What’s Next?

When I walked to the front of the banquet hall, I felt a wee bit out of place. I stood with a score of kids young enough to be my own and smiled the width of the room as the college president handed me a certificate of achievement. I had not only earned my Associates Degree; I’d received straight A’s. It was ten days before my 50th birthday.

Obtaining a degree had been a major goal. But when my college career was interrupted by marriage, I set my educational plans in the bottom drawer. After raising two kids and a cross- country move, I decided it was time to dust off my dreams. I enrolled in a nearby community college, taking one and two classes at a time. I squeezed homework between a full-time job, a husband, and church activities. Even with the transferred credits from my first year of college it took me four years to earn my two-year degree.

And that boatload of A’s was no accident; I’d prayed, received tutoring for dreadful math classes, and prayed some more. My perfect 4.0 GPA was every bit a modern-day miracle for this class clown who nearly dropped out of high school in her senior year.

Five years after earning my degree, people from our rural community of 9,000 started suggesting I take my humor/inspirational columns I’d been writing for the local newspaper and compile them into a book. “Oh, no thank you” I said, “that is soooooooooo hard! I’ve heard too many stories from people who tried to get a book published. You have to be famous or infamous for a publisher to even glance your way.” I didn’t even ask the Lord his opinion.

Then one day our son Ron—who had no inkling of the battle I’d been fighting over the previous year—innocently said, “Mom, why don’t you take some of your columns and compile them into a book?”

“NO!” I shouted, omitting the ‘thank you.’ “Do you know how hard it is to publish a book? It could take me ten years to compile it, edit it, find an agent who’s willing to work with an unknown writer from Nowheresville, and a publisher who likes it.”  But Ron was impervious to my arguments.

“You’re going to be doing something over the next ten years, Mom. You may as well try it and see what happens.”

That got my attention. I decided to ask the Lord what he thought after all. “Do you want me to do this? If so, please show me how. Lead me to someone who can help me.”

Six years and several helpful friends later, I am the author of three published books with another on the way. I’ve spoken at three writers conferences, published hundreds of columns, magazine articles, stories, and greeting card verses. And I’ve barely got my creative juices stirred up.

I’ll celebrate my 61st birthday this year. These days instead of telling the Lord, “NO!” I’m asking him, “What’s next?”

Here are Jeanette’s books!

Shock the Clock, my newest book

The Heart of Humor

Two Scoops of Grace with Chuckles on Top

You can connect with Jeanette here:

MY OWN FB PAGE  http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1796624570

MY FB AUTHOR’S PAGE http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Jeanette-Levellie/113061105442881

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/#!/JenLevellie

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/jenlevellie/

Amazon Author Central Page

Goodreads Author page: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5784219.Jeanette_Levellie