The new year has dawned. My return to Iraq is in a holding pattern: unknown and waiting. The gift of this time, the glory of this time, the guts of this time – this month, this season, this blink – includes finishing the book I am writing. I have written 150 pages thus far. I estimate over 100 to go. It’s quite an undertaking, but I am confident it will transform lives, and inspire people to do the “impossible”, live with outrageous hope, and love their neighborhoods to life. In honor of my first day of book writing in 2012, here are some excerpts. Enjoy, share with others, and let me know what you think.

The background on why I am writing a book:

https://upsidedownbethlehem.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/i-am-writing-a-book/

Excerpts.

Go ahead, make a cup of tea, light a candle, open a window for some fresh air, take a deep breath, and relax. All our lives are roads of joy and discovery, success and wonder. Come journey with me. 

About my grandma and seeing the unseen:

https://upsidedownbethlehem.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/gus-an-excerpt-from-my-book/

About being delivered of ten years of chronic depression and suicidal thoughts:

https://upsidedownbethlehem.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/when-god-calls-you-by-name-an-excerpt-from-my-book/

https://upsidedownbethlehem.wordpress.com/2012/02/03/when-god-calls-you-by-name-part-2-an-excerpt-from-my-book/

About travel, wonder, and nations falling in love with Jesus:

https://upsidedownbethlehem.wordpress.com/2011/01/14/travel-trailer-a-short-clip-from-my-book/

About my first experience speaking in tongues:

https://upsidedownbethlehem.wordpress.com/2010/07/31/my-first-speaking-in-tongues/

About God speaking to my mom through the actress Cybill Shepherd:

https://upsidedownbethlehem.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/cybill-shepherd-and-god-tag-teaming-an-excerpt-from-my-book/

About making a new friend in Bulgaria and running into him in Massachusetts months later:

https://upsidedownbethlehem.wordpress.com/2012/01/18/excerpt-from-my-book-bulgaria/

About a Muslim friend in Turkey and courageous questions over the Bosphorus Strait:

https://upsidedownbethlehem.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/book-excerpt-days-in-a-conservative-neighborhood-in-istanbul/

About a community house and a mentally unstable refugee at Easter lunch:

https://upsidedownbethlehem.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/easter-the-eritrean-refugee-an-excerpt-from-my-book/

About one particular impossibility-defying day living in Palestine:

https://upsidedownbethlehem.wordpress.com/2011/09/08/the-holy-spirit-grew-up-in-ramallah-an-excerpt-from-my-book/

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Also, my book is available for pre-purchasing. In fact, I need to raise money to pre-purchase my own books from the publisher. Every $20 contribution you make reserves you a copy!

 

Check it out and spread the word!

http://www.youcaring.com/fundraiser_details?fundraiser_id=934&url=dawnsbookpublishingprepurchasingbooks

Also, please “like” my author page:

https://www.facebook.com/DawnRichardsonAuthor