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Inaugural Address

January 2010. That was the month I packed the past five years of real estate files and office knickknacks into my car and said goodbye to my desk at Century 21 McAlpine. I reflected on how many phone conversations I spent swiveled around in my cushy chair, staring out the window at the car wash beyond. Sometimes I can still feel the echoes of thumps produced by Pitbull and a pair of twelves as patrons emptied trash and vacuumed floor mats.

Thankfully I was leaving McAlpine on good terms. Quitting because you feel God tell you to do something is like getting an honorable discharge. But I was still scared out of my mind. The two almost crippling fears I wrestled with were:

1. How in the world will my husband and I survive financially? At the very moment I left my career, a lot of Americans were looking for any way to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. Smart people don’t stop working during a time like that. I wrestled with the fact that unless God provided in supernatural ways, we would lose our home along with everything else.

2. What will people think? I felt my face flame every time someone asked me how the real estate market was doing and I had to explain that I wasn’t in it anymore. Which would lead to the question of what I was doing. Which would lead to a horrifically awkward and slightly garbled explanation of why I quit my job at its most successful point in order to write about falling in love with God.

All that was a little over two years ago. We are still in our home, which I seriously thank God for. My face still flames when I answer questions about my writing, but my explanation is slightly less unintelligible. I have a completed manuscript that is being edited for the second time.

I’ve been asked the question, “So what will you do now that your book is done?” I laughingly translate that into, “Now that you’ve had your fun, when are you getting back to work?” If the last two years of my life should be classified as fun, then fun feels amazingly similar to riding a wooden roller coaster that was assembled in an hour by Carnies.

I’ll answer both questions though. I am now stepping into the frightening world of publishing/agents/putting my blood, sweat, and tears out there for the world to ignore or mutilate. I will work to get it into print. Past that, I don’t know what my life will look like. I could end up as a beekeeper in the Ozarks or an odor tester for Lady Speed Stick. But whatever I end up doing, you can rest assured that I felt a directive from God to do it.

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  1. Teresa Russell

    Ahhhh…sweet little Beth! I am so very excited for you and your journey! I sooo understand the feeling of God telling you to do something and you feeling compelled to obey! I have had many of those moments in my life. If you would like to read about the latest…you can check out my blog at http://www.freshandrenewed.blogspot.com

    Can’t wait for your book to come out! It sounds very interesting and intriguing. Prayers are with you as you reach the next levels you need to reach.

    Until Later,
    Teresa

    • beth

      Thanks Teresa. I’m excited for you too! I’m looking forward to keeping tabs on your journey 🙂

  2. I love your website! It looks great.

    • beth

      Thank you very much Julie! I like your site. It’s very inspirational and encouraging.

  3. Carolyn Trucano

    When I was still a newly wed, and after a year of wedded bliss close to family and friends, God told us to leave and go to a place He would show us (Texas) to go to seminary (no job or housing prepared in advance).
    Our trek took us from Florida to Texas. We moved cautiously – much like children play the game “Musical Chairs”, moving from one safe port (e.g., family at Point A to the next stop, Point B, etc.) to the next, trying to ignore the great gaps in between. My grandfather, a retired Baptist minister, said it best. “If God tells you to put your head down and start running toward a brick wall, DO IT, and He’ll make a way!”

    Depending on Him,
    Carolyn

    • beth

      I like that quote! Was that Great-Grandaddy Winstead?

  4. Courtney Moore

    Hey Beth! I miss seeing you! I am so eager to read your book. I see big things ahead for you. You obeyed God and I know that he will bless you. Your website looks great! I loved reading it! Courtney Moore

    • beth

      Thank you Courtney! I miss seeing you too–you and your smile that always brightened my day.

  5. Ben White

    Beth, I miss you very much, I am so happy that you are doing something that you truly love. I am so proud of you. I hope you can guide me to a book store to find your book when it is done. Best of luck on Gods journey.

    • beth

      I miss you too Ben. Thank you very much for your encouragement! I will definitely keep you and the whole family posted on the release 🙂

  6. Debbie S. Richardson

    To know you is to love you without question(s). Thanking Him for blessing me with your presence in my life…no matter how many times our paths cross and we have time to stop and chat. Excited for you….

    Always!

    • beth

      Awwww, you’re too sweet. You’re pretty special yourself!

  7. May Trucano

    Beth, honey,

    God has given you talent and wisdom beyond your young age, and I am bursting with pride and thanksgiving for the beautiful way you write, and your willingness to follow God’s direction for your life.

    I pray you will have great success with your book.

    Love, Grandma

    • beth

      Grandma,
      Thank you so much for taking the time to look at and read through my site! Thank you also for your kind words and encouragement.
      I love you very much!!

  8. Natalie Cooper

    Beth, I am so happy for you and I wish you the best. I think of you often. Love and prayers, Natalie

    • beth

      Thanks Nat! Love you 🙂

  9. Carolyn Trucano

    Yes, you were correct about the source of the quote – Great-Granddad Winstead. Of course, as you said in your previous earlier blog, a lot of people say “God told me to do . . .”. The test is how well does the person speaking really know God in everyday life? The proof is in their previous obedience and observations of their daily walk with God. I would put your Great-Granddad Winstead up there on both counts. He was my hero in the faith.

  10. Debra LeBarron

    I really like your book,it is very very good,i would recommend it to anyone. Keep up the good work and God bless you always!!1!!

    • beth

      Debra!! Thank you so much! 🙂

  11. I’ve ridden wooden roller coaster (bone-jarring!), and my husband is a beekeeper (you can stop in anytime!)—I’m so touched and humbled by your story (not to mention I have a giant headache from not putting the book down for 48 hrs!). This book followed an amazing sermon on Sunday where our pastor preached about the rich man and what possesses us. I couldn’t even put into thoughts what possessed me, but I knew something did. Your honesty defined so much of my everyday life. I haven’t been so moved since I read Hannah Hernard’s Hinds Feet in High Places. May God bless your awkward attempts. Perhaps someday we will meet–and we can stare at each other and just smile. I’ve already ordered this book for two young girls I mentor and then shoved it in my daughter’s face and insisted she read it. May all who read it be blessed–in finding the right path among many false paths.

    • beth

      Anne!! So cool that your husband is a beekeeper! I am honored you took the time to read my story and ecstatic you could relate. I hope we do get to meet one day–I’d love to thank you in person. For now, I’ll have to make due with writing it. Thank you so much for taking the time to comment. You will never know how much it means to me!

  12. Tonya Armstrong

    I just left a review on Amazon after reading your book today, just wanted to say it again! Thank you so very much. I feel like I know you, and with all my narcissistic tendencies, I do forget I’m not alone. Thank you for being bare and real, even when I know it wasn’t easy. Just know that you did indeed make a difference, obeying the plans God layed out for you.
    THE REVIEW:
    Wow, God never fails to amaze me! What a gift he has given me today, finding your book. By the way let me introduce myself, My name is Tonya, I’m His other Dimwitted daughter, so therefore your sister. I’m utterly speechless, yet have such an abundance I need to say. That really made sense (see sarcasm, defiantly sister material). I’ve also been his utmost prodigal daughter, at least in my thoughts, actions and heart. I know this is a review, but how can I put into words the true gift I received from God today, through you, and your obedience? I would love to tell you some of my story, but then you would be reading my book, instead of your book review! So I may actually reach out to you on Facebook and see where it goes, and just use my next few words to tell you how amazing your story is, and how deeply it resonated within my truly Dimwitted, overly romantic, truly addicted, never satisfied, utterly lonely, broken heart. I prayed last night, really truly opened up and poured out what I had inside to God, my despair so thick it almost strangled me, and then today he answered me in such a perfect, unbelievable way, He led me to “Let Me Fall”. I loved it, it was funny, and witty, utterly word for word taken from my own thoughts at times, I know, it was meant for me! I’m sure it is meant for many, but it was defiantly meant for me. You know that precise moment, when you know God is talking to you, how it’s just unmistakable, and absolute. There is no way it could be construed as anything other than God inspired, he reaches me in the most unpredictable ways! It was breath taking, and I can say it was unconditionally and irrevocably Amazing! Thank you!

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