Back in the fall I was emailed by the publisher of a magazine and asked if I would like to write an article for them.  I nearly peed on myself as I read it because I was so honored and excited!  My first time to be asked to write for something that would be in a magazine, and they would also pay me!!!  Life couldn't get any better.

My final draft was sent in January 3, and believe it or not they actually sent me a check.  I still was holding out that maybe they were just paying me to be nice for the work I put into it, but they weren't actually going to use it.  I knew it was to be in the May issue, and I suspected I would get a copy in the mail as well.

Last week I opened up a package and there it was!  I couldn't believe it.  I seriously jumped up and down and screamed.  It might have been one of the happiest moments in my life.  I had put so much work into that article and literally had nearly thrown up after I hit the “send” button to email it to them.  So much fear and worry wrapped into one moment and now here it was.  They did use it and weren't just paying me to be nice.

I opened it up and there it was … MY PICTURE … I was in the “contributors” section.  I am a contributor.  Dream come true.  Loved seeing my name in print there.  Of course there I was surrounded by greatness with Jen Hatmaker and Mark Batterson – both authors and amazing people!

My article is about surviving the hard times in marriage.  I specifically wrote about adding a child to our family through international adoption and all the stress that can come on your marriage through that and how we coped and made it through.  I pray and hope that God will use my words for marriages all over the country to realize that in the midst of all the trials and struggles you have to cherish your marriage.  Everything around us can fall, but if Aaron and I have each other we can make it.  I hope that it will encourage one woman to not neglect her marriage because parenting/work/life is hard in this moment.

I told Aaron that after being married to him for eleven years and lots of albums, I finally knew what it was like to get a finished product in your hand.  I never understood the joy he would experience when he got the final track, because we had already listened to it about 1.4 million times in the recording, mixing and mastering process.  For real.  When an album of Aaron's comes out I've already heard it for months.  I have not been the supportive wife in this area.  NEVER AGAIN will I downplay the joy of getting the final product in your hands.  When I held that article it was amazing.  Months ago I wrote this little piece and poured my heart into it.  To see it finally in print was a JOY for me.

MY FIRST PUBLISHED WORK.  You can find my article in the May issue of HOMELIFE magazine, which is a Lifeway publication, so you can find it at your local Lifeway Store (Christian bookstore), or you can order them online.  Thanks for letting me brag on myself for a moment.  That is so rude, but I hope I get a free pass for this one!