Patty Houser - A Womans Guide to Knowing What You Believe: How to Love God With Your Heart and Your Mind

I am eternally grateful for all the people God placed in my life who have helped make this book possible.

First, I want to thank my husband, Dan, the most supportive husband in the world. I honestly wouldnt be where I am today if it werent for you. Once upon a time, you believed in a young woman who didnt believe in herself. Since the day I met you, you encouraged me to chase my dreams. You have always believed I could do anything I set my mind to, including writing this book. Thank you for wiping away my tears through the hard times and cheering me on during the good. And thank you for your emotional, spiritual, and financial support, and for being so incredibly patient with me for the past twenty-six years. You are the love of my life! I couldnt imagine living in a world without you.

Next, Id like to thank my son, Daniel, the light of my life. I know graduate school took time away from you, as did the writing of this book. Yet you never once complainedwell, not much anyway. Thank you for giving me the freedom I needed to write this book by respecting my writing time every morning. Thank you for allowing me to use your life stories as examples and for helping me select which of my stories would best illustrate a point. And thank you for keeping it real and making me laugh with your wonderfully fun sense of humor. Your kind, gentle, creative, and carefree soul makes my heart dance!

Id also like to thank the following people:

Dr. Craig Hazen, for encouraging me to write this book. It was your faith in me that gave me the courage and motivation to actually write the book contract that ultimately led to the publishing of this book through Bethany House. You not only persuaded me to write the book contract but also were with me when Andy McGuire initially contacted me about it. You and I read the email together. Ill never forget what you said to me: Do you know what this means? I didnt. All I knew was that I had a very important call to make, one that ultimately led to the publishing of this book. Thank you for all the editing you did on my book proposal, for reviewing my book contract, and for helping me successfully navigate the book publishing world. And thank you for believing in me, cheering me on, and telling me you were a fan. Your encouragement gave me the confidence I needed to proceed forward with this dream. I couldnt (and wouldnt) have done it without you.

Andy McGuire at Bethany House, for believing in me and giving me the incredible opportunity to write this book. What can I say? This book wouldnt exist without you. There are no words to express my gratitude. Thank you for selling my book to the publishing board so that the book in my head could become a reality in the world. Thank you for expressing my wishes to the Bethany team every step of the way. And thank you for your constant words of encouragement and all the other work you did that I dont even know about.

Helen Motter, my line editor, who became like an instant family member to me instead of a publisher during this process. Thank you for your kind words of encouragement and support about your opinion of the books impact and value. Thank you for your edits, eye for detail, sound theology, and willingness to handle all the odds and ends needed to finish this book. This book would never have made it to the next phase in the publishing process if it werent for you. I am so very grateful to Bethany House for giving me not only a seasoned editor but also a godly woman to work with. You will always have a special place in my heart as the wise and kind servant of Christ God gave me to edit my first book.

The publishing board, editorial staff, creative team, and sales and marketing team at Bethany House, for the hard work you all did to publish this book. You were the angels behind the scenes of this dream. You are the best. Thanks, everybody!

Andy, Helen, Helens husband, Greg, and all the prayer warriors at Bethany House who prayed for me during the bewildering medical journey God put me on while I was trying to get the additional appendix and recommended reading resources Andy and Helen wanted to finish this book. How does a broken shoulder get misdiagnosed twice as a pathological fracture believed to be caused by an unidentified mass in my bone, first by the radiologist who read my MRI, and then by the radiologist who read my CT scan? If it wasnt for Dr. Wodajo (orthopedic oncologist who specializes in diagnosing bone tumors) who finally diagnosed my injury as a fractured tuberosity of my humerus bone, I still would be reeling in disbelief, thinking that an injury from a fall was in reality something more ominous. Your prayers, understanding, and compassion through this bizarre and terrifying life-altering experience, which I now believe was spiritual warfare, will never be forgotten.

My faithful readers: my mother-in-law, Betty Houser, and Beth Troutman and Rosalyn Han. Thank you all for the countless hours you spent reading, editing, and giving me feedback on my manuscript. Thank you for being honest with me and telling me what I needed to hear, not what I wanted to hear. And thank you for the constant words of encouragement, wisdom, guidance, and insight you gave me throughout the entire writing process. I truly couldnt have done it without you. And thank you, Beth, for giving me a book-signing pen years before I even got a book contract. You gave it to me because you knew it would happen, I wasnt so sure. Thanks for believing that I could do it.

Ashley Plitt, for all the hard work you did editing my manuscript and for clearing your schedule to meet my ever-changing deadlines. You make me look better than I am. I couldnt have done it without you.