My Book is IN Bookstores {confetti}

1 Books a Million

I googled the word surreal to be sure this is the word I want to use to describe how I feel today…and it’s dead on:

sur·re·al – səˈrēəl/ adjective  bizarre, unreal, unusual, weird, strange, dreamlike.

Want to know what it feels like to see your book sitting on a bookshelf in Books-A-Million?

{cue the confetti}

Surreal. Bizarre. Unreal. Unusual. Weird. Strange. Dreamlike.

And I read I Corinthians 1:27-29. I must tuck myself deep inside these verses.

27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not —to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before Him.

When I read this passage I am reminded of who God uses:
the foolish – check
the weak – check
the lowly – check
the despised – check

I can testify that God is using this foolish (any wisdom I have comes from God’s word), weak (any strength I have comes from God), simple (just a little girl from a small town in Ohio), despised girl (you should see the hate mail peeps!).

And as a little girl my parents faithfully took me to church every.single.Sunday and one of my FAVORITE songs to sing in Sunday School was:

This little light of mine – I’m gonna let it shine.

And when I started blogging, my heart was to pierce the darkness of the on-line world with my little light.  There are so many dark places on the web here and some are drawn to the light.  And others wince – like when coming out of a dark movie theatre – the light hurts.  And they turn away.

But as I Corinthians says – he uses ordinary people for His glory.  And you are NO exception.

Are you ordinary? Perfect.

That’s just the type of person God uses – I’m exhibit “A” evidence of this fact.

This is how my book closes in the Acknowledgements section, on page 220:

“To the “Women Living Well” blog readers –Oh, friends, I never in a million years dreamt that anyone would actually read what I write.  But you do, and you keep coming back and graciously encouraging me and sharing your hearts.  I have so far to go on this journey and thank you for joining me on it.  I can’t wait to see how God is going to work in your life!  Keep walking with the King!

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

-Jude vv.24-25

To everyone who has followed along, loved on me, encouraged me, challenged me, shared my posts with friends and family and prayed for me —

Thank you.

Those two little words don’t seem enough – but I mean them with all my heart.

Thank you.

Keep walking with the King,

Courtney

80 Comments

  1. Ahhhh!!! Squeal, squeal!! So excited for you (confetti going up, whistles blowing…woot, woot!!) I am so excited for you sis!! You are such a great encouragement, uplifter, guide for all of us women who follow you!! Two words for you THank You!! Thank you for being faithful to God and being that Godly example to us. We love you sis!!

    Blessings,
    Adrienne
    http://www.lacedbygrace.wordpress.com

  2. SO excited for you!! Congratulations!! Can’t believe ANYONE would send you hate mail!! You are one of the most real, kind, encouraging persons I’ve ever met!! I was so proud to be part of your launch team for this book!!! Now I better get on over to Amazon and write my review!!! Your parents have a LOT to be proud of! So does your husband and children!m You are anything BUT weak, foolish or simple! This book is gonna be on the NY Times Best Seller list!!!!

    Congratulations again!!

  3. I am THRILLED for you Courtney!! Your words are tender, warm, rich, powerful, and most importantly, led of the Lord!! It is such an encouragement to bear witness to the mighty work He is doing through you, and I’m privileged to do my part to show my support as part of the book launch team. I am keeping you in my prayers as the whirlwind is just beginning, and I thank God for your heart toward all of us! I’m definitely finding my joy and on the path of a woman living well!! xoxo

  4. Congratulations Courtney with your book!!
    Yesterday I wrote in a comment that I am not able to buy your book because of living in The Netherlands and to order a book in the USA you have to pay with a visa card which I do not have. So I had to wait until your book is translated and for sale here in The Netherlands. But…….yesterday evening I thought: let me google the title of the book and see where it is already available. Great was my surprise to see that it is already available in The Netherlands!!!! (and it wasn’t yet october 1st) Is not that amazing!! I directly bought it through Bol.com (maybe you heard of this firm). It will take 5-7 days before I get it, but it doesn’t matter. It is not translated, but reading English is no problem. I am really really happy!!! Thank you very much and celebrate this beautiful day Courtney!

    1. Dear Courtney,

      Congratulations !!! Woohoo !!!

      I haven’t received mine yet, but, patience, patience …. I will let you know when it does. Can you feel the excitement ?

      Have a blessed day with the hubs and kids. X

      Yvonne,

      ik ben heel erg blij voor je !

      Groetjes.

  5. I will be stalking my UPS guy today! I preordered so it’s scheduled to be here today! I’m so excited!

  6. Woo Hoo!!!! I just got an email from Amazon this AM stating that my order will arrive on 10/3 (USPS)! Will definitely be making my trip to the PO that day! Congratulations – and thank you!
    Also – I’m looking forward to Thursday evenings for the next several weeks! Thank you for the webcast of the conference!

  7. Congratulations!!! And thank you! Thank God!!!! I can’t wait for my copy to arrive, I think it’s due here today 🙂 By the way Courtney, I keep coming back for your honesty and your joy in the Lord. May you always have and share those gifts!

  8. Good for you!!! So excited to read it!! I just wanted to say thank you, I can’t imagine the hate mail you must get but I just wanted to say you are such a good, godly example, you ARE the Proverbs 31 woman, you ARE a woman after God’s own heart! You encourage me and thousands, probably millions now, of other women who need it so desperately, so thank you! Thank you for being you, for boldly sharing your faith and for being obedient to God! You are AWESOME! 😉
    Can’t wait to read it! Congrats!

  9. Congratulations on what is certain to be a part of many such landmarks of your race that you are running faithfully!

  10. Super excited for you Courtney! I’ve been following you since the Rachel Ray clip 😀 LOVE you and what you stand for! LOVE your boldness for the Lord and your LOVE of family. Sister, your doing great things for Him and Lord will always reward that 10 fold. He is a great big awesome Abba Daddy God. Enjoy this time. God Bless you!

  11. Congratulations, Courtney! I live in a tiny town in Upper Michigan, and I saw it in our bookstore last night! Going back for it today with a gift certificate I’ve been saving for a special read. 🙂

  12. Yea! Thank you for shining your light. You are such an encouragement to me. I just started reading my copy this morning, but the kids are up now so I need to go make breakfast 🙂 have a wonderful day!

  13. Courtney~my book comes today! So excited! You have every reason to be proud at what the Lord has done through you…all glory to our Heavenly Father for placing you here for such a time as this. Your words, your wisdom, your humility and your generosity shine through to so many ladies desperate for these timeless truths from God. I have learned so much from you as a first generation Christian~you are a mentor to more than you know. Bless you today~enjoy every moment of your book release…God has done a great thing in your life! We serve an amazing King~Lyn

  14. Courtney. ..I am so proud of and excited for you!
    And ypu look so happy and pretty in your picture.
    What a great accomplishment…and just the start of
    Many good things to come.

  15. Congrats Courtney! I have been reading your blog since some time last spring. Kudos to you on this new adventure. You and I are VERY different in many ways, but I can see your heart is so true! I can’t wait to read your book, and share it with my friends.

  16. So happy for you, Courtney! Can’t wait to read your book. You have always been a godly encourager in my life.

  17. What an experience that must have been to walk into that bookstore and see your book, sitting there on the shelves!!! Congratulations and thank you for sharing your gifts with all of us!

  18. I bought my copy this morning and can not wait to read it and see what God has for me to learn. Thank you for all the encouragement you give! Congratulations!!

  19. Congratulations Courtney! You look beautiful in your picture. I can’t wait to get the book! It’s so sad that you get hate mail, but don’t let that discourage you! I love your blog and have been so blessed by it, and so have thousands of others. Don’t ever stop! I know God is pleased with you!

  20. Good Morning Courtney, Congrats on your book and I look so forward to getting the chance to read it at some point. During devotions this morning, I ran across this verse and it reminded me of your post today.

    “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

    May God continue to use you for his glory.
    Blessings,
    Cindy

  21. Hi Courtney!!!

    I am a new wife (married June 22, 2013!), 26 years old, and I have just come across your blog through Time-Warp Wife’s posts on facebook. I LOVE your blog, LOVE your words, and feel SO encouraged by you! I pre-ordered your book last night and I cannot wait to read it! I remembered the 10 ebook giveaway with the purchase of one book last night around 10:30 and told my husband, “Oh! Look at this blog and watch this video for this book! Can I buy it?!” He loved it. 🙂 So I bought it! We are also participating in your October Challenge, “Making your home a haven.” Very excited for this. I began praying for peace in our home this morning. I am really trying to make it a habit to get up earlier, so that I can have a quiet time with God. I desperately want that to be a daily thing. This October Challenge has been a motivator. Thank you for your blog and your book!!!! You are wonderful!!! 😀

    -Meg

  22. So happy for you! I opened my Kindle app and what did I see? Your book downloading!!!! To God be the Glory!! I know this book is going to bless me! You are such an inspiration! I watched the webcast and felt as if I was sitting in the audience. My church doesn’t have a women’s fellowship, but I have gained so much connecting through Women Living Well and Good Morning Girls! God Bless You in all your endeavors.

  23. Courtney I am so thankful for godly, obedient women like you :-)! Continue to “Walk with the King!” That statement resonates with me because I am the child of the one true King.

    I pray that God will continue to use you mightily. Remain faithful my dear sister. Much love in Christ!

    Also, I am so sorry you receive hate mail. I cannot imagine why; I will continue to keep you lifted up in prayer ♥.

  24. Congratulations, Courtney! I met you through Good Morning Girls, and your blog has been a blessing. Keep letting your little light shine!

  25. Congratulations, Courtney! I’ve been a reader of your blog, and viewer of your YouTube videos since back in the days of the bathtub girl, and I’ve loved you, and learned so much from you along the way! You have come a long way in terms of blogging, conferences, and now writing a book(!!!), but one thing has remained the same– Your love for the Truth. Never stop chasing after Him, and never let the “fame” of all of this overshadow your role as a wife, and mother! 🙂

  26. So excited for you!! Love that you shared 1 Corinthians 1:27-29. I’ve been reflecting on that myself and it was a nice reminder this weekend at service. Our pastor spoke on it as well. The entire message was about who God uses and how we were chosen since before our birth. Love how he put it, “God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called.” Amen to that…it is a comfort beyond words.

    You will get no hate mail from this simple girl from South Florida…nope. You inspire me! I am a stay at home mom of 2 little girls and we homeschool as well. When I think about you doing that as well as blogging such wisdom and writing a book….well, I don’t have to know you personally to feel overwhelmed with joy and pride for you that you are being blessed to be used in such a BIG way!

    Praying God’s continued blessing, provision and protection over you, your family and your ministry.

  27. soooo excited for you! The UPS just rang my doorbell….I knew what that meant the Women Living Well books have arrived…cartwheel *****

  28. Congratulations!! You deserve every bit of it! You ate such an inspirational woman of Faith, such a great example. I can’t wait yo get my hands on this book and read all the wisdom God has granted you. God bless you and your family always. From San Diego

  29. Dear Courtney…I just recently discovered Women Living Well and am thoroughly enjoying it.
    Just a quick comment….I am a published author (too!) I write inspirational romance novels. I write under the name “Joyce Livingston” and have had 35 books published by Barbour Publishing and one by Love Inspired. Several of those books have been bundled into larger books…so…counting those….there are nearly 50 books that have been published. Most are being converted to e-books now and are available nearly everywhere on the Internet. Just Google Joyce Livingston

    I lost my husband to a horrible brain tumor in 2004. Four years later I married my Pastor, who lost his wife to a number of health problems. I wrote one book after that….but God changed the calling on my life (He does things like that, doesn’t He?) and I am in full-time ministry with my husband. He is one of several pastors at our large church and has been a pastor there for 36 years! Amazing, huh? We are having a great time. In addition to his pastoral duties we teach a SS Senior class of over 100, teach a Wed. nite Bible Study and Praise, a number of other things too numerous to mention, and we do visitation to hospitals, shut-ins, homebound, etc. 24/7. When there is a need….we go! And I love it! I have the sweetest, most thoughtful husband in the world..well, okay, Wichita, Kansas! Will I ever write novels again? Depends on what God does with my life. If I should ever lose my husband (don’t even want to think about that) I probably would. That would make my publisher and my editor very happy. Much love and success to you on this your first book. How well I remember holding my first published book in my hands. WOW! What a feeling! God is GOOD! Joyce (Livingston) Lewis.

  30. Yaaaaaaay!!! You look just beautiful and your dress is adorable!!! Congrats friend!!!! I’m so happy for you and proud of you:):)

  31. Courtney I am SOOO excited for you!!! I started following your blog about 3 years ago when I was going through a really hard time with infertility. You are shining bright for the Lord and this lady over here you have helped tremendously, thank you! Congratulations on the release of your book, yay, yay, yay can’t wait to read it!

  32. I just purchased your book on my Nook. I am really looking forward to reading it. I really enjoy your blog, so I know I will enjoy your book. Very excited for you!

  33. Awesome Awesome Awesome!!!! Congrats on the release on your amazing and inspiring book! Thank you for always inspiring others even when I know there are probably days you don’t feel like it and feel you need inspiring. Thanks for shining your little light into a world that desperately needs all the light it can get.

  34. Congrats on the release of your book!! Keep writing and blogging! I’m definitely learning a lot from your writing… Titus 2:4-5: [4] Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children, [5] to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

    Thank you for urging younger women like me ….

  35. A BIG Congratulations on your book!! Can’t wait to read it!!

    Many thanks!!

    Keep continuing to be that lighthouse for JESUS!!

    Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”….Amen!!

  36. What a blessing you are to so many people everywhere! Congratulations doesn’t seem to cover it. So many people feel like they know you. I know I do! It’s your transparency and genuine love for other women that makes you so special 🙂 You’ve allowed God’s glory to shine through you. Thank you! And finally….wooohooooo! I know it must feel wonderful and definitely ‘surreal’!

  37. Congratulations, Courtney!!
    I am one of the countless followers of your blog who has been so encouraged and silently cheered you on for several years. I am so thankful for your example. When your book came in the mail yesterday, I couldn’t help but smile and think, “way to go!!” I am celebrating this neat accomplishment and celebrating God being glorified through your words and your life!!
    Blessings,
    another Courtney from the Midwest:)

  38. I pre-ordered, received it yesterday and could not wait to dive in! I started devouring it last night – underlining, staring, notes in the margins, the whole nine yards – it is fantastic! Praise God for your ministry and I am so thrilled for the work He’s prepared for you to do 🙂

  39. To God be the glory- thats what I love about you most… and that you speak His truth! I love you sweet sister… really and truly. Been praying for you- will continue to do so… and let the confetti fall!

  40. “This Little Light of Mine” was and still is one of my very favorites. I can’t wait to read what you have written.

  41. You GO girl! The ones that really want to know truth appreciate someone telling it. I’m passing your info along to my students and friends. Anna

  42. Wooooooohoooooooooo! Confetti from Germany!!! Can’t wait to receive my copy in the mail! Will let you know when that happens (and send you a picture if I can put the book down for one minute). Congratulations! Herzlichen Glueckwunsch!!!
    Love
    Katja

  43. Woo hoo!! I am so excited for you!! And me too. I wasnt able to purchase right now, but I went on to my library website and saw that they are processing one of your books. {It will be in the LIBRARY TOO{ HOW COOL IS THAT?} Soooo I was able to request it and be the first one to read their copy. I’m sure I’ll want one of my own once I read it. I know it will be full of great encouragement and truth, just as your blog posts are!! Christmas is coming. Are you planning on a study guide?? I’ll put that on my list too. Congratulations Courtney! And way to go Jesus!!!

  44. We all should sing “THIS LITTLE LIGHT OF MINE ” and remember that He shines through us… Glory to Our Father… and Blessings to you that share as you do in your Walk, your Life and your Purpose…

    Confetii from Illinois…with love from my heart …
    Sonja

  45. So excited for you!! I cued the confetti when my hubby texted me to let me know he picked up the last copy on the shelf, lol! Can’t wait to dive in when he brings it home!! Many hugs and congrats to you and your family!!!

  46. I can’t tell you how excited I am for you Courtney! You encourage me so much through your blog to literally walk with the king daily and I can’t thank you enough! Many many blessings to you for blessing ME so greatly. (And how anyone could send you hate mail literally boggles my mind)

  47. Congratulations Courtney!! God is really going to do something super AWESOME for His daughters through your book! I have recommended your book to many of my friends and I can’t wait until my book arrives. I’ll be ordering a copy for my sister and mother -in law as a gift! Keep following God’s words because He’s truly going to be glorified in the End! Thank you for being such an inspiration to SO many women.
    Be blessed,
    La’Keisha Bolling

  48. I’m so thankful that I was able to be on the launch team for this wonderful book. I know that God inspired you and will use you with this book. 🙂

  49. I have been following your blog for awhile now and have only commented a few times. But I had to write today and let you know how excited I am. I am excited for your book success and so excited to read your book! When I came across your blog I was in a bad place in my marriage, but your wonderful God given wisdom really opened my eyes to some sin I was commiting in my marriage. Fast forward to today, my marriage is great, praise God, but after giving birth to my fourth baby I was suffering with some discontent. Then surprise I see this post today! I know God sent me this book right when I need His word through some godly women. Thank you so much for being open and willing to be used by the Lord. Thank you for your ministry, it truly means more than you know.

  50. Thank you, Courtney, for allowing your light to continue to shine, and piercing through the darkness for which so many are bound!

    Congratulations on your book!

    God bless you!

  51. Congratulations! I am enjoying reading your book. I have enjoyed reading your blog since I found it this past summer! Thank you for all of your hard work!

  52. Congratulations!!! I can only imagine how exciting that is. I can’t wait to read the book and pray it reaches many.

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