I truly believed with all of my heart that I had found an agent to help me navigate the children’s book publishing market. I awaited a phone call believing thoroughly that my breakthrough was a breath away.

That breath came through an email and exhaled, “NO!”

I inhaled my tears.

I’ve stopped writing for the last few weeks. I can blame it on work, family obligations, and just life in general, but the blame is no one else’s weight to hold but my own. It has been my choice to not commit to my writing. To fill my writing time with committee work. To fill my writing time with sleep. To fill my writing time with busy-ness. It has been my choice to view rejection as a sting.

One of my writing group members shared with me Carrie Pearson’s thoughts on rejections. Pearson stated, “I call them passes versus rejections.”

I like this game of choosing to see a rejection as a pass. So far, agents have passed on Victory Stumbles, but I know the dream God placed in my heart since I was a little girl will come to fruition. I will be a published children’s book author. Maybe Victory Stumbles won’t be published. Maybe a different book I’ve already written or one I have yet to write will be my first step into the children’s book market.

To achieve my dream I know what I have to do. I have to revise. I have to write. I have to reject my excuses. I have to pass my manuscript onto the next individual who is a part of this journey toward publication even if he/she chooses to pass the manuscript right back to me.

I will keep writing my stories. I will not reject God’s promises. His timing is perfect. I pass these yet-to-be-fulfilled dreams onto Him.