Published!

Three years ago my life changed dramatically, almost overnight. And if you had told me then that a dream would come true for me... well, I probably wouldn't have believed you.

On April 20, 2012 my husband and I decided to have a date night. It was a wild and crazy one too! We had a lovely dinner together and then... we sat down at the computer and worked on finding publishers that we could send my short stories to. (Told you it was wild and crazy!)

The Holy Spirit kept sending us back to Tate Publishing Company. So we compiled the stories together in a Word document with a introduction letter and a table of contents. By the time we got done it was almost midnight and we were both tired. We prayed together and then submitted the short stories. (Tate Publishing Company is a traditional publishing company that allows you to submit unsolicited manuscripts)

It was the only publishing company we sent my stories to. We planned to send more out the next day...

That was Friday.

On Saturday, Eric from Tate Publishing Company called me about my manuscript. He gave me some really great information about Tate Publishing and said he would begin reading my manuscript that day. I was delightfully shocked and excited that he wanted to get started right away. He told me he would give me a call on Monday...

It is now December and I am four months into the eight month publishing process with Tate Publishing Company. The beginning of next week I will have in my hands an actual book to proof read! I'm not sure how I will respond but it will more than likely look like the scene in Julie and Julia when Julia Childs received the first cookbook she wrote from her publisher.

In just a few short months Mended Fences will be read by many in America (and I'm hoping those in other countries too!). And I'm excited to see the impact it will have on my fellow country-men and women. I'm still in shock at my dream coming true and at this remarkable chance to live the life I've always dreamt about.

How great is our God? I continually stand in awe at His mercy and compassion for us, but most especially at the amount of love He shows us if we but turn our face to Him.

Here's to the great success of Mended Fences!

God bless,
AS

Sensitivity

As I made it through the rainy weather tonight to go to Mass I couldn't help but thank Jesus for His divine mercy. It covers us so completely, even when we don't deserve it. And here I sit, hours later feeling completely empty of sin and full of our Lord, Jesus Christ, with the words given by the Holy Spirit to Father Godwin running through my mind.

The gospel according to John:

"After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. The Jewish feast of Passover was near. When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, 'Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?' He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, 'Two hundred days' wages worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little bit.' One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, 'There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what good are these for many?' Jesus said, 'Have the people recline.' Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, 'Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.' So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, 'This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.' Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone." John 6:1-15

All this week and last week we've walked with the disciples through their journey right after Jesus' death and resurrection. And the words that the Holy Spirit said through Father Godwin are too good not to share. Tonight, though, he spoke of Jesus and the sensitivity he had towards people. Jesus is always sensitive to our needs; He knows exactly what we need even when we don't know it ourselves. I want to touch upon a part though, that Father Godwin brought up, and one that I would have missed had it not been him who showed us.

Any other person would have seen that great crowd and maybe they would have taught for a little while and then gone away, because they were such a great number what else could you have done? Jesus was always aware of what the people needed and therefore He looked to appease their hunger. And then Andrew found a little boy willing to give his food to Jesus to use.

Here's the part that I would have missed: What if that little boy had said, "No, this is my food and it's not even enough for my family. You cannot have it." Jesus would not have been able to create His miracle. Luckily that one soul was willing to give of himself, allow himself in other words, to be used as an instrument in God's almighty plan so that Jesus could feed over 5000 people!

Moral of the story (I love this part!): We have to be open to Jesus in order for Him to create miracles in our lives.

And that's it. It's really that easy. Well, there's other stuff, too, but it's a start. So I challenge you, this weekend, stop for a moment and say these words: Jesus, I trust you. Jesus, I trust you. Jesus, I trust you.