Now it’s official and I am so excited!

Today is the day that Summertime, the novel Lynn McMonigal wrote about my life, is finally available for sale. It’s about time, too!! Barrett has been jumping around, dying to be able to tell everyone out the book. I don’t know if she is more excited about the things that have happened in our lives or just the fact that someone chose to put her in a book. Whatever the reason, I am really grateful that Lynn has helped make my little girl so happy.

When Lynn started writing this book, I was a bit nervous. Oh, believe me it is an honor to have someone write out my life story, and I knew Lynn could do a good job of it. (If I didn’t believe in her, I would never have taken up residence in her head!) What made me nervous was the way she thought about my story as a romance. A love story, I was comfortable with that label. After all, the story is about the love Joey and I have shared through the years. But romance?

Gosh, that word brings a completely different image to mind! It makes me think of those books with a half-naked man and woman on the cover. You know, the ones where it doesn’t take long until they are completely naked. And that is not the kind of story I wanted to tell. Sure, Joey and I had that sort of relationship once. Though it felt so good and so right–and it resulted in our precious Barrett–I am so ashamed of it now. It’s not all the way God wanted me to enjoy Joey’s love. We went way overboard. I wasn’t sure I wanted Lynn to tell that part.

But as we worked together, Lynn helped me to realize something. When I first met Joey, I was not a Christian. I was living outside of God’s will, and nearly everything I did went against Him in some way. After Barrett was born, when I wandered into a church and allowed Christ to really work in me, all that changed. I asked forgiveness, and it was granted. God has forgotten my sins. He isn’t holding them over my head, so I shouldn’t beat myself up over them, either.

Sharing my story, and even talking about the mistakes of the past, is something that I hope will help someone else. I hope someone reads my story and realizes that no matter how unforgiveable you think you are, God can forgive as long as you ask.