When I say the manuscript is finished, I’m kind of crossing my fingers behind my back. In truth, this just means that the book is about as good as I can get it without help. When it comes back from this group of readers, there will be revisions necessary based on their feedback. I also need to make a trip up to Stanford to scope out Chris & Susana’s new home turf; based on that trip, I’ll almost certainly need to make changes to update my mental picture of the area. Then, if the publisher accepts the manuscript, there will be more revisions necessary after their editors review it.

I hear that some authors get discouraged at all the revising that goes into completing a book. For my part, I thank God for the conscientious work of so many people! Particularly in the case of an allegory, it’s scary how easily one can say something she doesn’t mean about the character of God. These are the people who catch the nuanced meanings I never intended.

So, thank you again, long-suffering Early Readers!

Check it out right here.

Author Interview

As she knelt with the congregation for prayer, she caught sight of Paula Cann and frowned in disgust. Not only was the little brown-noser sitting in the first pew where everyone could see her, she was even going up front for the pastoral prayer. And just look at her clothes!  Chanel suit, Gucci handbag, and … was that really those new Jimmy Choo shoes?

Honestly, some people were so hung up on impressing others! She would never be so proud as to wear designer clothes to church!

* * *

Paula Cann had dressed in her finest clothing that morning, for she wished to honor the King who had called her into His presence. Wishing to miss nothing, she had arrived early and sat right up front.

As she sat there, gazing up at the stained glass portrayal of the crucified Christ, she came to a new appreciation of that familiar scene. She noted the wicked thorns piercing His innocent brow, the thick nails impaling His righteous hands, and the blood dripping down His kind face—and she saw that it was her sins that His blood was meant to cover.

So when the elder invited those wishing special prayer to come forward, Paula went, overwhelmed by a deep sense of her own unworthiness. She knelt in gratitude at the foot of her Savior’s cross, tears moistening her eyes. Dear God, she prayed, please forgive me and change me into Your image–not because I deserve it, but because of Your great mercy.

“I tell you that this [one], rather than the other, went home justified before God” because “the Lord looks at the heart” (Luke 18:14; I Samuel 16:7, NIV).

My mother taught me that it’s rude to be late, so I generally take punctuality very seriously, but every so often I find myself running behind. That’s what happened a couple of weeks ago when I realized I had 12 minutes to get to a meeting that was 18 minutes away (on a no-traffic day, which this wasn’t).

I had also missed lunch, so I was multitasking: driving, eating a granola bar, listening to an audio Bible CD, and checking my calendar (at a stoplight—after all, I wouldn’t want to be one of those dastardly distracted drivers who cause accidents). To compound the problem, I soon found myself stuck, along with several other cars, behind someone going all of 30 mph in a 40 mph zone. Argh!

As I was feeling increasingly squeezed, I heard the Bible reader say, “Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life” (John 6:47, NIV, emphasis mine). The Holy Spirit whispered, “Doesn’t ‘eternal,’ by definition, mean that you already have an infinite amount of time? So why are you hurrying as though the Father didn’t give you enough?”

I had to admit, it did sound pretty silly. Here I was, rushing around, throwing myself and everyone else into a tizzy, when God had already granted me unlimited time! It was almost as logical as the millionaire who quibbles with the impoverished street vendor in Tijuana, trying to get another dollar knocked off the already ridiculously low price of some statue or painting.

The problem is, I keep forgetting that I am the child of a wise and generous King who has assured me that I can “have no fear, little flock; for your Father has chosen to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32, REB). I suppose it boils down to the same problem Jesus saw in His disciples: “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”  (Mark 4:40, NIV).

By the way, I was the first to arrive to that meeting. Everyone else was later than I was.

But I do know a thing or two about plants (on a purely intellectual level, mind you). For example, I know that a branch has to be connected to a tree to stay alive. It may think it wants to check out the view from across the street, but if it’s disconnected from its own tree and blown across the street, it won’t be happy very long. Instead it will quickly experience the pain of dehydration, malnutrition, and finally death.

As I look around, I see a lot of people who are unhappy, unfulfilled, or unsuccessful. These people often courageously try to improve themselves, convinced that there’s some basic flaw in their personal programming that needs to be corrected. But that’s a lot like a severed branch trying to be a better branch. What that branch needs – what we need to solve our unhappiness and lack of fulfillment – is to establish and maintain a connection with our Tree.

The problem is that we, as a society, have focused on the individual instead of on the organism. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with recognizing individual contributions, respecting individual rights, or accommodating individual preferences. These are all great. But we were never meant to be merely individuals. We were meant to be part of an organism, and we will never be truly fulfilled – truly happy – until we rejoin that organism. Call it a vine (John 15), a body (1 Cor. 12), or whatever other metaphor fits, but that organism must always begin and remain in Christ or we will be disconnected from the only Source of the vital nutrition we require as human beings.

Our God, our Tree, never intended that His branches should know the agony of being parched with thirst, weak from hunger, or just plain dead. He never even wanted us to be unhappy. That’s why He came: “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10, NAS).  And He told us how to experience the full life He designed us for:  ”Abide in Me, and I in you” (John 15:4). This is true because we were, first and foremost, “created in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:10).

Just as only a tree can provide the sap needed by a branch, only He can provide the joy we crave. ”These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (John 15:11).