One Year In, Fruit is Flowing

One year ago, August 5, 2018, I was finally able to hold the first copy of Finding Joy Beyond The Headlines.

It was pretty cool to pull my author copy out of the box. I remember how smooth and glossy it looked and felt. The gray TV set really popped off that black background. I had no idea what fruit would grow from that book and the idea God rooted in my heart the summer before.

I will be honest. I haven’t sold as many copies of the book as I would have liked. I set very ambitious goals and have not hit those yet. I’m not discouraged. Instead, I am hopeful and continue to pray that this book gets into the proper hands at the proper time. The book’s impact is in God’s sovereign hands.

That said, I am SO uplifted by what has bloomed from the book since it was launched on September 12, 2018. We have sold over 600 copies and impacted people’s lives in tangible ways. I’ve been asked to speak at multiple churches and delivered the message of God’s available joy to hundreds of people. Readers have donated money to support Mike Abramowitz’s non-profit,

PB&J For Tampa Bay, which makes sandwiches and hands them out to the homeless one Sunday per month. That money will supply OVER 1,000 sandwiches for those in need!! Mike is now nearing 100,000 donated sandwiches since starting his mission in 2015. You can watch his original TV story here and read about it in the AMBITION chapter of FJBTH.

The impact of this book has already left a mark on people and I’m thankful for that. I don’t know what God has in store for this book. I don’t know and I am not worried. If I never sell another copy, I’ll know that I was obedient to the call God placed on my heart – to remind people that even on our darkest days, within our bleakest newscasts, God is STILL THERE, offering us joyful news at every turn.

I pray that if you have a copy of the book, you glance over it again when you’re feeling down and depressed by the news cycle. Heaven knows this past weekend was unsettling and even overwhelming. Dozens of people were killed by mass shooters. Lives were disrupted and destroyed by the evils that lurk in the shadows. Our world is a crumbling, broken place but our God is a steadfast, unchanging refuge who holds us during our suffering. He sends us joy in our lowest moments.

If you do not have a copy of the book, please get one for either yourself or someone you know who needs a spiritual pick-me-up. Let’s encourage others to link in love. It’s God’s command after all (John 15:17). There is joy available to all of us. God knows we need it.

Psalm 16:11 “You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with the JOY of your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.”