My Book is Ready for Pre-Order
The Creative Call: 31 devotions for Christian creatives in any vocation
Six years ago, before the pandemic shut the world down, before I even had kids in school, I was preparing to launch a website. Not just a website—a ministry. What started as a desire to write a mental health devotional for Christians quickly became a vision for a non-profit ministry to change the discussion around mental health in the church.
During the lead-up, I posted the following on my private Facebook page:
God answered that prayer, but not in the way I would have anticipated.
Six months later, I stepped down from the thing I had worked toward over two precious years of early motherhood. I grieved the lost work, I grieved the friendship that it cost, and I grieved the loneliness in that season while everyone was forced into isolation. And then, I threw myself into homeschooling and cultivating creative community.
Now, I’m reaching for the fruit of those seasons of planting, pollarding, waiting, and cultivating. My book is coming out on the exact day that initial website launched, October 14th. I’m finally publishing my devotional.
To be transparent, when I first received my publication date, I almost told them to change it. I froze and had to will myself not to shut down. I had a migraine and fatigue for four days after, because the way that ministry and friendship ended caused me a good amount of trauma. But dear friends encouraged me to see it as redemption. This full-circle moment is a reminder of the refrain repeated to me often as I started the work of devotional writing: “blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:45, NIV).
I had given up on applying those words to my own circumstances, but perhaps God really meant them for me in this case.
I have been living out and writing about slow, quiet work from the beginning. I wasn’t looking for big and flashy, even while I submitted myself to the possibility of a large platform and lifelong public ministry. My gracious Lord took that pressure off my shoulders and put me on a path of peace. I haven’t written a best-seller here, and I haven’t worked toward that in any way. I simply wrote this book for you if you know yourself to need it.
Some of the devotionals this book contains are adapted from my original online ministry. They are no longer available to read anywhere else, and it has been my joy to refresh them and prepare to share them. Others were written for my creative arts ministry at the request of our former Deacon (and now I am the Deacon of that very church ministry!). But the idea to compile them all in one place and publish them is credited to The Way Back to Ourselves community led by .
It was at our first retreat, a year and a half ago, that I suggested I publish a collection of my devotionals that meet the intersection of Christian creativity and mental health and received an empathetic “yes, please do it!”
And so, friends and faithful readers, I present to you my debut book, The Creative Call: 31 Devotions for Christian Creatives in Any Vocation, published with the help of Palmetto Press. They did an exceptional job making this book a reality, and I really would recommend them for anyone considering self-publishing. It felt like the right route for this book, and I’m grateful to have worked with them.
You can pre-order my book by clicking this link here. If you do pre-order it, I would love to have you on my launch team! Reach out to me by commenting on this post, responding via e-mail, or contacting me on Instagram. All I’m asking from you is an honest review once you’ve read it (this helps it reach other people organically), that you share the book on social media/with friends, and that you share a piece of art (through whatever medium you use) inspired by this devotional. I really, really want to see your art, so make sure to tag me.
Now, beloveds, please celebrate with me!!
Ordered immediately!!! So so excited
This is SO exciting Bre! Congratulations!! 🎊