Waves of Grace - A Single Act of Obedience Part Two

"And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace." John 1:16

I read this verse on Monday, May 6th. I was struck by the waves of grace God continually pours upon us. Often we are too busy to notice them. Perhaps I'm a little more attune to it since I've been reading Nancy Leigh DeMoss's book, Choose Gratitude. I've been learning to be more sensitive to identifying what the Lord has been doing in and through my life - to look for His outpouring of grace and how I need to choose to be grateful.

Two things happened that Monday after I read this verse. I was going through emails that had accumulated in my inbox over the weekend. I'm a member of ACFW - American Christian Fiction Writers and they have a loop where you can ask questions, make announcements, etc. I get them on digest mode, so it tends to be a long list of emails that came through. Most times I barely peruse them.

On this morning, I was scrolling through the loop email when I noticed one of the notices from the weekend. Linda S. Glaz was offering a contest on her blog to look at book pitches in preparation for upcoming writing conferences and the winner would receive a full proposal critique. (Funny I missed that at the time and thought it was only a first chapter critique). I read through the announcement and realized that the contest was over. My first initial thought was, "Oh well. Too bad I didn't see it sooner."

But I couldn't get away from thinking about it. I felt prompted to contact Linda even though the deadline was already over. I did and sure enough, it was too late. (It wasn't until after I sent that first email that I realized Linda wasn't just an author, she also was an agent.) She did offer to still look at my pitch. This was on Monday evening. I debated all the next day whether or not I should send it. Finally that afternoon I couldn't get past the overwhelming urge to send it.

Linda emailed back within 20 minutes and loved my pitch. She wanted to see more and asked for the first five pages of my book. I admit to starting to feel a bit panicked at this point. It's when the realization that Linda was an actual agent started to sink in a bit more. While she read I perused the site she represents - Hartline Literary Agency. Honestly, when I looked at all the requirements they had for submitting to them I was overwhelmed.

I prayed, "Lord there is no way I can do something like this. You'll just have to work it out and provide an agent when the time is right because it's not something I can do on my own." It was soon after my prayer that Linda corresponded again wanting to see more of my novel - the whole thing - providing I wasn't already represented by someone.

Again with much prayer I emailed her my whole manuscript, seeking God for His wisdom. His timing. She responded back hours later offering to represent me.

God opened a writing door when I wasn't even expecting it. Not only did He provide an agent when I wasn't looking for one, He also allowed me to make it to the semi-final round with the ACFW Genesis contest. Only He knows what the future holds.

A single act of obedience provided an open door.

Waves of grace - grace upon grace.

His will. His timing.