Writing and publishing my own books was an exciting opportunity for me! Granted, I hired someone else to edit and format the finished products, but I learned many things I never really considered before, like how books are printed and that there are agents for writers, not only for singers and actors. In the process of marketing my stories, though, my greatest opportunity came just a few blocks away from my house.
My illustrator and I were invited to a 3rd grade class to share about creating a book. The students were quiet and polite. A couple of boys asked very intelligent questions:
How did you get the pictures in the book?
What came first, the story or pictures?
How long did it take to write?
How long did it take to finish the book after you wrote it?
Then one boy asked a question that changed the whole atmosphere:
What is the lesson in the story?
I looked at my illustrator and friend cautiously because we were in a public school, and the book was about God as a loving father. So I told the class the main character, Little Quail, was sad his dad was gone until he realized God was a loving Father who wanted Little Quail, and was with him all the time. Immediately the students brightened up, and looked excited!
“Yeah, God made everything. The land and all the water.”
“Yeah, he’s the God not just of our universe, but all the universes, and there’s a lot of them.”
“And he’s with you all the time, like no matter where you go, you can’t hide because he’s still with you.”
“Yeah he’s gotta be the best at hide and seek.”
For several minutes the teacher, my friend, and I watched in awe as the children discussed our Lord. Then I heard my heavenly father whisper,
“The fields are white, and ready for harvest, but the workers are few.”
I knew in that moment my Lord had called me from my career, a job I loved, to be a worker for him. I finally knew where I was supposed to be and what I was supposed to do. I think my illustrator friend experienced the same feeling because as soon as we left the school she said, “Can you believe that? You better get pumping out those books!”
If you’ve read my third book, Beauty And The Peace, you know you are important to our King. You are beautiful (or handsome) in his eyes, and he created you for a specific purpose. Yes, we may have some differences that seem to be obstacles: Methodist, Catholic, Pentecostal, Jewish. However, doesn’t a sports team have different positions? Aren’t those positions different so several people aren’t trying to do the same thing at the same time? Doesn’t having different positions give that team an advantage? We are all on the same team…period. Let’s stop comparing ourselves and start working like a team. There are people who are ready to know Jesus and if we know him, we have a responsibility to introduce him to a lost and dying world. So let’s take courage from our younger friends and speak up because God is worth getting excited about!
Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
John 4:35 ESV
[Jesus] told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.
Luke 10:2 NIV
Katie Nelson Rau 
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