Update from Sally on book

Hello friends,

I want to thank all of you who think of me and pray for me!  I am so grateful for all of the support God gave me and continues to give me through friends and family.  Without God's faithfulness and love, and without the love and encouragement of family and friends, I honestly don't think I would have survived losing Zach!

Since I started this blog last July, most of the work I have done on my book has been either in my head or sporadically jotting down thoughts and ideas on the computer.  We were crazy busy from August of last year to March of this year - moving from Tennessee, staffing with YWAM again in Kona, spending time in California visiting family and waiting for our granddaughter to be born, and then settling down here in Southern California for this next season of our life!

God has really put on my heart that He wants me to use this time to get in shape physically, get to know Him better, enjoy my husband and family, and WORK ON MY BOOK!  I don't want to put a time limit on God or myself, but I feel like there is a very good chance that the book will be finished by this October, which will mark the seven year anniversary of Zach's death!

So, I'm updating this blog for three reasons:

1.  I have a chapter in my book called "The Ripple Effect."  I believe and know that God has used Zach's life and death for good.  He has brought beauty out of ashes.  Many people's lives have been influenced and changed, some dramatically, because of Zach.  If you have a story to share of how Zach's life and death made an impact on you, even if it seems small and insignificant, could you PLEASE send it to me?   I would love to include as many of these as possible in the book.  

2.  I have decided to change the name of the book.  I don't have an exact name yet, but I am pretty sure it is going to be something like "LIVING IN THE ??????"  I feel like this book is meant to be more than just sharing Zach's story and God's faithfulness.  I think it will speak to a larger audience than grieving parents.  I think that many people have unanswered questions in their life that make it hard to find joy, love, purpose and peace.  My prayer and hope is that God will use my words to encourage others to persevere, never give up, keep seeking, and find hope in the midst of pain and trials and questions! 
 
3.  Could you please pray for me as I continue writing?  I need wisdom and discernment and clear guidance from Holy Spirit.  Also, can you pray for protection from the enemy?  I know that the enemy does not want me to share my story.  I know he doesn't want me to encourage others to perservere.  My prayer is that the enemy will be completely powerless to influence me or prevent me from writing what God wants me to say.

My email address is sally@z-foundation.org.

Thank you for your love and support and friendship!

Blessings,

Sally

"Trust Me. I will use this."

Thoughts from Sunday morning . . . July 13, 2014
 

Six years ago I had a much different life than I do now.  I lived in a suburb of Knoxville, Tennessee with my husband, Shawn, daughter, Kelly, and son, Zach.  



My life was full of activity and blessings: family fun, running a business, church services and small groups, friends, and lots of baseball games!

 

This was also a time where we were actively pursuing a season of serving God together as a family.  We had been on our first mission trip together to Jamaica to visit an orphanage there.  We were planning our church's first family mission trip to Guatemala, coming up in Nov

 

Did I know how incredibly blessed I was at the time?  Did I really appreciate having a faithful and loving husband, two healthy children, a beautiful home, friends, a business, and faith?  I honestly think that six years ago I took way too much for granted.  I had no idea how fragile life could be.

I thought my faith was unshakeable and that my beliefs were strong and true and biblical.

In October 2008, my life changed drastically when Zach, age 12, took a ride on a zipline that ultimately took him into the arms of our Heavenly Father!

Soon after his death, God gave me the title of a book He wanted me to write, "Zipline To Heaven."  I worked on it every now and then, but the pain was so raw and all I could do most days was to just keep breathing.  In 2010 we got involved with YWAM (Youth With a Mission) . . . attended a five month Discipleship Training School in Kona, Hawaii, and then staffed the same school twice over the past three years.  So, the book writing project has been on and off the shelf now for six years.

Recently God told me that it is time to work on it again.  When I argued with Him that there are too many books out there already and that only a few people will want to read my book and I've taken too long to write it and I don't know if I'm good enough and I don't want to relive the pain and, and, and . . .   God told me the same thing he told my husband in the hospital when we were praying for God to save Zach's life and spare him, but the prognosis wasn't good . . . God said, "Trust Me, I Will Use This."  

So, I am taking a step in the right direction, I hope, by letting people know that I am writing a book.  I'm not considering writing a book.  I'm not praying about writing a book.  I am not planning to write a book.  I AM WRITING A BOOK!  

I'm not exactly sure what the subtitle will be - probably something like this: 

ZIPLINE TO HEAVEN 

Our family's journey of faith after 

God said, 

"Trust Me, I Will Use This."

So, what is the point of creating a blog and letting people know that I am writing a book?  Do I want praise?  Encouragement?  A virtual pat on the back?  Critique?  

No, yes, no and no to the above questions!  I think I am posting this blog to make this all seem real.  I also would LOVE to have people pray for me and encourage me.   Maybe I want some people to hold me accountable to keep writing.  My husband has been my biggest encourager, but he always knew that God would have to put it on my heart for it to actually happen. 

Also, I would absolutely love to hear people tell their stories of how Zach's life and death and our family's journey of faith has impacted them.   I hope to have a section of the book dedicated to these kind of stories . . . I have some already, but I would love to hear more. 

It took me three years to be able to say one of those fun little Christian phrases: "God is good.  All the time."  This will be another focus of the book . . . what I discovered about the nature and character of God through losing Zach, having my faith shaken to its core, and examining my old beliefs and aligning them with the truth in God's word.  

Well, I don't want to share too much too early.  So I will finish this up for now!  I don't want to over-edit or over-analyze what I write, either here on this blog or in the book.  I hope and pray that Holy Spirit will lead me every step of the way and give me the words to write.  In fact, when I start struggling and second-guessing the words that I'm writing, I will probably stop because it feels like too much of a human-effort, rather than Spirit-led.

Many of you have walked along-side me and my family on this journey.  Thank you for your love, support and encouragement!