Will You Carry a Stone for Me?
At a spot on South Mountain where the National and Mormon Trails both begin there used to be a large pile of stones. According to tradition, a hiker would bring back a stone from the end of his journey and place it on the growing stack of rocks, back at the beginning of things.
I am not sure who told me the story or how long the tradition continued.
All I know, it no longer exists.
The park service scattered the pile into the surrounding desert and erected a sign about not constructing cairns.
While I understand the desire to maintain a sense of wilderness in a trail used by thousands of people, I miss the joint sharing of stories represented in a collection of stones, because, you see,
I stand at the beginning of things.
My book, Under a Desert Sky, is set to release with Revell/Baker on May 2. The book represents three years of picking up stones of hope, beauty and faith found in hard, desert places. Under a Desert Sky is not only my story. It is also an invitation for others to discover that in their own hard places, they are not alone in their fear, they are not foolish to hope, and they are never forgotten by a loving, pursuing God. Never.
Would you be willing to join me on this journey? Are you willing to pick up a stone, carry it for a while, and then add it to the pile?
I am looking for fifty individuals who want to be part of a Launch Team for Under a Desert Sky during the month of April and May.
UPDATE: I have my 50 people!! If you are interested in checking out my book, Under a Desert Sky, it is available for pre-order.
As a member of the Launch Team, you will be invited to join a private Facebook group of other social media folks who want to interact with each other and with me as the author. You will receive a free advanced copy of the book. (My publicist also wants me to encourage you to purchase another copy for a friend.) In turn, you promise to talk about the book, share about the book on social media, write reviews about the book, and create a buzz about this story in your own circles of influence--specifically in the weeks surrounding the release date of May 2.
The goal is to spread the story to a larger audience.
Will you carry a stone?