Knit Together

I finished reading "Knit together" by Debbie Macomber. It is an inspiring book written to women. Debbie explains in the beginning of her book that all of her previous books have been fiction, when she was asked to write this book. When she said that she did not know if she could do it, she was challenged to put her lectures into book form. This book is the result.
Her writing style is very laid back and easy to read. She is an encourager and the main thrust of her book is that God has "knit" us from our mother's womb for a purpose.
Being a knitter herself, she using this as a basis from which to work, that of a skilled knitter creating something beautiful.
This book is a light read, but she does include many Bible verses as well as inspirational stories of how God worked in her own life, as well as those she loves.
I would encourage looking into this if you are struggling with self-image or doubt that you can serve God where you are. One of her strongest emphasis is that God has a purpose for all His children. If you are chosen by God, He will gift you and show you His plan for you (keeping with the knitting theme, there is a pattern He is following). We may not alway see the end result ourselves, but we can trust that He has the pattern correct.
The rest of the book goes into how we can find that goal for our life, and then how to implement it with God's help. It even deals with overcoming objections that others may have in our conviction of God's leading. Her own personal story is an inspiration for those who are being told they cannot do what they have a heart to do.
She desired to write from an early age, but was a mediocre student in school. It turns out she was dyslexic, but in those days such things were not diagnosed. She lived in a rural community and higher education was not deamed important, so she married young and started raising a family.
Her desire to write never left her, and she began writing short stories. Some were sold, but she continued to desire to be a published author. She finally wrote a book and was going to have it evaluated by editors at a conference for writers she was attending. Put yourself in her place, only ten manuscripts were chosen and hers was one of them. So she thought it would be a positive thing. Imagine she dismay when hers was used as the example of what NOT to do.
After the conference she timidly approached the editor that critiqued her, and asked what she could do to make her manuscript better. The editor told her to throw it away and consider another career.
Returning home crestfallen, she began to doubt herself and her calling. Making her long story short, she read an encouraging story that said basically - one editor's junk is another's gem. So she submitted it to another publisher, was accepted and the rest is history. She has many awards to her name and has published 100s of successful fiction books. I look forward to reading more of her works.