The Story Behind the Book

What has God been calling you to do, but you refuse to consider it?

You keep telling Him “no, I can’t do that Lord”…Then you list out the tons of reasons, that apparently He has not thought of, why you are not the right person to do what He is asking you to do….

The Lord said to tell you today, “You are right my child, you can’t do it, but I can, and I want to partner with you and do it thru you!”

I was doing my Reading God’s Word with Purpose a few months ago and the chapter I read was Exodus 3. To get the full story, I read on into Exodus 4 as well. We all know the story - God appears to Moses in a burning bush and informs him that He has seen the misery of His people and is going to send him to talk to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt. And what is the first thing Moses says back to God? It should have sounded something like:“Wow! That is amazing that you would chose to speak to me out of all the people on the earth - and to do it thru a burning bush that is on fire, but never burns up. You are awesome God!” or ”Oh thank you Lord for wanting to use me to be a part of your miraculous plan to set your people free!”… but no, that’s not what his response was. Instead, Moses says, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” In other words, “Lord, do you even know who you are talking to? I am a nobody…why would you ask me, of all people, to do this for you?” Then Moses begins to question God - the maker of heaven and earth - on His plan to do this and how it is all going to work. Moses says, “Well what about if this happens and what about if that happens and what if they don’t believe me or listen to me?” The Lord is being very gracious with Moses at this point in the story because when you think about it, by questioning God this way, he is really saying, “God, I don’t think you have thought all this through and I don’t really think your plan is going to work.” Instead of getting upset though, God gives Moses answers to his questions along with some visual aids to use with the people. He shows him he will have the ability to turn a staff into a snake and then back into a staff again…he will be able to cause his hand to become leprous and then become healthy again…finally he will be able to take water from the Nile and pour it on the ground and it will become blood….I truly think these miraculous signs, were more to make Moses believe that God was with him, than to make the people, who would later witness these miracles, believe in what Moses was saying. Then what does Moses, who just witnessed three amazing and miraculous showings of power from God say back to the Lord? He should have said, “God you are incredible and I am in awe of your power. Please forgive me for questioning anything you would ask me to do.” But Moses doesn’t say any of that…instead he says, “Lord I can’t do this - I don’t speak well. Lord please! Send anyone else.” I actually laughed out loud at this point just thinking about how crazy it was that Moses had reacted in this way. Didn’t he know how foolish it was of him to actually question God and then beg God to not make him have to do this incredible thing God was asking him to be a part of?

As I began to write parts of this down as my answer to one of the questions in my “Reading God’s Word with Purpose” God said to me, “Don’t laugh, you are just like Moses.” That really caught me off guard and at first, I didn’t know why God was impressing that on me. But as I continued to ponder on everything that happened in the story, I knew why. God had been speaking to me for several years about writing a book, but honestly, every time He did, I would just put the thought out of my mind because I didn’t think I could do it. I am completely computer illiterate. I don’t even know how to turn a computer on! I was a hairstylist my whole life and never had to use a computer, so I never learned how. When I pray, I always say, “God do not be subtle with me, I don’t get subtle!” I tell Him that if He wants me to do something, to please continue to show me over and over until I get it… And that is exactly what He did. Thru three different ways, God showed me that writing a book was not just something I thought would be a good idea, but something He wanted me to do for Him. The first time was actually at a dinner for the station. One of Kim’s donors brought a friend with him to the event and after the event was over, his friend came up to me and said, “I know you don’t know me and you’re probably going to think I am crazy, but the Lord gave me a message to give you. He told me to tell you, “You have a book inside of you.” Tears actually came to my eyes because I knew his message was straight from God. God had been quietly speaking to me about writing a book, and now He was making the message a little louder! Isn’t that so God - to use someone, who didn’t know anything about me, to give me a message that I knew could have only come from Him. I wish I could say that after this message from God that I immediately began the process of writing this book, but that is not what happened. Again I just put it out of my mind. I thought, “How ridiculous would that be for someone like me to try to write a book!” I know this sounds funny, but in the midst of all this prompting from God, I was actually praying that God would give me new opportunities to write! Funny how we can be praying for something, but don’t see God’s answer to that prayer because it doesn’t look like what we thought it would or what we want it to…Sadly to say, it was probably a year and a half later before I apparently was ready to consider what God was calling me to do. One evening I saw a post on Facebook that just smacked me right in the face. It said, “I saw a new definition of procrastination today that really spoke to me: “Procrastination is the arrogant assumption that God owes you another opportunity to do what you already had time to do.” This statement spoke deep into my heart because I knew I was dragging my feet and honestly, had not even really considered doing this book enough to pray about it. Shortly after that, Tammy, a friend of mine, read this article and said she didn’t know why, but felt God strongly impress on her to send it to me. The main part of the article stated: “In the spirit I saw huge warehouses that appeared to be full of books that had no titles on them or any words written in their pages. Then I heard God give the command to the angels, “Empty those warehouses and deliver the contents to the earth! There are books yet to be written that will woo hearts back to Me.” Then I heard the Lord say, “I’m releasing a ‘scribe anointing’ upon the earth! I sensed the Lord was releasing these materials to the earth into hands that were being inspired to write by the Holy Spirit and that God had a great desire to literally let the whole world know what great things He had done for His people”…Again, I knew God was answering my prayer for Him to not be subtle with me and was giving me another big sign to begin writing this book. Shortly after she sent this article to me it was Christmas time….I had begun sharing with Kim what I knew God was asking me to do, and for Christmas that year, Kim asked my computer savvy children to put all my “Reading God’s Word with Purpose” studies on a computer and make copies of them to put in a notebook for me, to encourage me to get started on writing a book. We realized later on, that God had impressed on my friend to send me that article at the very same time he impressed on Kim to have my kids compile my studies for my Christmas present….My third sign God was calling me to write this book! I am so thankful God is so faithful and so patient with me!

Then this next part is what God showed me He was comparing me to Moses about….After these three clear signs from the Lord, I began to fully realize what God was really asking me to do, and just like Moses, realized my inadequacy to do it. That is when the questions began….”God, why would you ask me of all people, to do this- I can’t even turn on a computer!”…”God, how can I do something like this- I don’t even know where to start!”…”God, I think you should get someone else to do this- you know I have no formal training - I didn’t even go to college!... God there are so many people out there that really know how to write books and would do a much better job than I can!” Again, I found myself laughing, but this time it was at myself….As I began telling the Lord I was sorry for questioning Him when He impressed on me to write this book and acting like I knew what would work better, He very gently said, “After you questioned me, what did I tell you? Remember, I told you the same thing I told Moses….I had to go back and read the story again…and there it was beginning in verse 11. It states, “But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you.” (NIV)… All I could say as tears streamed down my face was, “Yes, that’s exactly what you told me Lord.” And He has, every step of the way!

When I finally said, “Yes God, I will do what you are asking me to do”, He took over! I began to pray and ask God what He would have me to do and how He wanted me to write this book, and He began to speak every bit of it into my heart. He showed me what He wanted it to be about, the format it needed to be in and the number of studies He wanted me to use in the book. He gave me the words for the Introduction, the preface and the beginning of the book, where it actually teaches people how to Read God’s Word with Purpose. He reminded me of a picture I had taken of the sunrise over the ocean years earlier that I loved and would be a perfect front cover for my book. My son is a graphic designer, so he was able to design the covers for me as God showed me exactly what the front and back cover should look like. As the context in the book was completed, He then began putting people in my path that knew how to do each next step I needed to complete the book. He put it on my heart to ask a good friend of mine, if she could proofread everything for me. She said she actually had someone who did all of the proofreading that was needed for her company, and she felt she would be the perfect one to do my proofreading for me. Then she said, “Guess what her name is?” Of course I had no earthly idea…then her answer floored me…her name is Paige Reader!” My friend had actually learned all about reading God’s word with purpose in our home fellowship and then went on to teach it at her work where Paige had learned all about it too. God knew she would be the perfect one to make sure everything was written correctly and made sense. So I sent everything off to Paige, and in a few weeks, it was back and fully corrected for me. I wanted to pay Paige for all her work, but she said, “No, I am just glad I could do it for you - just send me a copy of the book when it is finished.” Paige would be the first of many pieces of the puzzle, God would give me to do what He was asking me to do for Him.

The next step was to find a company to print the book for me. As I prayed about what to do, God impressed on me to reach out to my friend Sandy. I knew she had written several books and could give me some advice on what to do next. She connected me with her friend Alexys who had helped her through the process of getting her books completed and printed. We met with Alexys and told her all about the book. Her contacts were not able to help us because they didn’t do spiral bound books. She got on the computer with us and we began to search for printing companies that could do what I needed. Gorham Printing came up in our search so she called and talked to their representative. Alexys knew all the right questions to ask to make sure their price points were reasonable, and they were. I was so thankful for Alexys taking time out of her busy schedule to meet with us and wanted to pay her for her time, but she said , “No, I don’t want you to pay me - just send me a copy of your book”…. God had provided the second piece to the puzzle, for me to accomplish writing this book.

Doing this book has been such a huge process - so much more to it than I ever imagined. Without my wonderful husband helping me with all the things that had to be done on the computer, I could have never accomplished any of it. He had to put all my manuscript on a special file and send it to them a certain way - all things I have no idea how to do by myself. He spent a lot of hours doing this for me, and I am so thankful and grateful God gave me such a special man to be my best friend and my husband. Another piece of the puzzle God had provided for me to accomplish this book.

I was doing my Mom’s hair one day and the topic of my book came up. She began to ask me questions about the book, then asked me how much I thought it was going to cost to have the book printed. I know it sounds foolish, but at that point, I had honestly not even thought about the expense of doing a book. I just knew it was what God wanted me to do. I told her that I really had no idea what it would cost. As I worked on her hair, she sat in silence for a few minutes and then she said, “Nina, I really believe in what you are doing and I want to pay whatever it cost to have your books printed.” I just stood there speechless and then with tears in my eyes hugged her and thanked her for wanting to do that for me. I had been so wrapped up in writing the book that I had not even thought about the financial aspect of having a book printed. But, God did, and He put it on my mother’s heart to take care of that for me. Again, God provided another piece of the puzzle for this book to be completed!

As we neared completion of the book, we realized we needed an ISBN number which is the identification number on the back of the book that allows it to be commercially identified and sold. We looked on line, and to buy one of these numbers could cost anywhere from 100.00 - 250.00. I felt led to call Alexys and ask her opinion on where we should purchase one. She said, “You don’t need to purchase one…I bought a lot of them years ago and I will just give you one!” God had provided another piece of the puzzle…

As this process moved along, the printing company had to know how many copies we wanted in the initial printing of the book. Your cost per book varies depending on how many copies you have made at one time. In my little mind I thought, “Let’s do 250…that should be enough. “But Kim said, “The number I am getting from the Lord is 1000.” I decided the best thing to do was to give all the options to my Mom, and let the Lord guide her as she decided the amount she wanted to purchase. As I presented all the options to her, she immediately said, “I think we should do 1000.” So that’s what we decided to do! We let the printing company know the amount of books we were going to have printed, and they immediately sent us an email telling us how it would all be shipped and what to expect. They told us the books would we coming on a pallet, on the back of a tractor trailer truck and each of the 40 boxes would weigh like 60 lbs. and we would have to be able to unload them and have a place to store them. Kim and I just looked at each other…how in the world would we get a pallet of books off the back of a tractor trailer and where in the world would we store all these books. As you can tell, we had not thought this part through! But again, God had already worked it all out! Immediately, God put our friend Todd Sides on Kim’s mind. He and his wife Tamara have a distribution company in our town and receive products and distribute products from their facility. Kim called Todd and told him about me writing this book and what we had just found out about how the books would be delivered to us from the printing company. Todd said, “No problem…just give them our business address and have them shipped here. We will unload them and store them for you and you can just come and pick some up as you need them. They can stay here as long as you need them to.” Another piece of the puzzle God orchestrated for us! A week later we went to visit with Todd and pray over him about a health issue he had been having. After we finished praying with him, we began to talk about how the book distribution might look and what we needed to do to prepare for it. He said, “You can send us the addresses and we will just ship the books directly to whoever wants them. He said, “Matter of fact, Tamara and I decided we want to cover all your shipping cost for you!” I just sat their amazed once again at how God knew this was something we would need, and He had already orchestrated it and put it on Todd and Tamara’s heart to do all this for us. Another piece of the puzzle was now in place for this book to be made available to anyone who wanted it!

God impressed on Kim and I about midway through me writing this book, that we were not to make any money whatsoever off the proceeds from this book. 100% of anything we made was to go directly back into missions and ministry as God led us to give it. A week or so after the books came in, I was holding one of the finished book in my hands, and it occurred to me that these books had not cost Kim and I one single penny! God had provided every person we needed to help us, and every resource we needed to have this book accomplished, and not one of those people would let us pay them. God truly is amazing and will always provide everything we need to accomplish what He asks us to do.

Kim and I were listening to a sermon the other day by Preston Morrison. He is on staff at one of Robert Morris’s campus churches. It was one message from a series he preached called “Saturated”. It was a great series and I would encourage you to find it and listen to it. In this particular teaching called “The Oil of the Spirit”, he talked about the difference in being “gifted” and being “anointed” by God. He said your “gifting” is the God given ability you already have, to do something well….but when you are “anointed” by God, you are given divine enablement to do something beyond your own ability! If you are like me, I typically feel I can and should only do things for God, that I already have the ability to do, but God has been showing me in the last few years, how He really wants to “partner” with us in what He calls us to do. In order to do so, He wants us to ask him for and depend on, “His anointing” to accomplish it. He is showing me in scripture, how time and time again, He called people to do things for Him they had no ability to do, so that they would not rely on themselves and their own ability, but would totally rely on the power of God and His anointing to accomplish what He called them to do… I remember one time early in this process, I was a little bit upset and frustrated as I was telling God how stupid I felt that I didn’t know what in the world I was doing as I wrote this book, He said to me, “Well, then I guess you won’t be able to run ahead of me as you do this will you!”…God can be really funny sometimes..

So here I am…a little retired hairstylist…who didn’t go to college…who has had no formal training on writing whatsoever…talking to you about a book God had me to write that I really didn’t have a clue how to do. So again, here is my question to you today:

“What has God been calling you to do, but you refuse to consider it?

My message to you today is: Just say “Yes” to God!! God is wanting you to go beyond your own gifting and your own abilities…He wants to give you His anointing power so He can partner with you to accomplish whatever He is calling you to do for Him. Don’t miss out! Say YES! If God has called you to do something for Him, He will be with you! Once you say, “Yes Lord, I will do what you are calling me to do”, He will put everything and every piece in place for you to accomplish what He has asked you to do, just as He has for me. I promise it will be a wild ride, but it will draw you closer to the Lord than you have ever been!