Well, for anyone who’s wondering…

It’s about Him.  Jesus.  It’s my story, but I assure you, it’s not for my glory.  It’s all for His. 

I’ve written a book titled Desert Vineyards – Lies of Destruction & the Truth that Gives Life.  (By the way, this is only a tentative title, because guess what?  Authors don’t get to name their books – the publisher does!  So many things I’m learning…)  It’s also the third title now I’ve given it, so who knows what it’ll end up being! Anyway, I tell my story through the lens of the enemy’s lies that I’ve believed and the truth found in Scripture that quells every single one.

The truth is, Satan lies to all of us.  While he cannot ruin the eternal life of a believer, he stops at nothing to ruin our earthly ones – to enslave and isolate us, to make us doubt God’s promises, and to deem us ineffective in Christ’s Kingdom.  Satan understands that we live according to what we believe; our beliefs dictate our behavior, and although I’ve known Jesus since I was a little girl, my life would reveal what I really believed – the enemy’s most horrendous and destructive lies.  Yet, these lies are simple, they’re common, and they’re definitely not original. 

Through a plethora of experiences, including bulimia, adultery, infertility, a miscarriage, a NICU hospitalization of my firstborn child, and the deepest, most sincere desire to be used by God, my story reveals how calling out Satan’s lies for what they are – ludicrous – and declaring biblical Truth that proves each one utterly false is powerful and effective.  Scripture must be engraved on our hearts, though, in order to identify these lies and build our lives on the Truth – on Jesus.  And it’s when we abandon the lies and submit to the authority of God’s Word that He brings forth life – vineyards, actually.

My book puts God’s redeeming love, His transforming truth, and His unfathomable grace on full display.  You might read it and think, “What a wretched sinner Sarah is!”  And you’d be right.  But my hope is that your biggest takeaway will have nothing to do with me and everything to do with what a sovereign, glorious God we know. 

I am confident there are girls in my neighborhood, throughout our state, and across this country who are struggling with the mirror determining their identity.  There are women with broken marriages and longing mothers with empty arms.  There are many suffering loss and enduring trials of all kinds.  There are believers longing to glorify God, and Satan’s lies are weaved throughout it all, personalizing each one to whatever season we’re in. 

But there is abundant hope in Christ.  And if God can use my story to encourage you, and others, to rid your lives of what is actually the enemy’s voice and to live in obedience to the truth that shines the light and freedom God intends for us to walk in, then I’ll share it all day long.  I’m all in. 

“There [in the desert] I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor [trouble] a door of hope” (Hosea 2:15).

This is the story of my life.