Coffee Break

This last week, one friend was accepted into a graduation school program and another was denied. I was thrilled for my friend who has a clear path forward in her career dream, and sad for my friend who received a no. Sad, but not discouraged, nor doubting the path.

One thing I’ve learned through this writing gig: God is in the no’s.

Throughout the years when I free lanced for magazines, and then as I transitioned to writing books, I could have wallpapered my entire house with rejection letters. It wasn’t easy to keep going…(understatement!)…but I did. I just kept trying again.

Looking back, especially when I think of my first book with a traditional publisher, had I received a “yes” any sooner than I did, I wouldn’t have been ready. I’m pretty sure I would have been a one trick pony for a publisher. Instead, the timing was amazing. Just the right agent, just the right editor, both looking for just the right writer for a project.

God is slow but never late. 

Thirty books later (30!), I am grateful for God’s no’s. The no’s aren’t easy to swallow, but they’re surprisingly good medicine.

What about you? What lessons have you learned from God’s no’s?