Rambling Thoughts

Well, the book has been out about two months. My biggest prayer is that it is ministering to others and carrying to them a message of hope and healing. I am encouraged that it has, on more than one occasion, opened the door to open conversations of sharing. I guess transparency begets transparency...

I am also encouraged to hear people comment that once they picked it up they didn't want to put it down.

One friend wants a sequel. But my husband isn't so sure about more of our lives being opened to such scrutiny...we'll see.

In the meantime, the opportunity to share continues to occur across radio and tv.

I thank God for the gift of words, and the doors that have opened.

Courageous

It is interesting to me that more than one person now has commented to me that they think that I have been courageous to write this book.

It isn't a word that I would use, I guess I just felt really called to write this book in an open and honest way to reach out to others. But I know what they are referring to; the honesty and transparency with which I share some very personal and intimate struggles that I went through; that our family went through. But I wrote what I needed to read, and in doing so hope I have extended a hand of comfort to others.

What's been going on...

The past month has just flown by and been a flurry of activity; lots of radio interviews and even two on tv. One our local cable news, and one a CBS local affiliate in Harrisburg. It has been very gratifying to share the message of hope and healing with others.

The hosts have asked great questions; and some have even been touched personally by some of the issues I talk about.

The response from people who have read the book has also been positive and uplifting. And for that I am grateful; the purpose is to share the hope and healing with others.

But it's only marijuana...

I know this question will come up a lot. "But it's only marijuana, what's the big deal."

It came up again today when I was interviewed on WMUZ radio, 103.5 FM, Detroit, and it came up the other day too.

With so many other harder drugs out there, what's the big deal with a little weed?

Well, how about it's illegal for starters. Then there's the whole gateway drug discussion. Very few users start with the hard stuff; sure there are some that may, but generally speaking it is marijuana or alcohol first, then on it goes from there. It is unusual to meet a crackhead who didn't start with booze or pot first.

And yes, it is addictive, and almost 300,000 people enter drug treatment each year for marijuana use.

It kills motivation, wrecks relationships and wreaks havoc with job and school performance.

So its not heroin or cocaine, but it is BAD ENOUGH!

Satellite Radio

On Friday I had the pleasure of being a guest on the Scott and Lorri Show on Sirius Satellite radio station 159, Family Net Radio. It was a lively conversation, and they are a delight to chat with.

Several other radio opportunities are coming up, and will be posted on the web site shortly.

Some thoughts

First, my goal through the writing of this book is to spread a message of hope and healing to others hurting from how substance abuse is affecting their teen, or the teen of someone else.

I made mistakes, my son made choices. An individual commented on one of my posts, "drug problem is not a pseudonym for bad parenting." I don't think it is a synonym, either. Again, I reiterate that I did the best I could at the time with the knowledge that I had.

But if you are in the middle of this don't you feel lonely? I did. Don't you want hope? I did. Don't you want answers? I did.

I don't have the answers, but I do have some reflections which are aimed at giving hope and helping families to not feel quite so alone. That is what I hope to accomplish by sharing our journey.

It is a bit scary, even for people like me, who tend to talk a lot and wear their heart on their sleeve to be so open about such an intensely personal and private hurt. It is not easy to make oneself so vulnerable, but the motivation is to provide support to others who are hurting, and may not feel like they know where to turn. I'm not kidding when I comment that I wrote the book I needed to read. I needed to read about one family fighting hard and succeeding. And no, fighting hard does not equal success, because ther are families who do fight hard, and don't succeed.

I don't think the problems is going away any time soon.

I was at a Girl Scout event yesterday, and talked with a friend who commented that her teenage son's girlfriend's parents (you may need to read that again...) approached her about allowing him to sleep over at their home afterthe kids went to the movies nbecuase it was what their daughter wanted. My friend commented, in shock, I might add, "and are you ok with that?" The answer was, "Well, no,not really, but we are afraid to tell her." That's ineffective (bad?) parenting, in my opinion.

Another parent commented, "Oh boys will be boys" when she was alerted to a bunch of middle school boys were playing the choking game at a gathering in her basement.

Another friend knows parents who have the pre and post prom parties at their homes because they "know the kids are going to drink anyway, so at least they will be here, and we can supervise."

These are NOT clear limits of acceptable boundaries.

Just my thoughts.

The Word is Spreading...

This has been a great week full of opportunity.

Earlier this week I taped an interview that will be aired over two Christian stations, one locally and one in Montrose, PA where I attended a writer's conference where I met the agent who took this project on.

We had been away over the Easter Holiday, and two invitations were waiting for me in a stack of mail that was otherwise mostly bills or invitations to sign up for more credit cards with lots of promises, inviting even more bills...

One was an invitation to a private lunch with Stephen Arterburn, from New Life Ministries in Harleysville, PA on the 4th of May, and the other was an invitation to a luncheon in Lancaster hosted by the Council on Drug and Alcohol Abuse.

I am really excited for the opportunity to meet Steve Arterburn, and hopeful that I can pass along copies of the book for him to give to Drs. Townsend and Cloud. I consider it a gift and an amazing opportunity.

Then, when I called to RSVP to the Council luncheon, it turns out that they are not having a keynote speaker, rather several testimonies, and I was invited to share. Amazing.

Yesterday my face graced the front page of our local newspaper (I looked old and tired...I guess I have been living in denial...) with a great story about today's event. The writer did a wonderful job of capturing the essence of my story, I was accurately quoted (that hasn't always happened in the past with other reporters) and it provided lots of exposure for the book launch.

It is a grey, dreary and rainy day, but I hope my message will bring some sunshine to someone's day.

Book Event

Coming up this Saturday, April 22, from 11 am to 2 pm I will be hosting a book launching and signing event in conjunction with my friends from the House of Hope.

I am excited to bring our story to the community, and pray that it will bring hope and healing to other hurting families.

Radio News

Several opportunities to talk about the lie of marijuana as a benign substance, our family's journey, and the book are starting to come about.

Tomorrow I will be taping an interview with WPGM in Danville, PA; on May 17 I will be taping a week's worth of segments on America's Keswick radio with Bill Welte, and on May 23rd I will be a return guest on "The Matter at Hand" on WGRC, Lewisburg, PA with Larry Wiedman.

Stay tuned!

Book News

I will be posting information about media coverage here in the blog as opportunities develop. If you have a question you would like to have answered, please go ahead and jot it down as a comment to the post.

The book is here!

The book is here! A fellow author commented that it is like giving birth without the "ouch".

It is an amazing feeling to hold one's book for the first time. For any of you that are aspiring authors and working on a project. DON'T GIVE UP. It was a long pregnancy and labor!

The first notions of writing a book were in the summer of 2002. I didn't have a proposal go out until January of 2004. And I did things a little bit backwards. I had most of my manuscript completed before I sent a proposal out. Then it disappeared into a black hole for several months...

The book found a home with AMG, where the proposal was accepted by Dan Penwell, their acquisitions editor, at the Glorieta Christian Writer's Conference. He took it to committee less than six weeks later, and it made it through committee in December of 2004.

The time since then has been the editing, printing and now distribution process. I have been told that now is when my work will really begin!

But it is a great feeling to hold one's book.

My prayer is that it brings hope and healing to many hurting parents.