BEYOND

by Cynthia Ruchti

 

One of the most frequently quoted verses of Scripture tells us that God "is able to do far beyond all that we could ask or imagine by his power at work within us," Ephesians 3:20 Common English Bible.

Far beyond. Exceedingly abundantly. Way more spectacular than what we can imagine, beyond what we would think to ask. 

Authors dedicated to writing for His purposes see that verse lived out so frequently, we could write books about that subject alone! Staying alert to those BEYOND moments enriches the experience and feeds our storehouse of encouragement for those times when discouragement screams for attention.

Someone's going to ask--maybe  you--why I used the image of cupcakes to illustrate the point.

a. Cupcakes. Enough said.

b. Cupcakes=abundance.

c. The book launch this past weekend for my latest release--All My Belongings--featured a friend's culinary skills with gourmet cupcakes. Pictured are the salted caramel with pecan brittle. Uh huh. You should have been there!

Back to the point. 

Yes, the book launch was a marketing endeavor. But God always does BEYOND. And those BEYOND moments will live far into the future. You'll have a story of your own, but these were the BEYOND moments I'm celebrating. I'm sharing them here so we can celebrate together the wonder of watching God outdistance our highest dreams when we trust our careers and every marketing task or opportunity to Him.

In the comments section, I'd love to hear your own stories of the unexpected BEYONDNESS you've seen lately in the marketing side of your writing career.

For me, among the exceptional highlights of the recent book launch were these:

 

1. A larger crowd than I could have imagined (It got too busy when the room filled to take pictures of how full it got!). And yet, loaves-and-fishes style, we had enough gourmet cupcakes for leftovers.

2. Connections made between attendees. The cupcake lady who would love to start a cupcake bakery/bookstore/coffee shop business someday met the sister of a cupcake bakery entrepeneur who won a small business grant and had tailored encouragement for her.

3. Reconnecting with book clubs that had hosted discussions of previous books.

4. Ministering to the hotel staff that served us in the banquet room.

5. Using the book launch as an opportunity to showcase the remodeled hotel--community relations for the town.

6. Encouraging two women who feel called to write and don't know where to start.

7. Four women--visitors at the hotel--poked their heads into the room to see what all the commotion was about. We invited them to come and see. How frequently Jesus said, "Come and see." The women enjoyed the book table, the camaraderie, and yes, the cupcakes. I had other books in addition to the featured new one on the book table. One of the women made an instant connection with Ragged Hope: Surviving the Fallout of Other People's Choices. I could tell the way she ran her hand over the title that it was a book she'd been waiting to find. That wasn't the point of the event. But it was a BEYOND God had designed in eternity past.

8. The door prize went to a woman who attends my church. This morning when I handed it to her--a kitchen apron with the words "She is loved" plastered all over it, her eyes filled with tears. It was a message she desperately needed to hear. She immediately tried it on. I whispered in her ear that God would hug her with that message each time she wore it. She didn't take it off through the entire worship service! A door prize is a marketing device, right? Sometimes. Other times it's a answer for a hurting soul.

No matter what marketing technique we're engaged in, it's highly likely the Lord has goals far beyond our own, ideas for connections we couldn't imagine, reasons why we were moved to choose the apron rather than the teapot for a door prize, answers for people who weren't even in our target audience.

If you're like me, that elevates the whole process of marketing. In this, too, God can do "far beyond what we could ask or imagine."

How has He shown that truth at work in your life recently?

 

Cynthia Ruchti is celebrating the release of her eighth book--All My Belongings (Abingdon Fiction) and filling her journal with a plethora of BEYONDS. You can connect with her at www.cynthiaruchti.com or www.facebook.com/CynthiaRuchtiReaderPage or www.twitter.com/cynthiaruchti.