Soooooo, my book was published. Maybe you heard. If so, you certainly didn’t hear it from this blog, given that I haven’t posted since May.

I can offer a lot of good reasons/excuses! I’ve been busy with:

  • Prayer beads! I led prayer bead workshops and signed books atThe Upper Room’s  SOULfeast and the GBOD Conference on Ministry with Children. Following the book’s release we had an increase in prayer bead orders, requests for speaking engagements, and people wanting to talk about the book and/or the beads. And we’ve been working hard to make 500 sets of chaplets for The Upper Room, which is going to sell them in a boxed set with the book for Christmas.
  • Family! My son was, of course, out of school for the summer. We stayed busy keeping him entertained and even went on a family vacation.
  • Church! I was Craft Leader for our Vacation Bible School. (Enough said?!?)
  • My other job! Prayerworks is still not my full-time job. I work part-time as Coordinator for The ADA Legacy Project. It’s a great new organization that I’ve helped to create. It’s dedicated to preserving the history of the disability rights movement; celebrating its milestones; and educating the public and future generations of advocates. If you’re curious, please check it out. Our new website will be launched next month.

Those reasons are all true and valid. But they aren’t the real reason I haven’t blogged.

The truth is that while I was thrilled – and thankful – that the book was being released, I was also just a wee bit terrified. I know that may sound a little goofy, but there you have it. The book was going to be released to the world for all to see, which left me feeling vulnerable, exposed. As we got closer to the release date my anxiety grew. I found myself avoiding the blog, social media, Etsy, etc.

I share this not because I’m looking for sympathy. Indeed, I’m doing very well. I survived the book’s release –  no lightning strikes or other calamities. I even celebrated. It really was exciting and I have been humbled by the response.

Instead, I share this in the spirit of being authentic. I want to be honest about why there’s been no activity here for several months: good, old-fashioned, common variety fear. We all deal with it, some more than others. I happen to live with a healthy (unhealthy?) dose of it. But Isaiah 41:10 (CEB) tells me, “Don’t fear, because I am with you; don’t be afraid, because I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will surely help you; I will hold you with my righteous strong hand.” And so I will not fear.

With this blog post I pledge to get back in the game. There’s so much I want to share and so many discussions to be had about prayer beads. I hope you’ll stay tuned. Don’t be afraid.