We made it!
After 90 days of calendar blistering book tour, we’re able to look back and celebrate. Our family is not in tatters; we had some great time together during the tour and we had been preparing and planning for this for a long time, so we made it and we’re celebrating together. That is a great joy — and an accomplishment for us!
But what else can we say about the book tour? Here are a few things:
I thoroughly enjoy getting to meet real people. Traveling around on book tour (or any of my other usual speaking engagements) enables me to meet people. I get to know your names (maybe if only for an evening) and hear your stories. I’m unbelievably introverted and these spaces certainly don’t energize me, but they do carry immense value for me personally. It would be very easy for me to sit in my office and studio, creating content and feeling good about myself, but getting to meet all of you reminds me of a lot of things. Namely…
People are what matter to God, not the substance of the content. Granted, this isn’t an either/or scenario, but if the content matters, it’s because it makes a difference to people. God cares about people more than information. Hearing your stories and how the podcast or book has changed you or a relationship with a family member is enough to help me endure an awful lot of angry emails.
Most of us are asking very similar questions. At almost every event we hosted a time of discussion and Q&A. I can tell you that many of the same questions showed up across the country. We are all dealing with many of the same things; we aren’t crazy and we aren’t alone.
Because of this, my creative juices are on fire. I love the challenge of doing something new with my creative endeavors. It’s a part of what fuels my passion. Being able to publish my first book and make it through the entire process was life-giving. The fact that this process got to end with me hanging out with so many of you only stoked the fire of creativity and ideas. My tank wasn’t running on empty by any means, but we topped it off anyway.
All of this leads me to say THANK YOU! Thank you to all of you who came out to a book tour event near you (or drove for 5+ hours to come and shake a hand and introduce yourself). Thank you for promoting the events and commenting on the posts. Thank you to the book launch team who made the launch of my very first book a bigger success than it ever would have been without you. And thanks to everyone who bought a copy (or ten to give away), to everyone who listens to the podcasts or watches the YouTube videos, and to everyone who engages in BEMA with other people.
It’s the Spirit of God working in all of you that makes our ministry what it is. May we all remember this always.
