When I starting writing around this time last year, I didn't really know what I was doing, but I knew I wanted to share my story with my girls. My pastor always told us to never leave this earth without sharing our testimony. As his cancer journey was coming to an end last year, I felt inspired to share my own story as he had always been so good at sharing his. He taught us how to not only live well, but to die well too, and oh, how we miss him. It started with me typing a few chapters about my childhood, growing up as a farmer's daughter, those oh so wonderful teenage years, my family (especially my grandparents who are no longer with us), my faith, some of my struggles with anxiety and overcoming fear and failures, and ending with our love story and of course the birth of our girls. It was a bit of a memoir, filled with all my recollections of life so far. It was definitely not "book material" at first (it was awful, really awful), but I kept writing and editing and re-editing, and it finally started to take shape.
One day, I was out for a run and I came across an ear of field corn just hanging out along one of the streets in my neighborhood. Only a farmer's daughter would notice this ear of corn and wonder what it was doing so far from the corn fields. It's not like I lived in a neighborhood full of farmers. I stopped and picked it up, carefully inspecting the corn kernels and suddenly knew the title of what was becoming a book,
My Story as a Farmer's Daughter with Big Dreams and an even Bigger God. Right there on the side of the road with that ear of corn in my hand and my pink running shoes below, I decided I was going to keep writing until I had a finished manuscript. I felt inspired. I knew my story, and I wanted to finish it. At this point, I had written about 15,000 words and would need to write another 50,000 to turn it into a non-fiction book. I snapped a quick picture with my cell phone to capture the moment and later decided to make that iPhone quality photo the cover of my very 1st book. Crazy, huh?
What I didn't realize is that God knew what I needed to write. These additional chapters would be exactly what I needed to learn to prepare me and possibly my readers for what was to come just after my book would be released. As I wrote those next 50,000 words, God literally transformed me each step of the way. He revealed to me everything I had been learning over the last several years, and in writing about it, He continued to work in me and transform my heart and my mind. This process gave me courage and confidence that I had lacked for years. When I reached my final word count and started my final edits, book formatting, and cover design, I decided to add the word
Transformed to my title, because that is exactly how I felt after reaching this big goal of mine.
None of us could have imagined that a global pandemic would come in and completely turn our world upside down, but God knew. My book was released in late January, we took these family photos a few weeks later, and the following month Coronavirus became the thing that everyone was talking about. Day by day, the world started shutting down. Social-distancing became the new "norm." Everything changed. And we are still walking through it.
These extra chapters in my book make sense to me now. This book wasn't just for my girls, but was for me and anyone else that would read it.
The first words of my introduction chapter...
"Seasons change and so do we." Isn't that the truth?! This season of Coronavirus is challenging in all sorts of ways and has required us all to think and act much differently than we did before.
Family Ties... Because we are spending so much more time with our little families right now. Family is important especially in times of crisis.
Growing in faith... I'm not sure how any of us would get through this without hope and faith!
My struggle with anxiety... Because we are all experiencing some degree of anxiety during this time of uncertainty! In this chapter I share the things that have helped me cope with my own anxiety, and these things have definitely kept me grounded during this crazy time.
Finding joy... Oh, how we are all learning to choose joy during the chaos of Coronavirus.
Overcoming fears and failures... Because we are definitely overcoming fears right now.
Learning to be brave... Hello, essential workers serving the community during a pandemic!
Choosing kindness... We are all learning ways to be kind during this new sense of "normal."
Overcoming working mom guilt... I have never felt so guilty as I am reporting to work as an essential worker while the rest of my family is at home. I'm sure others feel the same as they worry they might bring something home to their family.
Leading by example... We are all having to rise up and figure out how to do things differently, be creative, and lead well during a time of chaos.
Learning to grow... Because we will all grow through this experience! Things will never be the same. It will take years for our economy to bounce back. We will be better prepared should something like this happen again. (I'm pretty sure I will never let things like toilet paper, lysol wipes, or flour run low again!)
I wrote this book for my precious daughters, but now I know why I felt so compelled to put it out into the world. I needed this book, and maybe someone else needed to read it too.
Since it released on Amazon over 2 months ago, over 90 copies of my book have been purchased and I have given away an additional 50 signed copies. I didn't write this book to get rich (you have to sell millions of copies for that to happen!). In fact I chose to self-publish so that I would have full control over what I was putting out into the world. I chose a cover photo that I snapped with a cell phone, because that's where it all clicked for me. This book was written, edited, formatted, designed, put into the world, and promoted by me alone which gives me an even bigger sense of pride. I woke up early and put in the hundreds of hours to write it, and I chose to keep going even when it felt hard. I did the research. I figured things out. And I had the courage to hit submit.
Writing has been therapeutic for me. It's a way for me to share my thoughts, be creative, and express my life's purpose in a different way. I am a natural care-giver, I love being a nurse practitioner and a mom, but I also love encouraging people through my words. I will keep writing whether I become a well-known author or not, because I love books, and I love the transformation that occurs when I am writing one. (Look for book #2 later this year, and yes, it might include some lessons learned during this season we are walking through...)
Thank you to my friends and family and supporters who have purchased my book, shared it on social media, reviewed it on Amazon, and sent me sweet messages after reading it. It has meant the world to me! I hope you felt encouraged as you read my story, saw bits of yourself in my chapters, and realized that everyone has a story filled with ups and downs, lessons and memories, and we can all learn something from reading each other's story.
If you're interesting in purchasing my book, it's available as paperback and kindle edition.
Transformed: by Allison R. Smith
I pray that we all learn something through this challenging season of Coronavirus. I hope we can continue to choose joy, learn to be brave and be kind, grow in our faith, love our families well, lead by example, and grow in all sorts of ways as we adjust to this current situation.
It's Easter weekend. We are thankful for the cross and what Jesus has done for us and continues to do through us. Lord, we ask you to heal our world. Let us not forget the lessons learned, but allow us to be in community again. Amen.
~ Phil 4:13, Allison
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