Well, even though I didn't write the book Wherever You Go until just a few years ago, the The Farrell Family series has been around for quite a while, in the archives of my writing. As I mentioned before, in my post "The Story Behind the Story: To Live is Christ, To Die is Gain," I wrote my first real "book" for creative writing class when I was in 9th grade. Well, that book was actually the first book in my original version of the The Farrell Family series. The main character in that first book was actually Isaiah, the dad in Wherever You Go and the rest of the books that hopefully will follow it soon. Like I said before, that book is not publication material, at least not without a major overhaul. But it was my start, and, even though it's a mess, it will always remain special for that reason.
The message of Wherever You Go is trusting that God will always be with you, even when you feel alone and scared. In this case, Jesse is scared about leaving the only home he has ever known and moving to a new place. At the time that I was writing, my family and I were in the process of moving to a new place, leaving behind the home I had lived in my entire life. Unfortunately, that fell through. But while I was writing, I was facing the same fears as Jesse, and I used those to write the story. Of course, I had to convince myself to believe what I was writing when it came to actually overcoming that fear. Illustrating the main point of the story is the verse Joshua 1:9: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (NKJV) That verse was one of the first Bible verses that I ever memorized. I was probably about three or four when I learned it. Easy to learn as a kid, but hard to remember as you get older and life gets harder. At times in my life, I've had a hard time trusting that God is still there, when people I love continue to abandon me, through rejection or death. The past few years have been especially difficult, with the climax being losing my Dad. Honestly, I haven't thought of that verse as often as I should. But what has helped me in those moments when I feel most alone has been that Casting Crowns song "O My Soul." "O My soul, you are not alone. There's a place where fear has to face the God you know." I've lost count of how many times I've listened to that song. It's helped me through some difficult moments. Like when my car broke down and I was stranded for hours, waiting for a tow truck. That was extremely scary and I had to have listened to that song at least three times in my earbuds while I was waiting. There's songs that you like because you like them, and songs that you like because they help you. We can know the facts about God being with us, but in those difficult moments, sometimes we have to struggle to believe that He's really there. But He is, even if we can't see Him. Like the sun, hidden behind a thick bank of black storm clouds. It's still there, even though we can't see it; we just have to believe that it's there, when the rain and thunder and lightning and hail come. They may keep up for days and we never catch a glimpse of the sun, and we wonder if it's gone for good this time, but we just know it has to be there. It's easy to remember about the weather, but not so easy to remember about God and life.
I'd been through a lot when I wrote Wherever You Go, but I had no idea how much more was in store for me after I wrote it. I've had to go back and reread that book sometimes to remind myself of the faith I had when I was writing it. Life may overwhelm us. Loss may be unbearable. People or circumstances may make us feel alone. But God is always with us "wherever we go."
This book was written mainly for kids 8 and up, but I hope adults will appreciate it as well, and be encouraged by it. Sometimes we don't need a thick gritty novel, just a simple story from the fresh, innocent perspective of a child.
I hope you enjoy Wherever You Go, and I hope to have more books in the series finished soon.
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