It's been over a decade since I started writing Finding Freedom. It took nearly seven years to write, edit, and publish between marriage, ministry, and having babies. It was the fruit of my own journey of learning what it means to be set free from the pursuit of perfection and the shame of imperfection (a journey I’m still on, by the way).
While I was still editing Finding Freedom, I started writing the second book in the series. The Lord had clearly laid the theme of "freedom" on my heart for the first book, so I sought Him on what the theme of the second book should be.
"Forgiveness," He kept saying.
"Forgiveness, Lord?" I'd pray. "I don't have anyone in my life that I'm struggling to forgive. I don’t have a bunch of childhood baggage and a backlog of people to forgive. Forgiveness doesn't really seem relevant to me."
"Forgiveness," He'd affirm.
So I started writing a book about an FBI special agent whose anger and unforgiveness toward his father unravels his life. As I wrote, I wrestled. What is forgiveness? What does it mean to forgive? All the while wondering, "Lord, why am I writing about forgiveness?"
Then 2019 happened. A person in my life, a person who had been my hero for my entire life, fell from hero to hurter. The rug was ripped out from under me; life took an unexpected turn. For the next year, I had no time to write while juggling the aftermath of that situation with a small baby and three other children and a marriage and ministry to tend to.
About a year later, I "dusted off" the beginnings of Finding Forgiveness from my computer. I began to read, and I was astounded. Suddenly it clicked. Forgiveness had become an extremely relevant topic to my life.
"I get it now, Lord," I prayed. "You had me writing about forgiveness before I knew I needed to forgive. You prepared my heart for the tsunami You knew was going to hit my life."
Over the last 5 years, I've kept writing and wrestling with this topic of forgiveness. Truth be told, this book was 10x harder to write than the first for a variety of reasons. At times, I thought it would never get done. At others, I wanted to chuck it out the window or bury it.
"Is it almost ready?" people would ask.
"It's in the editing stage," I'd reply.
*Frown* "But hasn't it been in editing for a while?"
"Yes, yes it has,” I’d sigh.
But now that it's almost ready to release, I couldn't be happier with the result. This book is the fruit of the most painful 6 years of my life. Writing this book has been a lifeline. And I know now why it took so long to write and edit and finish. The Lord wasn't done teaching me about forgiveness; I had more wrestling to do with it this last year.
I've been working on the third book as this one is in editing stage. Originally I thought the third one would be about justice. But the Lord changed my plans, putting joy on my heart and delaying justice to the fourth one. I know why now even though I didn't then, and those stories are just as incredible.
But that's a story for another day. And if you haven’t read Finding Freedom, now’s a good time to get caught up before the second book is released later this summer (and don’t forget to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads when you’re finished reading!).
Hugs to my faithful (and patient) readers,
Britney
https://www.amazon.com/Finding-Freedom-Prodigal-Britney-Hamm/dp/1677814233