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  • The Persistent Road launches
    
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  • Giveaways!
• Novel Geography: Idaho terrain
• Issues of the Heart: Disappointment
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The Persistent Road launches; available wherever books are sold

Today's the day! Five years after I entered a short story that I called Escape from Hells Canyon in a contest, that episode now forms the backbone of a full-length novel entitled The Persistent Road. And, it's out in the wild! I thought the day would never arrive.

Check out some of the reviews on Goodreads. If you're ready to purchase, choose your favorite online bookseller using this webpage. Better yet, mosey into your local bookstore or library and request it. They can order it from Ingram's catalog.

Giveaways!

What better way to celebrate the release of a new book than to give away some copies?

To enter the early reviewers giveaway contest on Library Thing, click on this link and filter the list by genre: Christian Fiction. You should see The Persistent Road listed twice: once for the paperback edition and once for the e-book.

On Goodreads, click here and click on the button below the cover image that reads "Enter Giveaway."

I'm also offering a copy of my novel in a group promotion on Bookbub. If you're not familiar with Bookbub, it's a great way to acquire e-books at deep discounts or for free. You simply subscribe to their list and receive daily emails of curated e-books selling at well below half price - maybe even free. Bookbub is picky about what books they accept for a featured deal. It's not easy for even well-established authors to land one. For a chance to win forty books in this promotion plus a new e-reader, click here. And please follow me there.

Image by Jim Black from Pixabay

It's an ethereal experience riding a bicycle through Central Idaho.  The above photo is not what Doug Zimmer gawks at in The Persistent Road. But it's similar. His scene looked like this:

The next morning, on a plateau, Doug cycled for miles through golden grain fields. When he arrived at an overlook, he couldn’t believe his eyes. He gazed 180 degrees over colorful forests and hills, an awe-inspiring panorama. Somewhere in the expanse lay a wilderness he was about to tackle on a bicycle. Enthralled with his surroundings, he stopped for several minutes to capture the ruggedness and magnificence. Scenery like this didn’t exist on the outskirts of LA. Nor did much of what he’d seen since leaving there.

In the foreground sparse evergreens with brilliant green hues gave contrast to the dark blue mountains in the distance. In between, tan fields, evergreen stands, and a patchwork of crops sprinkled the hills and valleys. To improve the three-dimensional perspective, a curtain of haze had dropped from the heavens, not to reduce visibility but to enhance it. The sky added its own treatments, with wispy bands of clouds on a pale gray background afar and deep blue vibrancy overhead. The stunning scene drew tears to the corners of Doug’s eyes. How could this have happened by itself?

I'm optimistic but guarded these days. With The Persistent Road now in the hands of readers who will issue their own verdicts, I turn my attention to the future. But what expectations do I carry with me? For they will have a large bearing on my mental and emotional wellbeing as I work at my craft.

I've coached enough disillusioned people online that I know unrealistic expectations can lead to crushing disappointment. Implicit in those expectations can be a sense of entitlement. 

Last weekend, I chatted with an individual who was disappointed with God. It was as if He owed her something. When I tried to tactfully explain that He gave His all for her, even to the point of death on a cross, she became defensive and hid behind her feelings.

I invited her to end the chat if she thought someone else could help her better, which eventually she did. I was left conflicted. I know life is difficult and everyone needs an understanding ear. But I also realize that if we allow ourselves to create our own world, it can lead to bitter disappointment. The real world functions within its own specifications, often different than ours.

God doesn't owe us anything. On the contrary, we owe Him. It takes humility to embrace that truth. But when people do, disappointment will no longer grip them.

Wrong motives can also contribute to disappointment. Because if we're in it for us and not what God wants, we're setting ourselves up for a fall.

I can't presume to know what God is going to do with The Persistent Road. But I find freedom in leaving it in His hands. I've been at this long enough to know how hard it is to gain market traction for a new book. Yet I'm still dying to know how it's going to do. Will people like it? Will it sell well? Will I hear from readers whose lives it impacted? I may never see or know what God intends for my novel until I get to the other side. In the meantime, I'll take satisfaction from having followed His lead on this project the best way I knew how.

Do you find yourself expecting God to come through for you? If He answers your prayers with 'no' or 'wait', are you willing to accept that He knows best?

Often, what seems like a good request ends in heartbreak and tragedy. Where was God then?

Why did He allow this person to get cancer - and then not heal her? You prayed for a wayward child for years but see no change in him. Why? You worked so hard for that promotion but were passed over for it again. It's been years of prayer and loneliness; when is God going to bring someone special into my life?

There's a bigger picture that we don't see. And we're on this place called Earth for a mere heartbeat in the scope of eternity.

God has a big job on His hands. There are no shortage of entanglements as He fields prayers from millions of people down here. For those who are the called according to His purpose, we know that He'll make all things work together for good (Romans 8:28). It's what He does. But He's not constrained by our timetable.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

-Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV