you back to God, who is the one that can bring you through.
I hope the book is a blessing to many. You can get yours on April 24.