2020 has been a year of changes for each one of us, hasn’t it? Amanda and I are grateful for our contributors, our readers here at PerGen, and the promise of God to make us fruitful in every season of life.

As many of you know, Amanda has been writing children’s fiction in addition to her day job as a non-fiction editor at Moody Publishers. The first two books in her Tree Street Kids series will be releasing in April 2021:  Jack vs. the Tornado and The Hunt for Fang. The 1990’s kids in these books are relatable, and their challenges are things faced by kids in the 2020’s. Amanda writes with curiosity, honesty, and warmth, and has created a memorable set of characters that’ll hook even reluctant readers. I’m over-the-moon overjoyed for my friend and co-conspirator and am excited that these books will make their way into a world in need of their messages of faith, hope, and friendship. (To follow Amanda’s journey to publication as well as her reviews of other worthy children’s and young adult literature, find her on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/book_leaves/.)

This blog wouldn’t exist if Amanda hadn’t reached out to me four years ago after we’d met briefly in person at a Deeply Rooted gathering in Chicago. That connection first led to collaboration on this blog, and then, after she was hired at Moody Publishers, she became my editor for both Born to Wander and Becoming Sage. The experience was for both of us what Amanda calls a God Nod. We never could have imagined when we first met the places we’d go together in his company.

As Amanda has moved into new things this year, I’ve been piloting this blog solo, and I’ve cherished working with those who’ve contributed to this space. As we roll into December of this pandemic year, I am going to put things on pause this month as I reflect and pray about those of us in the second half of our lives may need from a site like this in 2021. In addition, I will be without a computer for much of this month as my MacBook Air has to be shipped away (probably to Antarctica) for a factory recall. Now is the time for a selah.

If you’re reading these words, and have thoughts about what you’d like to see in this space next year, please contact me here. And if you’ve got some writing and editing skill and might be interested in lending a hand in this space, I’d love to hear from you.  

During December, I will continue to share links on our PerGen facebook page. In the meantime, I pray that you will discover an ever-richer understanding of the promise made in Isaiah 7:14 and fulfilled in Matthew 1:23 – that a virgin would bear a son who would be revealed to the world as Immanuel – God with us.

Because he is.

Selah.

Cover photo by Anne Nygård on Unsplash