Sing with Me... God is in Control...

The last two weeks God has been hammering me with the reminder that He is in control.

You see I'm in charge of a 125 author booksigning at the Mall of America on September 20. As ACFW's publicity officer, I was in charge of publicity for the event. And as a volunteer at the conference the last three years, I helped with the booksigning. It's always been a big event, but it feels like this year is bigger.

First, we've moved the event outside the conference hotel. But not only did we move it out, we moved it to the largest mall in America.

Second, authors' expectations seemed to sky rocket the moment I announced the venue last year at the conference banquet.

Third, we're partnering with Barnes & Noble to run the conference bookstore...and we've never done that before.

So this year, I'm responsible for all these firsts for the ACFW conference. It's been a daunting task, but one I've been happy to do, because it will help the visibility of Christian fiction in so many ways.

But let's say working with others when there are so many outcomes that I can't control is ... stressful. The last two weeks were terrible as the conference bears down on us, but many loose threads still needed to be addressed. But those threads were so far outside of my control I almost couldn't breath.

In the last two days I've spent hours on the phone, and I can now say they've all come together. I kept saying I knew God was in control, but I had a hard time relaxing and truly trusting Him. I kept asking people to pray, because it had reached a point there was nothing else we could do. I have a feeling God kept pushing the answers out, so that I would have to trust. To realize there was nothing I could control, but He had it all in the palm of His hand.

Will there be other emergencies? Undoubtedly. I'm working with 120+ other people plus several companies. Something will come up. But will it all work out. Absolutely. Not because I'm wonderful, but because God is. And this is a chance to introduce people to him through stories.

It's going to be a great event. And I really hope you can join us if you're in the Minneapolis area. It's from 1-3 p.m. in the Best Buy Rotunda, a hallway, and the Bloomingdale's Court. Panels with authors will run throughout the event. If you love Christian fiction, this is the place to be.