In my first book, Freely and Lightly, I shared my story of how learning to trust in who God is and who He says we are results in the true rest and peace we're all in search of. It has been met with such a kind response and - even better! - so many of you have shared the ways my vulnerable words have made you feel seen and understood and encouraged to take a deep breath and continue on asking questions, finding answers, and resting in God's goodness and love for you. I'm so excited to tell you about my newest book, a lovely little companion to F&L, called Living Freely and Lightly. Living Freely and Lightly guides you through each step of your identity journey with thoughtful questions that gently challenge, prayers to start a conversation, scripture verses to encourage, and plenty of space to reflect and process as you go deeper and invite Jesus' transforming power to work in you. My desire in creating this journal was to find a way to take you through the same process I went through, made especially for those of you who do not naturally do this on your own. I look forward to sharing much more with you about the journal ... but today, let's talk about the cute cover!

the cover

Since I am definitely a person who judges a book by its cover, I think it's fun to share with you all the behind-the-scenes of designing one. (You can read about the cover of Freely and Lightly here. And the cover of Twirl here.) After we had our title, but before the journal was actually written, we began brainstorming ideas for the cover. My publishing company is so kind to ask about my wishes for the cover and allow me to give my opinion and make suggestions along the way. I'm truly so grateful. The designer then came up with a few initial designs: Loved the linen, loved the simplicity, but they didn't totally feel like a companion to the book ... so we kept going. Here was round two: It was helpful to see the designs next to the book to see how they coordinated. There will be an o-wrap (maybe that's what it's called?! Or a belly band?!) anyway, there will be a piece of paper that wraps the journal to hold all of the bookstore details. It will be removed once you start using it, so we wanted the journal to be great both with the wrap and without. All three designs totally work (I actually really love the peacock blue one), but it felt like pulling inspiration from the end sheets of F&L (seen here) felt the most special. And maybe most eye-catching, which is always good for those book-cover-judgers like me. After tweaking the artwork arrangement and adjusting the color of the wrap, here's where we landed: Isn't it wonderful?! I love all the artwork. And love the tiny stretch of stripes as a nod to the book. The final cover will be printed on linen book cloth which makes me so happy (I really love how it makes it feel so special!) and there will be ribbon bookmark (because a ribbon bookmark also makes it feel special!). We'll definitely be talking much more about this journal (can't wait to show you the inside pages!) as well as special gifts you'll get when you preorder. Details to come! Preorder a copy of Living Freely and Lightly today