Who would have thought that 2018 would bring about such wonderful growth for Higher Ground Books & Media! At the beginning of the year, I had a couple of goals for our little publishing company. One, I wanted to sign two new authors. Two, I wanted to publish at least five new titles. These were fairly conservative goals and I wasn't sure we would be able to accomplish either of them. Things were slow at the beginning of the year. Lots of starts and stops. A few sour grapes along the way. Some unfortunate incidents with less than reputable individuals who were not dealing above board. And a few months of weary soul-searching about whether or not it even made sense to keep going. And then, suddenly...a breakthrough. I prayed and prayed for God to help me figure out the direction I needed to take. And He delivered the most awesome message to me. He said, "Trust Me." And in the midst of conflict and disappointment, I handed it all over to Him once again
Have you ever felt stuck in a situation you felt helpless to get out of? Maybe a bad job? A bad marriage or other close relationship? A house or apartment, or a neighborhood? A town or city? A financial debt? A chronic illness? Or anything else from which you wanted to “just get away” but…………you couldn’t? You were stuck. If so, welcome to the human race. We’ve all been there. Stuck. Somewhere. Wanting to get away, but maybe no place to go or any way to get there. No way out. Feeling helpless. There’s a Greek word in the Gospels of the biblical New Testament, apollumi , that is used to quote Jesus in at least two different places, John 3:16 and Luke 15:24. In John, that word is translated as “perish” and in Luke, it is translated as “lost,” for it refers to the prodigal son in that famous parable Jesus told. In the most general of terms, apollumi means loss of all hope. In my world as a clinician, think “depressed.” Loss of hop