How would a person happen to write a novel, and why would they?

I know many authors are born to write, and they realize it at an early age. They are gifted with imagination, creativity, and an awareness of the power of words. Not me. I changed my major in college three times before settling on Computer Programming simply because I liked to press buttons. The only thing in my favor was my habit of chronicling my life, a practice I began in middle school.

Three decades later, in 2006, I was forty-five years old. My husband Brent and I had five children, aged fourteen to three. We were in the “thick of things”.

During this season, I began walking daily to pray, think, and listen to Christian music. The song, “Praise You in This Storm,” by Casting Crowns, stirred my memory and emotions. That’s when the premise of Even In This and Miah’s story began to form in my mind. However, guilt also began to grow. Instead of using my precious time away from the responsibilities at home to commune with God, the story kept occupying my thoughts.

I confessed this to my sister-in-law, and instead of counseling me to “take every thought captive,” she encouraged me to write the story down. Several months later, my mother-in-law gave me a ticket to Calvin University’s Festival of Faith and Writing where a few of my chapters received special recognition from the late Lawrence Dorr, a Pulitzer Prize Nominee. His encouragement fueled my resolve to continue writing and completing the story.

After the conference, I joined a writer’s group from Lawrence Dorr’s critique class, where an author and ghostwriter read the entire manuscript, offering valuable feedback.

One Christmas, another sister-in-law gave me a copy of The Shack by William P. Young. The story triggered deep emotions and grief as my soul wrestled with the paradox of God’s goodness and tragedy.

My parents had died when I was in my early twenties, and although God had blessed me with great faith and peace, The Shack revealed within me a latent desire for reckoning. What I learned about God’s love from Young’s book answered my questions and shaped Miah’s life.

Sometime along the way, I hired my husband’s cousin to edit the manuscript. Her invaluable help led to necessary revisions. I then submitted several chapters to Authonomy, an online writer’s community. After nearly a year, with support from friends and family, the book reached the number one spot on the “editor’s desk” and received a review from a Zondervan editor, who offered helpful suggestions to strengthen my writing and the story.

After more revisions, I had the book edited by a Calvin University graduate. Once again, the story changed, and after that, I shelved the book—out of reach and out of my thoughts. I wanted to be fully present in my children’s lives.

During the hiatus from my make-believe world, the Lord took his chisel and sandpaper to my heart through a devotional by Ann Voskamp, which I received from yet another sister-in-law. I read the book twenty-six times, and when I finally set it down, God had

transformed me. Then, just like the Creator who promised to never leave me or forsake me, I couldn’t forget the girl from the Outback. When the time was right, I blew the dust away and breathed life back into her story. But Miah needed chiseling and sanding too, and so did her boyfriend.

When the last rough spots were smoothed, it was time for another edit. Years earlier I had heard author Lorilee Craker speak at a local writer’s conference. I was so impressed that I kept her name in my file all those years. When I reached out to her, it was a long shot launched by prayer, but to my surprise, she kindly accepted my request for an edit.

I loved all her suggestions, and we had a mutual love and respect for our Native American “relatives”. It took me two or three years of intermittent work to refine Miah and Brandt’s story. I then reached back out to Lorilee for a final edit. Because of Lorilee’s kindness and expert attention to detail, Even In This is what it is today.

I’m so grateful for each person who has helped me in the process, and for the gracious God who put them in my life. And I’m even more grateful for the people God has purposed to read Miah and Brandt’s story. I pray they will find hope and greater faith in the Lord and His Word as they navigate the trials in their lives.