That dichotomy is usually set up as Good News/Bad News, but today, there is no bad news … just other news.

The good news is that I am in final edits on a book called ”ADVENTuring to the Manger,” which is a collection of 25 devotionals for Christmas. It will be available on Amazon, hopefully as early as next week. While it was written for personal devotional use, it could also be a resource for small groups or bible study classes. In order for that to be easy on the leaders, I have decided to write a free, downloadable Leader’s Guide.

My other good news is that I have been hired by Cokesbury (the United Methodist Publishing House) to write an Adult Bible Study book that will be published in the summer of 2023. I have until next April to finish that manuscript, but even with the long deadline, attending to my church work and family has made all of this wonderfulness become somewhat of a juggling act. As someone who regularly drops things while unloading the dishwasher, I am not at all skilled at juggling. But thanks be to God for all these amazing opportunities to continue a ministry of writing!

So here is the other news. I need to take a step back from writing devotionals every day for At Water’s Edge. It will be a small step for now, as I intend to continue to publish two or three days per week.

I have cherished knowing that many of you are reading this EVERY DAY. As of this morning, I have published 618 devotionals in a row. Some of you have actually read all 618 of them. Bless you! My singular desire for this adventure was to get people immersed in scripture every day, and together, we have done that! Thank you, thank you! So while it is my intention to return to that at some point in the future, for now, please watch for devotionals two or three times a week.

Paul beautifully expresses how I feel about each one of you:

Philippians 1 (Common English Version)

³ I thank my God every time I mention you in my prayers. ⁴ I’m thankful for all of you every time I pray, and it’s always a prayer full of joy. ⁵ I’m glad because of the way you have been my partners in the ministry of the gospel from the time you first believed it until now. ⁶ I’m sure about this: the one who started a good work in you will stay with you to complete the job by the day of Christ Jesus. ⁷ I have good reason to think this way about all of you because I keep you in my heart. You are all my partners in God’s grace, both during my time in prison and in the defense and support of the gospel. ⁸ God is my witness that I feel affection for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.

⁹ This is my prayer: that your love might become even more and more rich with knowledge and all kinds of insight. ¹⁰ I pray this so that you will be able to decide what really matters and so you will be sincere and blameless on the day of Christ. ¹¹ I pray that you will then be filled with the fruit of righteousness, which comes from Jesus Christ, in order to give glory and praise to God.

Thank you for being my partner in God’s grace.

Betsy