Saturday, we'd finished eating the chocolate mousse at the closing banquet for the Write-to-Publish conference, one of the oldest and largest Christian writing meetings, when Lin Johnson, the director, stood up and began to read:
The winner of the Writer of the Year award truly
satisfies the reader's cry, "Take me there." She uses uncommonly
vivid sensory detail to transport her readers—to scenes from her difficult
years of childhood abuse through to her adult life of struggling to relate to
both her earthly father and her heavenly Father. Yet her sensitivity to
"how much pain to share" and her careful balancing of "stories
of hurt" with stories of people who showed her little glimpses of
unconditional love along the way, keeps this memoir uplifting. Trading
Fathers: Forgiving Dad, Embracing God is beautifully written. And
it's a valuable resource to help readers–whether they've had similar
backgrounds or not–learn hope, healing, and forgiveness, as she has, by God's
grace.
The winner of the 2009 Writer of the Year Award is: Karen Rabbitt
I had hoped, but I did not expect, to win. Thank you, Jesus.