Hope in Hard Times
A new book for you
It’s Saturday afternoon, just 3 days until my book releases into a pandemic-stricken world, and I’m sitting outside on my back deck, listening to the chorus of birds and neighborhood sounds, letting the breeze wash over me. As idyllic as that might sound, there’s a shadow side to this picture. I’m on my deck alone, because I can’t be anywhere else. I am currently under a “shelter in place” order limiting my mobility, and sociability.
I’m not sure what I imagined this season would look like exactly, but I know that this current scenario was not in my sights when I planned to launch my book on April 7th.
I think it’s safe to say that none of us are currently living a reality that we anticipated or planned for. I am in good company, I know this.
I actually finished Everything Is Yours back in November, but with Thanksgiving and Christmas on the horizon, and with a Retreat (now postponed) happening in March, April felt like the soonest I would be able to give this book the best chance at a proper blessing as it takes off into the world.
Of course, I had no imagination for a pandemic.
I had no idea.
None of us did. And yet, here I am, holding this book in my hands, so ready after five years of carrying it, to finally put it into YOUR hands.
I knew the message of discovering the freedom and hope of surrender felt weighty and relevant then, when most of us were preoccupied with the inevitable weight and distraction of the holidays, but I’m admittedly sad that it is as timely as it turns out to be.
I had no idea.
But this is where we are, isn’t it? Like it or not—ready or not—it (painfully), is what it is.
Most of us come to surrender slantwise and obstinate, forced into it by unwanted and unforeseen circumstances. As a fellow traveler through the wilderness, Kris Camealy comes at surrender differently, as one who has been pursued and embraced by love. Everything is Yours is an invitation to experience God’s heart and be surprised by joy in the uncertain times of life. Accept and you are sure to be inspired and changed by it.
~Shelly Miller, Author of Rhythms of Rest: Finding the Spirit of Sabbath in a Busy World
While I don’t know which of the specific aspects of this COVID season are wringing you dry, I know that because you and I are both made in God’s image, our aches and pains bear resemblance to each other, regardless of the particulars.
The painful revelation I’m having this season, post-writing a book on surrender, is that there is still more junk for me to release into God’s hands. I still have places that I’ve withheld from Him.
I had no idea.
Because you and I are kin, and neither of us has passed on to glory, I know that this is true for you too. (Like it or not, ready or not.)
We were doing our thing, living life on our own terms, and then, Whoomp, there it is—your whole life shaken and stirred into a sickening slurry of loss and grief and unwelcome surprise. This was not the plan. This was not the Lenten sacrifice we anticipated having to make. And still, this is where we both find ourselves.
I confess that when I finished this book, I thought I might get to take a break from surrendering things to God. I’ve felt pretty stripped by His “severe mercy” over the years and I think secretly, I hoped I might get to take the bench for a while.
Of course this is not the case.
Surrender is not a one-and-done kind of thing. It’s not a reaction.
What I’ve learned over the years is that surrender is a posture that requires repeated practice, everyday, in everything, at all times.
It’s taken me a long time to learn this new way of living—I’m learning it still. And that's why I wrote this book, because how could I not show you all of the ways God showed up for me whenever I’d said I was willing for what He had for me, even if it wasn't the thing I thought I wanted or needed?
I couldn’t keep that from you. It’s too good of a gift to keep it all to myself. Even if it’s a hard gift.
On Tuesday, Everything Is Yours will be released from the warehouses of wherever books are sold, but because of the current crisis, those of you who order the printed edition, might experience delays in receiving your books. That’ s a grief that I am carrying into this week—it feels like another thing I have to surrender.
Despite this, I hope you’ll go ahead and pre-order it anyway, because I have a few goodies for you, and I know that when it does show up on your doorstep, the timing will be just right. God knew this would be where we are, I trust that He knows when you really need the book in your hands…
With you in this, friends.
A couple of things to note
Join me this Sunday evening, April 5 at 7PM eastern, along with my friend, Rev. Summer Gross, founder and host of The Presence Project, for a sweet hour of conversation, prayer and encouragement. You can join us HERE.
Beginning May 1 I will be hosting an online book club for Everything Is Yours. Advance readers suggested to me that this book would be a really great tool to walk through with a friend or a small group and I am here for it. More details are coming soon, but I hope you’ll consider joining me for this deep dive into this book. I am confident it will be a transformative time for us.
You’re in my prayers, friends. I am so crazy-grateful for you.
In Him,
Kris