Why did I write the books?
I wrote The Mystery especially for highly sensitive people because I know how it feels and I do not want you or someone you love to have to live one day longer with a sense of sadness that seems bottomless. I don’t want inner pressure to build to the point where you are tempted to cut yourself to release it, or do something else self-destructive to numb the pain you feel. It is most likely not all yours! You are one of God’s “Special Forces.” Your nervous system is different than most. You are uniquely designed as a highly sensitive person, one who can join Jesus in the work He began, and continues to do, reconciling people to God, to themselves, and restoring relationships between people.
But, most of us do not know how to begin! You will need to learn how to bear burdens rightly, how to use the equipment you were designed with. From unraveling my own mystery of spiritual sensitivity life experiences, I explain our unique design to help you understand yourself. Understanding what it looks and feels like, how it affects you, and discovering common reflex reactions to high sensitivity—physical, emotional, and spiritual—will allow God to use your sensitivity to develop spiritual maturity—yours and others. I am talking about empathetic burden-bearing intercession. The high sensitivity required to sense and feel what other people experience can make life painful; it also makes it possible to sense, feel, and hear from God.
Being a pastor’s wife, mother of two lively girls, and a college instructor was a full plate. However, I experienced an exhaustion that my circumstances could not explain. That’s when I heard Mark Sandford of Elijah House Ministries teach about burden bearing. I was desperate for an answer so I said, “Okay God, if there is anything to this, let’s do it.” I began to pray through my life, period by period, cleaning out the residue of burdens I had accumulated throughout my life. When I finished, I felt 40 pounds lighter! My learning curve began at that point, and I share those learnings, well salted with scriptures.
I wrote this book because I learned that many people do not have the words to express the ball of emotion they feel inside. I want you to know that you are not crazy; different than 70-80% of the general population—but just different, not crazy. I want you to know that any struggle you may have can be redeemed. Hurt you have endured can be healed. You may feel your sensitivity is a curse, but it can become a blessing. I want you to know that you have value and a purpose. And finally, I wrote The Mystery because I told Rev. Sandford I would.
Why I wrote Highly Sensitive, is a much shorter answer! Originally, both books were one manuscript! A publisher pointed out that it was a very large book and wanted to know if there was a place where it divided naturally.
In very broad terms The Mystery is about the concept of burden bearing: how it feels, looks, how to do it, how it affects us, what goes wrong, how to heal the hurts that come because we are sensitive, a chapter full of sample prayers, the blessings of burden bearing, and finally another perspective on it. The Mystery is mostly about what God’s domain; what He has done and is doing.
Highly Sensitive is about our domain; the everyday practicals of what it looks like on Monday morning, changes we can make and things we can do to help us survive all day Monday without being overwhelmed. It is about what we can do to cooperate with God and our design to rein life in to where it becomes manageable. So there are guidelines and very practical questions to help a person learn to live a joy filled life—learn to live with the gift before it kills them! The two books are companion volumes. You can purchase them on my website www.fromgodsheart.com. They are also available at Barnes & Nobles and Amazon.com.
Sassy Pants I wrote as a way to cope with my mother! She had several strokes which affected her short term memory. Trips up and down “memory lane” are her chief form of recreation. Pig stories were prominent for a while, so rather than tear out my hair with yet another repetition, I whipped out my laptop and began to write. Sassy Pants borrows bits and pieces from several pig stories—the rest is a sheer flight of fancy! Interestingly, after the story was written the pig stories stopped!
I belong to a writers group. One of the “rules” of belonging to the group is that you must bring something with you to read to the others. Failing that, bring popcorn! The group leader encouraged me to enter the manuscript in a contest that included publishing in the prize. Wouldn’t you know, every contest I cared to enter was for literature one year and poetry the next. You guessed it! I caught the poetry year. I nearly filed the manuscript—I’d written it mostly for the grandkids amusement. Then I thought, “Oh, what the nuts. See if there is a publisher who would be interested!” Tate Publishing picked it up and is safely keeping the rest of the series—three titles. We will be launching them one at a time, so watch for Sassy Pants!
