This evening I’m excited to introduce Jolene Philo, writer, speaker…and fellow Iowa native. Jolene’s book A Different Dream for My Child was released just this month from Discovery House. Jolene will be joining Tag(g)lines next week for a Q&A session in which she’ll tell us about her book and also give a bit of a sneak peek into her life as a writer.
But I thought I’d take a few minutes tonight to give a preview of Jolene and her new book…
I’ve talked several times in this blog about the first big writing conference I attended this past May – the Colorado Christian Writers Conference. It was the perfect week. Oh, I loved it!
What I haven’t mentioned is the fact that I met just one other writer from Iowa at the conference. It must’ve been day three or four of the conference…I’m sitting in the auditorium, waiting for the start of a session and the woman next to me takes a look at my nametag, points to hers and we smile. Jolene is from Boone, which is only about 40 minutes from where I live.
I had a fun chat with Jolene – discovered she is originally from Le Mars (where one of my good friends edits the town’s newspaper), learned her first book was due out in September (wow, instant admiration) and found (as my most oft-quoted fictional character Anne would say) a “kindred spirit” in that a love for writing is pretty much interwoven into the fabric of both our everyday lives. And by the end of the conference, we came up with a plan to start a writing group in central Iowa . (Which, by the way, kicked off earlier this month!)
I’ve enjoyed getting to know Jolene a bit more in the months since Colorado , and I felt a burst of joy for her when I first held in my hands a shiny-covered copy of A Different Dream. The book is a collection of wonderful meditations for parents of chronically ill children.
Well, I’m not a parent. Not yet, anyway. But reading even just the first few meditations was, for me, certainly eye-opening to the challenges and hurts faced by parents of very sick children. And Jolene’s stories and words of wisdom are inspiring…even to someone without children. I felt…connected.
And it may be that my own family’s current situation added an even deeper level of empathy in what I’ve read so far in A Different Dream. An out-of-state relative’s recent medical emergency has pretty much upended my parents’ lives in the past few weeks. I was particularly moved by her encouragement in Chapter 3, something I need reminded of even in just the everyday stuff of life:
“Whether you feel God’s presence or not, the Father who dearly loves you will clear
your mind and guide every decision…”
My boss often says, “Everybody’s got stuff.” And it’s so true. Whether it’s a chronically ill child, a sick grandparent or worries completely unrelated to health, people need to know someone else has been there. That someone else has felt what they’re feeling now. And that God has seen them through…That comfort and common ground can be found in A Different Dream.
I definitely look forward to reading more…and to hosting Jolene next week for a Q&A! Until then, be sure to check out the book trailer for A Different Dream as well as www.differentdream.com.
