CHRISTIAN BOOK EXPO
I've been cruising by the Thomas Nelson booth at ICRS for years, always lusting after the graphics they had their for other authors. I finally had a graphic! I can die happy now. :-)

The Christian Book Expo was in Dallas and was the first of its kind. It was specifically for the readers. I had great fun connecting with readers and seeing writer friends. The sad thing was how poorly attended it was. I think so many near Dallas didn't know about it, and that's a shame. The weekend was packed full of great workshops by top Christian authors. There was a debate between atheist Hitchens and Christian leaders like Strobel. Women of Faith speakers were there. It was a truly fabulous weekend. I hope they do it again, but I think they need to change up the venue. For one thing, it was a lot like ICRS with separate publisher booths. After attending a workshop, an attendee would then have to figure out when the speaker was signing in the expo and track them down instead of being able to purchase books on the spot. I think it would be better held in a festival-like atmosphere with tents. Or maybe in a conference hotel with that great intimacy. But I do hope it goes on.

Friday was spectacular. I had about 100 in my workshop on Christian fiction, then we got to spend the evening with the Hyatts. Mike and Gail Hyatt are two of my very favorite people. I feel like I can charge hell with a water pistol after being with them. I'm glad Mike is at the helm of Thomas Nelson. He's so intuitive and forward thinking. He and Gail are both the kind of leaders who makes you want to be better than you are and they lead by example. Every young married woman should read Gail's blog. She's the best example of how to love and respect your husband.

The Friday night event was truly life-changing.Max Lucado spoke about Fear LESS and I can't get his message out of my head. He talked about how fearful the disciples were in the boat with the storm and waves raging around them. Jesus asked them why they were afraid. And he asks us now why we're afraid. He's got it under control! I've had such peace since hearing Max talk about it. Right now we see the storm of financial problems raging around us. But God has that storm under control too. What peace. Another storm we're going through in the Coble family is my father-in-law's Alzheimer's. God's got that in his hands too. How wonderful to relinquish that worry and know God will help us through it all.

Are you going through a personal storm? We'd like to pray for you and ask God to help you turn it over to him.

Labels: Christian Book Expo, fear, personal storm