Birth Announcement/Preannouncement

Wow!  I can hardly believe I am typing this post, but I just have to declare:  It Is Finished!
"What's finished?" you might wonder....THE BOOK!!!  Well, I say it's finished, at least my part of writing is finished.  I can not tell you what it feels like to have that 5-6 year old baby birthed!  I've said this before, and I'll repeat myself, I've never been pregnant and can only imagine what it feels like those last few months, but I believe I felt pretty close to that in my efforts to complete this manuscript.

   
Wrong Place at the Right Time
      How a Dose of Humility Lead to Victory

Interestingly, I was perusing the internet and stumbled onto a book writing contest with Women of Faith and Westbow Press. . .Hmm? I thought.  I read through the rules, etc and there, at the very bottom read the deadline for the contest:  January 31, 2012 11:59 EST.  What?  I couldn't believe it!  I had three days left to complete-complete my manuscript if I wanted to enter.  So for three solid days, I read, re-read and tweaked until I was able to finally give birth to one of the most challenging, yet rewarding endeavors I've ever tackled.  I was thrilled to have the opportunity to enter, even though I know its a long shot!  The grand prize winner receives a complete publishing package from Westbow Press with the option of Thomas Nelson Publisher to pick the book it up!  If I'm not the grand prize winner, that's okay too, since I have a great publisher right here in town who wants to publish it as well.  I feel it's a win-win situation, so why not give it try, right? :)

Now, let me update you on some real "birth" news. . . Gary and I are going to be grandparents!!! Yes! That's right, Bree and Daniel are expecting their first child in August!  We are so excited!  We're calling ourselves: SuSu and Poppy.  I guess we'll be called whatever comes out of the precious one's mouth, but for now, we're going with S & P!  I cannot wait to have a grandchild; everyone says its better than parenting.  Since I missed the parenting segment, I'm going straight to the best part!  I'll keep you posted when we learn if its a boy or girl. (Girl probably, surely, I hope!)  I know I will love whatever we have, but I sure do have big dreams of dressing up a little girl in some cute leopard outfits!  I don't think a little boy is going to like those outfits one bit!

God is so good and so faithful.  It's amazing how much He loves us, and we can only imagine a tiny bit of that love.  I hope you're feeling it today! :)