Beloved,
Right as I was getting back from a run yesterday the UPS man pulled up to the church and got out carrying a large box. My heart leapt for joy because I knew it was a box of books. Yes, as most of you are aware by now, I have an inordinate affection for paper-and-ink books (none of that Kindle nonsense)! But this was an acutely joyous moment because I knew it was not just a box of books, but a case of my new book Growing Downward fresh off the press. After months and months of waiting, it was finally here!
Publishing is a lesson in patience. Everything from writing to editing to printing to releasing takes so, so long. But that waiting process just serves to make the end product all the sweeter. In my experience, the best things in life and the greatest accomplishments are almost without exception accompanied with waiting and always require great patience and determination. This is God’s good design because it is in the slowness and the waiting that He shapes us and changes us. And that has been true of me over this past year. It is amazing to look back and to see what God has done. In some ways, I wish I could go back and rewrite the book because it would be different now. Why? Because I am different now. Maybe one day I will write a second edition, but right now I’m just thankful for the waiting and for God’s grace that has met me in it. And I encourage you in whatever you might be waiting for (I think it is safe to say all of us are waiting for something of significance), that the waiting is not without purpose. It is not a necessary evil to merely endure. Waiting is a good gift to be embraced and learned from. God is in the waiting, and He is desirous to meet you there.
My waiting continues as the book will not be official released until May 30th. And then it will be waiting to see what God does with it, if anything. But I’m incredibly grateful to the God who meets me in the waiting. And as I look at this book, I’m incredibly grateful to God for each of you as you all have profoundly shaped me and helped me to think through this vital subject of gospel humility. Thank you for walking with me and exemplifying this virtue, often in ways that shame me in my pride.
There will be free copies of the book for all of you in the church foyer on Sunday so please make sure to grab one.
I look forward to seeing you then!
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Nick