Launch Team Invitation for "Under a Desert Sky"
On this World Storytelling Day, I want to extend an invitation for you to join me in sharing my story, Under a Desert Sky.
One of my earliest memories of my dad was listening to him at my grandparent’s old farmhouse, while cousins, aunts and uncles, and siblings sat at a large oval table that was covered with a flannel-backed vinyl tablecloth that couldn’t quite get clean no matter how hard you scrubbed it. I don’t remember if Dad was sharing a yarn about milking the cows or telling a joke involving the Norwegian pranksters, Ole and Lena, but I do remember that he held his audience in the palm of his hand.
I come from a long line of storytellers.
Monday, March 20 is World Storytelling Day -- a time to celebrate the art of storytelling, specifically the ability to share a story to a future generation. A story of culture. Of family. Of life. Of values.
Today is also a day to share words that were shared that the original storyteller can no longer tell.I have such a story.
A story of a mother's love affair with lipstick and the courage that gave a daughter to face a bully in a lingerie store.
A story of a father who has lessons to teach and saves the most valuable lesson until the end: how to face eternity without fear.
A story of God's pursuing love found in a nest of sparrows and in a hillside covered in purple.
A story of a white convertible, a bucket list, and the value of living one ordinary life.
under a desert sky
These stories--and others--can be found in my book, Under a Desert Sky: Redefining Hope, Beauty, and Faith in the Hardest Places.
The book will be released with Revell/Baker Publishing on May 2nd. My hardest place was cancer, along with the cancer diagnoses of both my mom and my dad. Told in the setting of the Sonoran Desert, I invite readers to sojourn with me in the uncharted wilderness of so many questions.
On this World Storytelling Day, I would like to ask for your help in sharing this story. The hope of all storytellers is that their story will be enjoyed and then shared. The oral style of storytelling has been replaced in our culture with print and digital stories, but the premise remains:
We all still love a good story. Will you join me around my table?