Never Give Up

I’m afraid I fall into the big red section of Writing Statistics. Yup. I’m one of the 55% of writers who have taken ten years or more to get a manuscript accepted.

My mother visited recently. Some of you know Sally, so it won’t surprise you to read the quote she repeated during a lull in a Rummikub game. Someone was taking “too long” to complete their turn.

She said the words in the strict, firm voice we all know and “love.” I’m not quite sure why she said it. It might have been to encourage herself that bragging rights to the game might, in fact, be hers if she didn’t allow herself to become discouraged by what looked like a certain loss, again.

It could have been because she is nearing her eighty-sixth birthday and felt the need to impart wisdom to her daughter, granddaughter, grandson-in-law, and one year old great grandson, who sat in his high chair eating his nightly dessert of yogurt and berries.

Perhaps the thought merely slipped into her brain and she blurted it out for no apparent reason.

However the quote happened to spill out into the room—the words hit home.

(She did not coin this phrase. I have looked for the originator of the full quote and it is unclear to me who first said it.)

I confess that before I heard those words, I felt like giving up.

I looked at my Mom. She usually won at Rummikub. She taught us all to love and serve Jesus. She always dressed beautifully, she ate right, exercised and was a friend to many. This woman who lost both her parents by the age of twenty-eight, raised her two little sisters (of which I am one), as well as her own three children, buried two husbands, and experienced a whole lot more “heavy” stuff, was still running her race. (1 Corinthians 9:24-27)

If she wasn’t going to give up, neither would I.

I attended my first writing workshop fourteen years ago. For fourteen years I’ve been working on my craft, honing my skills, encouraging other writers, hosting writing retreats and events, attending conferences and classes, winning awards for unpublished work, and being published in multiple ways…almost every way it seemed, EXCEPT for one.

SO – it is with a very grateful heart that I announce my first Children’s Picture Book,

Little Sprout, will be published by Abundance Books on February 14, 2025!

When I received this wonderful news, I felt kissed by God.

I really want to thank you for supporting me on my journey thus far. Great things are surely in store. But no matter what—

I’m going to “Get up, dress up, show up and never give up.”