One More Dose of Humility. . . Oh! Please Pick Me!

What is the best way to make sure a first-time author does NOT have a run-in with pride after completing their book?

Answer:  Print the first edition with a misspelled word on the cover! 

NO! I am not kidding!

The day of my birthday and first book-signing, I had 100 books 2-day air shipped to my house for the evening's events.  Although nervous about the book finally being "out there" for all to read, I was also excited about having friends over for the celebration of its release.  (Really, just a great excuse to throw a birthday party for myself-have I mentioned I LOVE birthdays?)

Okay, so rewind to about 10:30 that morning...on my way to Home Depot, I get a call from my dear friend Twilla, who has not slept all night because her Eagle-Eye husband, Joe, found the error the night before and Twilla was just sick about it, but knew she had to tell me.  It's never a good thing to be the bearer of bad news, but somebody had to do it and I'm glad she did.

Here's how it all went down:

Twilla:  Dawn, I hate to tell you this, but there's a misspelled word on your cover.
Dawn:  What!? You have got to be kidding me?  What word?  (Immediate nausea bubbles up in my stomach to the point I think I might be sick.)
Twilla:  Are you ready for this?  Humility
Dawn:  Oh my gosh, this is horrible!  I need to call Dee, my publisher and see what I need to do.
Twilla:  I am so sorry to be the one to tell you this.
Dawn:  It's okay, I need to know.  (Total despair sinking in right about now.)  We hung up.

Talking out loud to God, I began asking Him what on Earth am I supposed to do, all the while, feeling embarrassed, stupid (I'd only looked at that manuscript 1000 times!), and wanting to burn the whole 100 books that would be coming later.  I was a mixture of mad, disappointed, and ashamed of such a mistake....I was being awfully hard on myself, but ultimately, it was my responsibility to catch that error.

I called Dee, my publisher, and she was shocked initially as I was.  She was sorry that she hadn't caught the word misspelling either, but noted that these things do sometimes happen.  She offered a couple of suggestions and options for the night's Book release.

With my stomach in a huge knot the size of Dallas, I seriously thought I was going to get sick in the Home Depot parking lot.  "Lord, what on Earth do I do with this?  How do I handle this?"  Deep within the recesses of my heart, I knew there was something more to just a misspelled word on the cover of this book.  I knew it, but I was somewhat afraid to say it.

My next phone call was to Paula, my spiritual mentor.  I explain the situation to her and she was shocked as well because she's already received her book from Amazon and didn't notice any misspelled word on the cover. (Neither did anyone else, except for Eagle-Eye Joe.)  Paula told me she immediately heard 'laughter.'....Not at me, but with me...that God was going to use this for His glory. She could see God's sense of humor in all this and what better way or word to be spelled wrong than humility, since that is the message.

God was in control and is in control of the book and how He wants to use it.  It is such a perfect message about what the book is about.  He doesn't make mistakes.  I think it has a purpose.  You should definitely use it in your speaking engagements!  People use words in strange spellings to make a point...point made!  You know it's not your book or your message, but His.

After talking and praying with Paula, I felt much better. The truth was, a small amount of pride had crept into my spirit about completing the book.  I mean, I was not only thankful it was completed because it had taken so long and so much emotional work.  But pride started to creep in and I believe this was one way to make sure I NEVER felt any pride about this book-EVER!  This IS God's book.  There is no way I could have ever finished it without His guidance, and Gary's love.  The book is about humility and I want to stay humble, even if I have to be completely embarrassed to accomplish that feat.

God also whispered this in my heart:  "Dawn, you're not perfect and I can use you to glorify My Name.  This book isn't perfect either, but I can use it just as well."

My hope has always been that someone would read the book and from it feel hope where there had been none before; or someone would understand that God loves them right where they are, just how they are.  I'm banking on that being God's hope for the book as well.

Karen and Me

That evening, I told my friends the story about the day, and the imperfect version of the book that was there for them to buy, OR they could wait for the corrected version and I would completely understand if they wanted to wait.  No one wanted to wait.  They ALL wanted the "imperfect" version.  Not sure it was even possible, but I was humbled even more.

For all of you who ordered your copy from Amazon, you too, have the "Limited Edition" version.  I would be more than happy to trade your copy out for the 2nd Edition with the corrected cover, please contact me at: dawntwells@yahoo.com if you want to trade out.

I thank God for His sense of humor and funny ways of reminding me Who He is, and who I am.  I truly am laughing out loud at the whole ordeal now, which is a long way from how I felt at about 10:35 last Thursday morning.  In the whole scheme of life, one letter, missing from the word "humility" is not that big of a deal....but isn't it interesting that the one letter missing was the letter 'I'?

The Book Is Complete

I can honestly say, I'm good at starting projects, but not that great at finishing them.  I enjoy promoting ideas, but I'm not always the best implementer, especially to the end.  But, I am so thankful to report, that just a few days before my 47th birthday, I can say that I have finished something that I started several years ago.  THE BOOK!

Yes, it is finished and on sale now at www.amazon.com-finally!  When this whole process started over five years ago from a whisper from God, I first thought, "yea, I'll have this done in a few months and printed within a year."  Wow! Was I ever so wrong.  What I didn't know then is how difficult it is to write a book about events that weren't even close to being healed.  I have no doubt that God's plan was to take me through my childhood while I wrote and wrote and wrote and heal the deeply stuffed wounds I'd carried around for so many years.

I say this often, I am NOT the same person I was before February 23, 2003.  That was the day I surrendered EVERYTHING to Jesus.  But you know what?  I am not even the same person I was when I began to write the book, sometime in 2006.  God has transformed me even more than I thought possible and healed hurts and wounds I didn't even know existed!

It's said that everyone has a book inside them.  I completely agree!  One never knows what's lurking underneath years and years of stuffing, denying or ignorance, but if there is something there that needs to be healed, just start writing. . . you will be amazed at how God can heal the wounds that are tilled up by writing.

"A professional writer is an amateur who didn't quit." - Richard Bach

I have that quote taped to my desk and look at it often.  For many years, I didn't really believe it. 

I do now.  

Below is a link to my book on Amazon.  I would be most grateful if you checked it out.  

Be blessed, friend. :)

http://www.amazon.com/Wrong-Place-at-Right-Time/dp/1934606391/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1334850537&sr=8-2

Unexplainable Peace

The last box has been unpacked; a sigh of relief exhaled.  There is something about moving that seems to upset, turn over, dump me out like a 1000 piece puzzle in an overturned box.  Yet, I find myself only days after moving in, having a state of unexplainable peace swirling around me.  This move was much harder on Gary than me so I've prayed constantly for him...that he would let go of our old house and embrace our new "cottage."  Also, that he would feel peaceful and at home here, too.  Over the last few days, his comments have been such as, "I'm really growing fond of this place. . .This place is growing on me. . .I like this place. . ."   You get my point.  Only God could bring Gary to that landmark of peace, I certainly couldn't, no matter what I tried, and believe me, I tried.  I'm reminded, (once again), I am not his Holy Spirit and I cannot convict him to be at peace with something.  However, I can pray that God will send His Spirit and bring peace to Gary and did He ever!

This morning, we enjoyed quiet moments together reading the Word, praying and then silence. . .ten solid minutes of intentional silence.  It was beautiful.  When the timer went off on my phone, I couldn't believe ten minutes had passed...I wasn't through being quiet, for goodness sake! :)

It seems, Gary and I both feel this flooding peace. . . a "slowing down" of sorts already.  I can't explain why but I certainly know "Who."  God is a God of love and peace.  As we intentionally seek a simpler, down-sized life, peace has an open door and its presence is ushered in.  It truly is priceless.  May He keep you in perfect peace friend.

"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in You."

Isaiah 26:3

All Moved In . . .

We made it!  We survived the downsize and the move and I am delighted!  I can say that now.  Now that I have unpacked the boxes we brought to our "summer cottage", but I have to say....while I watched 4 guys fill up a 10 x 30 storage building with all the things we didn't "need"...I began to feel disgusted and nauseated.  It was unbelievable to watch that space fill up with things from the attic, bedrooms, kitchen...every room of the house...with items we DIDN'T need!  Obviously, there are items in there I'd never wish to get rid of, especially the box of old letters I found to my mom...but seriously?  A 10 x 30 storage unit?  That's the type of "excess" that I feel has been weighing me down.  The reason I say that, is because, after being at our new pad (1600 square feet of quaintness)...I don't have a "heavy" feeling anymore.  In fact, I feel much "lighter" than I have in quite some time!

There are so many aspects about our 2 bedroom/2 bath rental that I absolutely adore, such as: How I can look out the patio doors to the very sweet back yard where there is one flower bed, (very low maintenance) where my bird feeder attracts the sweetest birds that I can watch.  How my desk and Gary's desk fit in the same room (albeit, the living room) and we can be together while working on our computers.  The huge window in our bathroom that over looks the backyard as well with a great view of the bird feeders.  The location of the condo is fabulous as well.  Gary and I have lived far north or far south, but now we are centrally located and it is wonderful.  We actually walked to a Mexican food restaurant the other night, (good thing we walked, because we seriously indulged in some great food at El Braceros.) :)

The compact, quaint, intimacy of this place is something I've longed for and now it is here.  Shorty and Lovey have a small yard just off the kitchen patio which is also great.  I leave the door cracked open for them to come and go while I'm in the kitchen.  Yesterday, Lovey was laid out on the cool grass for a little siesta...didn't take her long to adjust.  Shorty, well, she's a different story.  Even though I leave the patio door open for her to come in, she keeps bumping her head on the glass door.  Maybe a slight problem with depth perception...?  She is almost 15!

No one could pay me to move back into a 3600 square foot house...for me, it was quite overrated.  One of my favorite houses I ever lived in was on Fannin Street...I called it "Fannin Country Club."  I loved that little house; all 1210 square feet of it. 

The song lyrics, "we need to get back to the basics of life. . ." keep running through my mind, along with, "...I'm walking on sunshine, yeaaaa! and its time to feel good!!!!"  If that doesn't say where my state of being is now, I don't know what else could....

All is well on this journey to simplify....my goal is still to have a:

Simply Abundant Holy Life

I am very blessed indeed. :)