After an intense season of letting go (where I felt less pruned and more plucked bare), the gift came to me like kindness. For years, I had waited for this moment, but when the desire materialized, all I wanted was to hold it close. Like a mama bird protecting her young, I tucked the news beneath my wing and chirped, “Keep moving! Nothing to see here.”
But it was not nothing—and yet, I also knew it wasn’t everything.
Rejection and disappointment have been good teachers over the last several years, softening my striving and reminding me to love the ground at my feet. In this writing life, I have learned to have a gentler pace, a listening ear, and a more open hand.
But sometimes the answer is not a no but a yes, and for me, this particular yes felt like a gift that contained a little more gravity, and I knew I needed time to feel the weight.
The silence was necessary, but out of the quiet an excitement has been brewing. While I cannot find the right word that means both insanely thrilled but also extremely humbled, I am grateful to share with you my bit of news:
I am writing a book!
A few days before Christmas, I signed a contract with InterVarsity Press to write a book that captures so much of what we talk about here, inviting us to reimagine the way we belong in the world and create space for each other. It is a book for all of us who have felt not-quite or on the outside or who simply long for more out of our relationships in a world that is increasingly polarized and disconnected. It is a book that recognizes the rupture, but leans toward repair—in ourselves, in our friendships, in the church.
Here is a pic of the strange, surreal, and unstaged moment after I signed the digital contract…
I have a lot of work to do writing the manuscript over the next several months, and the book will likely not hit shelves until mid-2024 or later, so there’s quite the road ahead. But I hope you’ll journey with me. I simply cannot write a book about belonging alone.
I’ll post occasional updates here (likely more once we get closer to cover reveals, preordering fun, and more), and I would love to have your continued support in bringing this book to life and helping it find its feet in the world. I’ll share some ideas of how to do that sometime in the future, but for now, thank you for being here, for celebrating with me, and for being people who ask the important questions of how we can be more human together. I am grateful.
grace + peace,
Sarah
Good Things to Pick Up
a short list for narrowing the space between us
An Episode
Over the weekend, I listened to a podcast conversation between my friends Maile and Shawn about cultivating a life of faithfulness in their creative work. No matter the ground you are working or how your creativity is manifesting itself in the world, this episode from The Stories Between us was such a needed reminder of the goodness that emerges from a life of gentle persistence.
An Article
Because I’m currently in full-on book-writing mode, a Christianity Today article on Christian publishing and platforms caught my eye. Knowing how to show up in online spaces is a consistent question in my mind. Social media is a great place to connect and have conversations, and while it’s no secret the way it can suck away at our time and attentions, I also wonder whether we have come to confuse substance with celebrity. I don’t have neat and tidy answers, but I’m asking questions and listening.
A Special WOTY Offer
I mentioned my partnership with MudLove a couple weeks ago, so this is simply a reminder that until January 31, 2023, you can go to MudLove.com and use the discount code WESTFALL20 at checkout to get 20% off your own personalized Word of the Year mug or bracelet.
MudLove mugs are amongst my favorite so vouching for them is easy. Plus, each mug or bracelet helps bring clean water to communities in the Central African Republic and safe, sustainable work for women of the Dominican Republic. Win to the win to the win.
So excited for you, and for this book. 💛
Congratulations—how wonderful! This book sounds like one that the world NEEDS.