Well, my story is back with the editor and the book is moving forward. 10 authors will be included, and all the stories will be about mother/daughter relationships. I am so looking forward to reading it. I also learned yesterday that Deliver Me: Hope, Help, & Healing through True Stories of Unplanned Pregnancy
I’ve been watching a dear freind pursue a post abortion healing class recently, and have been reminded again of how hard Satan will fight to keep a woman or man from finding freedom from this pain. She has had every road block imagineable thrown in her way. If he couldn’t use her own schedule to make her give up, he has tried to use other women in the class which have delayed the start date. I have admired in silence her perserverance. Let’s face it, digging into one of the most painful decisions a woman can make is never something to look forward to. It takes sheer grit and courage to take that first step and agree with God that healing is needed. It seems so much easier to keep pushing the pain back and telling yourself you are okay. It is important for a post abotive woman to expect this kind of thing when they finally decide to face an abortion. She should know that Satan will try to prevent, delay, and discourage her. Thank goodness that He who is in us is greater than He who is in the world and that we can cast our care upon God because He cares for us and will make a way for His will to be accomplished. So keep perservering and following God’s leading toward healing and freedom!
I heard from the publisher today and the compilation is a go! the anticipated release date is Mother’s Day 2012. She’s allowing me 10,000 words which means a much larger amount of my story will get told than in the smaller publications I have been in so far! All of the stories included will be about healing Mother/Daughter relationships. How exciting to be a part of something that will help women and what a great planned release date!
After my story was published in Dianne E. Butts’s new book “Deliver Me.” I received an email from a fellow contributer. She commented that she and another pregnancy center volunteer had cried when they read my story. She told me, “To share your story so openly is God’s gift to you.” She then went on to talk about how most women are afraid to tell their stories. They fear judgement, both of themselves and their families.
The most unexpected thing I have discovered is that sharing my story has only provoked kindness from others. One blogger posted that he or she found me “nieve.” But truly, in almost seven years of sharing my story at churches, conferences, in print and through this blog, that is the most “negative” comment I have received.
Perhaps this is because If pro choicers find my pro life position frustrating, I can only respond that experience has changed my opinion about abortion. My abortion did hurt me, and my mission is to spare other women from being in the dark about how abortion can impact them negatively. I realize that not EVERY woman suffers from an abortion, but those that do, suffer greatly and this is preventable. Likewise, If pro lifers find my past angering, I can only respond that I too regret my abortion and now am trying to help other women either heal from a past abortion or avoid one in the first place.
In the end, I am just an ordinary woman who is willing to share my own shame to help others, to save lives, to heal lives and to glorify God. Is that courageous? I think it is just the right thing to do.
Sounds like I might have an opportunity for my story to appear in a compilation with three other authors on the topic of healing mother and child relationships. It will need to be shortened to 10,000 words, but it is a longer version than has yet been published so I am very excited!
I gave the five chapters I have finished to my mom to read last week. I found that a bit hard to do…not sure why. I guess I was nervous abut what she would say. She is an avid reader and likes biographical stories, but this is MY story. She called my book a “page turner” and told me she stayed up late one night to finish a chapter becasue she was so into the story. She didn’t like the informational chapters as much as the story chapters, however. She suggested the book almost be split into two halves…the story chapters and the healing chapters grouped together rather than a story chapter followed by a healing chapter, which is my format at this time. Interesting perspective. The story chapters are written in a fiction style with rich metaphors while the healing chapters focus on the research related to post abortion and offer suggestions for moving through the healing process.
Wow…I am finding it hard to get my writing in this summer with the kids home all of the time. My writing time during the school year is a short 2 and 1/2 hour period when both kids are at school and my husband is at work. This summer everyone is home, and it is making it hard to get that writing done. I did hear from one of the publishers that I submitted my book proposal to and they have a similar book already in the works. I will be sending a reminder email to the other publisher this week and submitting to a third publisher as well. I hope I can reach my goals of getting all of this done this week.
I wrote about forgiveness today. The fourth chapter in my book addresses this important issue in response to forgiving those involved with an abortion decision and forgiving ourselves.
I have struggled with forgiveness in the past because I felt I “had to” forgive, after all, God commands it. I have learned, however, that we cannot force ourselves to forgive. It must occur in an atmosphere of freedom; it must be a choice. God commands us to forgive because He knows to hold onto bitterness will only hurt us. It has been said that refusing to forgive is like drinking poison and hoping someone else will die. Still, I MUST know that I have the choice NOT to forgive before I can make the choice TO forgive. When I make the volitional choice to move forward with my life for my own benefit, I am half way to letting go of my bitterness.
Are you forcing yourself to forgive for someone else’s sake? Do you feel obligated to forgive? Give yourself permission to choose forgiveness for you and you alone!
I made my first submission of my book proposal and sample chapters to Kregal publishing last week. I plan to submit to Oaktara and have requested permission to sumbit to Regal books as well. It will be interesting to see where the book lands and if it is picked up….
Sing O Barren Woman is on its way to Kegel books. It will be interesting to see what God does with this manuscript.
One woman who recently read my story in Dianne Butt’s new book Deliver Me, wrote that it was God’s gift to me to share my story fearlessly. Perhaps I am strange (or mabe a bit daft) but it has never occured to me to be afraid to share my story. I guess if people want to judge me for having had an abortion in light of what I have written about it, that is beyond my control. I am way more concerned about the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of women and men who are post abortive and suffering and they don’t need to be!
