“I’ve got the graduation to get ready for.”
“I have company coming.”
“I’m distracted.”
But the real reason I wouldn’t open the edits sent to me for review by the publisher is that if I deal with them, it moves the book forward. And I’m terrified of moving the project forward, of getting it out there, of people actually reading it.
The words, Not. Good. Enough. cycle in my brain as they often have before. I wish it were not so, but this is the Achilles heel. One of the things I battle.
Then yesterday, I happened to see an archived post with an intriguing lead, “when you wonder if what you create is any good” show up on Ann Voskamp’s most recent post. I took the bait and clicked.
“…it’s His Grace that makes Good and Right and yes, makes Perfect,” she writes.
Yes, his Grace.
I read and reread.
Another author has penned, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work” (2 Corinthians 9:8).
And so trusting not in what I can do by myself, but trusting His Word and embracing His Grace, I gathered my courage yesterday, opened the email and began to work through the changes. Quite by accident, I scrolled to the end of the manuscript and happened to catch a note left there by the editor.
I found an affirming, uplifting, validating message.
I press on now, thankful for the gracious words from the editor, but clinging to the Word of God.