At the end of every three months, it is my job to complete an
interesting book task. I write down the names of all my published books, go to
the spot where those cartons are stored and begin my quarterly stocktake. Recently, this job has become easier, since I
now have no remaining stocks of my first four novels, Heléna, All the Days of My Life,
Laura and Jenna. I could get more
from my then publisher, but have decided not to, in order to focus on my
more recent novels, Heléna’s Legacy and The Inheritance, and my two non-fiction
books, Soul Friend and Becoming Me.
Yet, even with fewer books, this can still be a rather
daunting task—if I allow it to be. If I approach this job in a negative way, I
can become rather discouraged. I might grumble at having to haul boxes around
and check their contents. I might stare at these boxes and wonder if I will
ever sell all those books. I might note that numbers of a certain title on hand
have not decreased much in the past three months. I might worry about whether
to buy more of this or that title at that point or simply wait and see what
happens.
Alternately, I can remember God is with me, even as I
perform this mundane book task. I can choose to listen to the Spirit’s
encouraging words rather than any discouraging thoughts from the enemy, as I record
those numbers. I can acknowledge how wonderful it is that I actually have all those published books on hand,
ready to be sold via my website or wherever I am asked to speak. I can choose
to realise how amazing it is that I have sold as many books as I have over the
years, since first being published in 2007. I can choose to be thankful for
those lives that have been touched by God through words I have written, both in
my novels and in my non-fiction books. I can choose to recall that very first
email I received via my website from a reader in some far-away part of
Australia, telling me that, although she had not found God to be there for her
in the hard times in her life, maybe she would ‘try God again’, as a result of
reading my first novel, Heléna. And I can choose to be so thankful
for those ones who, even this past week on Facebook, have commented how my
latest book, Becoming Me, has moved
and challenged them.
Recently, I enjoyed reading The Story of With, an interesting and unique book by former
publisher, Allen Arnold. All over again, it challenged and encouraged me to
approach my whole writing and speaking journey with God, not attempting things in my own strength, but rather
allowing those God-given gifts and that God-given imagination of mine to flow
freely, as I walk hand in hand with God. What a privilege and a blessing to be
able to do this! What resources we have in God to persevere in our writing
journeys and in life in general in 2017!
Are these your thoughts too? May each of us not only take
stock of these greatest resources of all but draw on them constantly in the
year ahead.
Jo-Anne Berthelsen lives
in Sydney but grew up in Brisbane. She holds degrees in Arts and
Theology and has worked as a high school teacher, editor and secretary, as well
as in local church ministry. Jo-Anne is passionate about touching hearts and
lives through the written and spoken word. She is the author of six published
novels and two non-fiction works, ‘Soul Friend’ and ‘Becoming Me’. Jo-Anne is
married to a retired minister and has three grown-up children and four
grandchildren. For more information, please visit www.jo-anneberthelsen.com.
