Pages…Potentials…Platforms
What can I say…I’ve been surrounded by preachers my entire life. Alliteration is in the veins. The main difference here will be a brief exposition. Sorry Dad. Sorry husband. Sorry…ahem…to all the rest of you. But in keeping with that vibe, I shall stay true to the outline and order so I don’t lose any of you in the PROCESS. (See what I did there…ok, please accept my PROFOUND PLEA. Yea, I’m done.)
First of all…PAGES. As many of you know, TheCarrRide blog started back in 2012 when Chris and I began the adoption process for Zane and Zoe. I’m not sure what I expected to do long-term, but I knew we needed some way to document the process as well and gather the wide range of thoughts and emotions into one avenue. The blog seemed like a perfect option to capture both. Little did I know that we would lose Zoe during that time, and the blog would serve as a tremendous outlet for myself and so many others as we grieved so deeply and tried to honor the Lord in that grief. Thus, pages and pages and pages were written, trying to trudge through the darkness through which profound grief took us.
Out of those dark times, a sweet children’s book was born. I found myself desperate to focus on anything but the pain of death. So in the midst of the sorrow, I wrote a book that highlighted the joy of adoption…the joy of family…the joy of hope. An old friend, Sam Graber, helped me bring those moments to life in When Love Brought You Home, and her incredible talent showed the world just what it was like to trust God in the uncertainty and beauty of adoption.
This bring us to POTENTIAL. Again, I never could have imagined the span of impact these early blogging days would have on people from around the world. I didn’t plan for that, nor did I seek that out…but that’s what happened. The most common bits of feedback I’ve received over the years have been how beneficial it was for others to witness my transparent lament during the throes of intense grief. On my end, I realized very quickly that it did no one (including myself) any good to hold all those feelings close to the vest…and so, I shared my heart…the good, the bad, and the oh so ugly.
Almost 10 years has passed since Zoe died, and although the intensity has lessened, I’ve found that the specific struggles I faced are still fresh in my mind. Full disclosure…it was roughly 5 years ago when God laid it on my heart very clearly to write a book about all of my heartache, and loss, and unspoken confessions of grief. I following that leading…initially…and then stopped when I allowed the Enemy to convince me that nothing I had to say was valuable, and I’d just be wasting my time. Since that time, I’ve started…and stopped…multiple times…for the same reasons. This past summer, Chris and I were able to spend a good deal of time talking about this calling of mine and committed to following it through this time…mainly because of that whole “Lord-leading” thing. SO, the book is in the works. It’s one gut-wrenching moment after another, this whole baring the soul thing. But I do know it’s what I’ve been called to do.
Lastly…and by FAR, my least favorite part (and that’s saying something since we were just talking about all the feelings)…”You’re going to need to build a PLATFORM.” My first response was…ewwwww…and many of my subsequent responses were…ewwwww. You get the point. Back story: so committed was I to this endeavor that I attended some publishing workshops last year at the Gospel Coalition conference. I was looking for a path, a step-by-step guide to getting a book published. What I heard was, “You must have a platform! We won’t even consider your book without a platform!” Blah…blah…blah…yada…yada…yada…(Name that tv series. Don’t talk to me if you can’t.) After much ado, and a nightmare of an original website host, here we are. The website has launched and business social media accounts have been created. Let the platform building commence stat!
There you have it…pages, potentials, and platforms. Consider this your sermon application section. Share the news and the new social media profiles and spread the word! After all, that platform won’t build itself. So thankful to have each one of you on this road trip with me.