Do Not Fret!

You may or may not know that I recently finished work on a book to be published this fall with Arcadia Publishing. It's a pictorial history book about the university. It was a ton of work, but I'm really excited about it. There haven't been any books published recently about the full history of our school and the format will make it a fun and easy way to breeze through the years while still learning some fun facts and figures about USF.
Here's a copy of the cover:
I have had people in the past say "You should write a book," and there are a number of reasons why I haven't done that (a lack of talent being very high on the list), but one of the main reasons is because I didn't want to have to give any book talks about the book. I don't like talking in front of people and having to talk about something that came out of my head sounds very personal and frightening.

But I thought, "this will be different." It's not about the author, its about the content. I didn't make this up, I just compiled facts and information in a neat little package. But in actuality, I kinda shot myself in the foot. I've discovered that with history books, people assume if you wrote them you must be an expert, so they think "She should come and talk to us about the history and the book."

Oops. I've been asked to give a talk about the history of the school during Homecoming and I have been fretting. Even though it's months away, I get a scared little feeling in my tummy whenever I think about it. I know that I'm technically a grown-up, but sometimes I'm back in elementary school freaking out about having to read my book report in front of the class.

So here's what I'm going to do: I'm going to cling to these verses "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." (Matthew 6: 33-34) I do not need to heap more trouble on myself by worrying and fretting about something way down the road. I need to remember to seek first the kingdom. God is in control and everything will fall into line according to his plan.

If you see me in the next few months be sure to ask me how I'm doing with letting go of the fret. I will definitely need the reminders.