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Abigail Follows's avatar

This is so timely... I've been writing a lot (and not posting a lot) over the past year, too... and my second book is almost ready as the result. Meanwhile, I've been thinking back over my first book, and what I know now that I didn't when I wrote it. I've been wrestling over what to do about it, if anything... I don't have insta but I'll be excited to hear what you've been working on when you're ready to share here. ❤️

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JL Gerhardt's avatar

You can check it out wherever you listen to podcasts. It's an audio memoir I'm releasing serially--The Happiest Saddest People.

What's the second book about?

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Abigail Follows's avatar

Oh! I've actually seen that. And now I realize this wasn't actually a new post... but substack put it in my feed anyway. :) My book is about a Cambodian family who survived the Khmer Rouge genocide and met Jesus in a refugee camp. <3 It's an incredible story and has been such a privilege to write it down!

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JL Gerhardt's avatar

Oh wow! I can't wait to read that!

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Kathy Sue Justus's avatar

I look forward to seeing what you do next, even if it's not a big, published, public thing! That Alison is a wise woman!

At almost 66 years old, I'm still finding growth and self-forgiveness challenging. Who was that woman who embraced the strictness of a fundamentalist church for over 40 years without ever really embracing grace? Why did I stay so long? What is keeping me from breaking ties completely? All these questions fill my mind. Will I come to synthesis before I die? Maybe not, but the work is worth it!

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JL Gerhardt's avatar

These are such good and beautiful questions! Be gentle and patient with past you as you ask and answer. I've been so hard on past me. I'm learning to listen to her and try to understand her and thank her for all the quiet work she did to grow and learn. She's wiser than I give her credit for being.

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Jeanette. (Jan)'s avatar

Bless you for all you have done &

continue to do🙏

Love, Jeanette Hill. (Jan)

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Jeanette. (Jan)'s avatar

Loved hearing from you again😍

Thanks♥️. Jan Hill

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susan's avatar

I like this. I like what you're saying about growing. It's true. It seems, for me at least, that we often don't recognize growth as it's happening - but that one day a thought winkles in and says "you've moved past that mindset now, and the new one is better . . . not where you want to be, but moving in the right direction". Some hard things, some good things, more attention to taking/making time to sit and contemplate and listen to God, reading and then writing Scripture to push it further in. ("further in and further up"

I remember you saying a year or so that you had started a new book but then realized it needed some incubation. I'm eager to read it when I can!

I am so thankful for having learned of you and Justin and your work - I will forever be grateful to your mother for making that happen!

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