Realizing a dream - Sea Changed.

What a week this has been. Every now and then in life, you can become caught up in events that seem to have a momentum all of their own; and find yourself propelled by an unseen hand towards events unknown. This has been just such a time – the week when I truly became an author.

It was on Wednesday morning that I took delivery of a single copy of my book Sea Changed - hot off the press. When the postman arrived, I was on my own in the house, tied up in a virtual skype meeting, so I was only able to savour the moment for about five seconds but I left my book nonchalantly on the coffee table in the living room for my husband and children to register when they returned home. My husband was thrilled and I wondered what his thoughts were about his wife as he read the various endorsements by people who he had never met - stranger’s comments on our life that I had captured in print.

Then on Thursday morning, I joined my publishers Authentic Media at the Christian Resources Together book fair at the Hayes Conference Centre. The CRT retreat is one of the key events of the year for the Christian book trade, the place where new titles are unveiled for retailers, and awards are handed out.

On arrival I was taken straight into the main exhibition hall where publishers and suppliers lay out their stall, and as I rounded the corner, I caught sight of a giant version of my book cover, with the words 'Kate Nicholas' emblazoned across the sky blue banner. It was at that moment, that the reality of the situation finally dawned upon me.

I wrote Sea Changed while going through treatment for advanced cancer, initially as a legacy for my children. I wanted them to know how much God loved me, and how he had stood by me my whole life, even as I faced potentially having to leave them. But then God did something miraculous in my life, and the whole project turned into something much bigger. Sea Changed became about reassuring people that the surest path to God doesn’t have to follow a straight line; and encouraging those who feel they were looking for God in all the wrong places and struggle to find him in the face of adversity.

Authentic had cleverly arranged for a copy of my book to be placed in each of the delegates’ rooms the night before and, in the absence of a TV to watch, many had begun to read my words. The next day as I listened to their responses, I began to dawn on me that this book was only the beginning. One person told me my book was brilliant and another, that they hadn’t been able to put it down - which did no end of good for my ego - but others told me of their own, and their loved ones, battles with cancer and of how they found the book’s message so hopeful but also very real. As I listened to their stories, I realized that God works all circumstances to his purpose.

Later on I joined Clem Jackson, editor of Together, the magazine for the Christian book trade, ‘on the sofa’ along with more established authors such as Rico Tice. It was a truly awe inspiring experience to be sharing my thoughts with those already known and loved by so many readers. When Clem asked me what I wanted for the book, I told him that I wanted to encourage readers to do what I had done in the midst of my darkness, and to look back over their lives, to read the map of their own existence and to recognize God’s unseen hand that shifts our perspective, alters our trajectory or lifts us up even in our darkest moments.

The following day a gentle bookseller told me how he had struggled for eight years to keep his bookshop going, that he had felt abandoned as he sought to do God’s work by sharing his word, but that my words had spoken into the depths of his soul, and that night he had looked back and had recognized that during those times when he had felt most lost, that God had been beside him, guiding him. When he thanked me, I felt completely overwhelmed. And it was at that moment that I realized that Sea Changed now has a life of its own, that as others read my words, they would speak into their own situations.

I also recognized that writing is not enough. As I talked to the retailers, I had such respect for what they were trying to achieve. For the first time I realized that the hard work of making a Christian book shop flourish in the face of secularism is mission in its own right. Many told me of how the most important part of their work was the conversations that they had with those who entered their shops; some in hope, some through curiosity or even desperation. I realized that their role was not just to sell books but to provide God’s resources to hurting world; the right word that could turn despair into hope – words that sometimes even mean the difference between life and death.

As I spoke with the delegates, many asked me to come to their shops to speak to their customers or at conferences about how God has shaped my life, my work with World Vision and his healing power - and I recognized that this book has the potential to be a platform for a wider conversation.

In a few weeks’ time, Sea Changed will be available in Christian retailers throughout the country and online and I now recognize that another new avenue is opening up for my service to God.