It's finished!

I sent off the manuscript for my next book, Working from a Place of Rest, to the editor yesterday. It is always a thrilling moment for me, the culmination of a lot of hard work over a long period of time. People often ask me, 'How long does it take you to write a book?'. Well, to actually physically sit down and produce the manuscript, I would say about 6 weeks if I can work at it without interruption. But of course, I'm usually working with the material for at least two years beforehand - shaping it, and road testing it in my retreats and seminars. Then if I think the theme is significant enough to put into book form I'll do a lot of background reading to fill out my own understanding, find illustrations of what I want to say, and gather suitable quotations from others to confirm what I am presenting. So it's long process and there's a great satisfaction when the writing is completed because it really is hard work. It makes me think of the glorious cry of Jesus on the cross, 'It is finished'. The tough work of providing redemption for us was finally over, and relief and satisfaction flooded over him. But then the work of waiting. 'Will people like what I've done? How will they respond to my finished work?' Every author asks those questions, even the Author of our salvation.