Last summer, our children’s director, Annie, saw something I had posted on Facebook about my coming book, Where Is Mary Now? She asked if I would come to Children’s Church and read the book to the children after it was published. I said yes.
But as it turned out, by the time the book was published, our children’s director had resigned and had just two Sundays left, both of which were already planned. So Annie asked our pastor if I could read the book during a children’s message time upstairs which would take place every 5th Sunday. He agreed and I was signed up for November 30th.
Later, our pastor told me that they would have a rocking chair on the platform for me to sit in while I read and the pages of the book would be on the overheads so that the children and the audience could also see the pictures drawn by Sarah’s other Grandma, Jan Hudach. I was so pleased!
It didn’t occur to me until much later that November 30th was the Sunday after Thanksgiving which was always deemed the Sunday our church shared praises and thanksgiving during the service. The more I thought about it, the more I felt that my book wasn’t going to be appropriate to fit in with the thanksgiving service. I thought people would wonder why I was reading Where Is Mary Now? on thanksgiving Sunday.
Should I tell Pastor Byron my book wasn’t a good fit for that Sunday? If I did, it would be up to him to come up with a children’s message on Sunday. That didn’t seem fair to him.
Finally, I grabbed Where Is Mary Now? and reread it to try to come up with a connection between it and thanksgiving Sunday. I found a place where it fit. At the end, I could say: On this thanksgiving Sunday, the thing I am most thankful for is that Adam and Eve’s sin was not the end of the story. (You have to read the book!) I breathed a big sigh of relief.
On Thanksgiving Sunday, nearing the end of the first service as the Advent devotional began, I suddenly realized that Sunday, November 30, was the first Sunday of Advent! (Even though our pastor had sent me an order of service on November 24 that included an Advent video which I apparently read right over!) Oh my goodness, my book Where Is Mary Now? with the first Christmas depicted on the front cover and including an animated movie of the first Christmas, as well as the reminder that Jesus came to earth as a baby and grew up to take the punishment for our sin, fit in perfectly.
With a complete feeling of relief, I went up to read Where Is Mary Now? to the first service. When the service was over, a woman near me grabbed me in a big hug and said, “That.Was.Wonderful! I know I want at least want one copy for me to read to my grandchildren, but I need to decide how many more I want.”
After the last service, a woman at the end of the first row grabbed my hand to ask me, “Can we buy this book? I loved it!”
Several other people approached me to ask if they could buy books. I had already sold most of the books from my first purchase from the company who had published the book.
After the service, I admitted to our pastor that I had forgotten that the last Sunday of November was the first Sunday of Advent and had been very worried that Where Is Mary Now wasn’t appropriate for our Thanksgiving Sunday. My pastor had not forgotten! He said, “Oh my goodness, it was the perfect segue from our Thanksgiving service to the first Sunday of Advent!”
As I remembered how much I’d worried about my book not being appropriate for this service, it reminded me how much Satan tries to rob us of God’s good plans for us. But in the end, the result was the Holy Spirit giving me a great way to connect the Thanksgiving service to the book…the thing I am most thankful for is that Adam and Eve’s sin was not the end of the story! God has a wonderful plan for those of us who love Him and receive Jesus, and that plan is heaven!
Thank you, Lord Jesus, that Adam and Eve’s sin was not the end of the story! Thank you that you had a wonderful plan for all those of us who love you and receive you into our hearts! Amen.