A Surprise Book Release: Look to Jesus, second edition

Six years ago, I began my author journey with a non-fiction book titled Look to Jesus: How to Let Go of Worry and Trust God. The nudge that pushed me down that road was some major upheaval in my life and the subsequent lessons I learned as I dealt with the resulting anxiety and trauma. I did this by focusing on Jesus and meditating on His faithfulness. Those thoughts and my studies became the content of that book.

I wrote the book in the months after my community—my church—Mars Hill, imploded in a big, ugly, and public way. At the time of writing, I was still close to that event, and still trying to sort out what happened, I lightly touched on the barest of details in the book, briefly acknowledging that it was painful, then moving on. I pointed out some of the positive outcomes, not wanting to dwell on the darkness. Perhaps I glossed over too much. I don’t know. At the time, it was like a bomb had gone off, and I didn’t know the full extent of the damage. However, even though the book’s impetus was my Mars Hill story, it wasn’t the point of it. 

A recent podcast by Christianity Today, The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, has brought the story back into conversations. Knowing I was a part of the church, many people have asked me if I think it’s a fair representation of what happened. My answer is yes; I do. Listening to the podcast has been hard but good. There are a lot of lessons to learn from that experience and much to grieve over. 

The current state of affairs in our topsy-turvy world has brought my awareness to how easy it is to allow anxiety to creep back in when I take my eyes off Jesus. Six years after I wrote a book about it, I’m still a work in progress when it comes to placing my trust in God. But I can say with confidence: God has always been and will continue to be faithful, and he is worthy of trust.

I’m proud of the message I shared in the pages of Look to Jesus, and I still believe it’s relevant and helpful in helping people who struggle with worry. But it has not been a book I’ve actively promoted for some time, namely because many clunky sentences and beginner writing mistakes within the pages were, frankly, embarrassing! So over the summer, I went through the manuscript and did some polishing. It also has all new formatting and a new cover, and I’m pleased to be able to share Look to Jesus with you in a new and improved version 2.0. 

It’s available in paperback, digital, and audio on Amazon. And this week only, the digital version on Kindle is FREE! So download it today and read it when you need a little encouragement to let go of worry and focus on Jesus.

If you want to help me share this message with everyone who needs it, you can do so by sharing this giveaway and/or leaving a review on Amazon if you liked it. I very much appreciate those two things!