Have a Mary Christmas

At this time of year, let us remember Mary. She was an unmarried woman who was chosen to carry the Messiah, and it was her singleness that qualified her. We musn’t forget God has a plan for us right here, right now in this season – wedding ring or no wedding ring.

This is what I wrote in my diary four years ago:

Have you given me an early Christmas present?? Like the one you gave to Mary. Have you given me something to carry and give birth to? Like Mary, nothing in my life seems terrible conducive to this. I’m young (ish), single and pretty hard up in the money stakes. But yet that doesn’t matter to you, only me. Don’t let those nagging voices of doubt drown out your voice of purpose. Don’t let me talk and reason myself out of this. You have put this in me. Help me deliver it. Don’t let anyone else write this book. 

Four years on and I did write that book. I’ve held it in my hand and have seen others hold it in their hands.

We must allow Him to plant a dream inside us and we must be willing to carry it through to completion.

Like Mary, this Christmas, may we respond, “Let it be to me according to Your Word” (Luke 1:38).

I pray you have a Mary Christmas.

Lisa Jane xx

Overwhelmed

It’s Monday morning and I am overwhelmed! I am overwhelmed by the support I have received from my friends and family regarding the release of my book. i am literally blown away! The kindness is awesome. The belief in me is incredible. Thank you.

But can I be honest? I am also overwhelmed on another level. I feel like \I have put my heart and soul in the writing of the book that I have run out of steam and I have no margin left for the promoting/marketing of the book. Honestly, I don’t have it in me to be enthusiastic anymore. I know this is the time when I need to be most enthusiastic but really don’t have that capacity right now, and as a friend said to me last night I need to sit in my pyjamas for two weeks and eat junk food and watch junk TV. Thank God it’s Christmas and I get to do that legitimately along with the rest of the world. 

Can I ask a favour of you? As my enthusiasm is waning can I draw on yours? 

If you are reading the book and you come across something you like could you take a photo or write a quote and put it on Facebook or Twitter along with the hashtag #thewomanontheshelf ??? 
If you have purchased the book, take a wee selfie with you and the cover and put it on FB, Twitter or Instagram along with said hashtag or tag me in the picture.
You can go on to the FB page of The Woman on the Shelf and share the quotes that are already up there. 
You can go to the amazon page where you can purchase the book and share that page on your social media.
These may seem like small things but its all ways spreading the word about the book – because it is good and there is truth in there that people need to hear. 

After Christmas I will put on an event to celebrate the book and thank everyone for the part they have played in it, but in the meantime all these little things would really be awesome.

The Best Kind of Emptiness

So I have finished my book and I’m sitting here with nothing to do which is a weird feeling because for the past four years I’ve always had something to do. The book was always there in the background. Even if I wasn’t working on it (which was quite often) I always as though I should have been working on it. But now it’s done. Finished. Published. I’m feeling strangely empty. But it’s the best kind of emptiness. Not the emptiness of never being filled but the emptiness of being full and pouring out every last remaining fragment. I could not have given any more. I’m completely undone. To date, 16 people have downloaded The Woman on the Shelf. I know I’m not exactly going to hit the New York Times bestseller list with those kinds of numbers, but huge sales was never my goal. It was about seeing through what God had asked of me. There is a huge sense of satisfaction that comes from starting something and seeing it through to the end. This was something I have never been particularly good at until now. But now I can say that I have done it. God asked me to do something and I did it. That’s what writing this book was about for me. Plus I had something to say and I said it. If you feel you have something to say you need to say it. Maybe it’s an email, a text, a phone call, a tweet or maybe you’re crazy enough like I was and you’ll write a book. Whatever you have to say and however you say it, don’t be silent. Someone needs to hear you – even if it’s you.