Michele Howe - Finding Freedom and Joy in Self-Forgetfulness

Acknowledgments

I ve been humbled and blessed to live an authors dream by being privileged to write time and again for the same publishing house. Anyone who knows me well is aware that I treasure long-lasting, time-enduring relationshipsboth professional and personal. From my perspective, the more you invest in a person, a project, or a group of individuals, the richer the relationship, the end result, and the deeper the eternal impact upon one another. Whats not to love? That said, I want to offer my sincerest thanks to everyone at the Hendrickson Publishing Group beginning with Paul Hendrickson, publisher, for catching the vision of how this book on self-forgetfulness will impact our world for Jesus Christ in a dynamic way.

To Patricia Anders, my editor extraordinaire, who is the editorial director at Hendrickson and without fail instinctively knows what words Im grasping for and expertly edits my work so that you, dear reader, understand too. Thank you, Patricia. You amaze me with your stunning work on each and every book, and Im ever so grateful for you and for the friendship weve developed over the years (through many book collaborations, despite the miles between us). You are a treasure to me both professional and personal.

I also want to give my warmest thanks to Dave Pietrantonio, Hendricksons book production manager, who organizes all the behind-the-scenes production details and does so with apparent ease! To Meg Rusick, Sarah Welch, and Phil Frank. Im so thankful for each of you, and Im always excited to hold the finished product in my hand. I smile and think of you all and your fine contributions toward making that happen whenever a box arrives at my home with the Hendrickson logo printed on the sides.

Finally, my ongoing thanks to my agent at the Steve Laube Agency, Bob Hostetler. You are a good man to have in my corner, and I appreciate you more than you know.

To the many faithful readers of my twenty-six plus books spanning over twenty years now, thank you! I always think about the term circle of life as it relates to writing and reading. We authors catch an idea or see a need and the seed of a book is born in our hearts and minds. We present a proposal to a publisher and if accepted for publication, an entire team of individuals then contributes their finest skills to its creation. The finished product is then passed on to you, the reader, where you invest your time and attention to reading and absorbing the words found within these pages. Then readers pass on what theyve read to others through selfless actions and uplifting words, spiritually revitalized to see Gods kingdom spread to the four corners of our world. A single books message can be boundless, and you, dear readers, are responsible for that eternal investment. Thank you for being part of sharing this vision of knowing Christ and making him known in the world!

Introduction

I f theres ever been a time when I needed to pursue an intentional, self-forgetful life, its now. Throughout the past year, I have wrestled more intensely than ever before with fully trusting God to meet my needs instead of trusting in my own strengths, strategies, and resources to provide for myself and those I love. Ive often been reminded of the biblical account of Jacob when he went to sleep the night before meeting his estranged brother Esau and wrestled with God through those dark hours. By morning, Jacob had prevailed, but he sustained a permanent limp: a continual reminder of his constant need to rely on God.

I so relate to the emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual travail Jacob endured that night when he felt afraid of the many uncertainties that would affect him, his family, and the entire community that traveled with him. Although God didnt meet me in a dream as he did Jacob, I feel like Ive spent much of this past year wrestling to fully rely on God so that I can self-forgetfully reach out and serve others in love. God has been doing a refining work in my own heart, and though its been painful and hard daily death to self-reliance, I can say it has been for my good and his glory.

Now you know my personal reason for writing this new book, Finding Freedom and Joy in Self-Forgetfulness. As I was forced to stretch and grow these past months, I took note of others who were not merely surviving but thriving. Their secret? They, too, were learning the same lesson God was imparting to me: Self-forgetfulness is the path to joyful inner freedom. As you read the stories found in this book, youll discover how this biblically robust Christian principle sets believers free from the inside out.

As disciples of Christ who seek to live hour-by-hour from a position of intentional self-forgetfulness, we can set into motion a beautiful display of Gods grace in our lives that spills over into other lives in dramatic, life-enhancing ways. When we trust the Lord to care for our needs, and we entrust ourselves to his keeping, he empowers us to live more fearlessly and freely. Too often, believers become internally paralyzed, which keeps them from serving others with abandon, simply because they take God out of the equation.

My deepest hope and prayer is that as you read these stories, you too will find the paradoxical biblical principle of self-forgetfulness growing in your own life. As you seek to trust God with all your heart, soul, and spirit, he will meet your every need and equip you to reach out in selfless, self-sacrificial love to those people God places in your path. Ready to take that first faith-filled step? Lets go!