As I committed to myself, I spent about 30 minutes working on the edits for the 2nd edition of my book. The delete and backspace buttons seemed to be my friend today. Reading the book with fresh eyes has confirmed the fact that the book needed some major work.

The book title is changed from “The Journey” to “The Journey to Love.” It’s a subtle change but offers quite a bit of flexibility with the approach I’m taking. Eventually, “The Journey” will become a series. This book will be about a journey to Love. I plan to work on “The Journey to Hope”, “The Journey to Peace”, “The Journey to Abundance”, etc. Thankfully, I have an amazing friend and author, Meliza Farndell, that has helped me flush out the vision I had. By the way, Meliza has some amazing books out. You should check her book out on Amazon. Click here for a link to her Amazon page.

I am an avid runner and have recently transitioned from road to trail running. You can follow my running journey on social media. You can find me at @thejourneywithandrea on most platforms. The beach has always been a sanctuary for me. I’ve always felt at peace when there’s sand under my toes and an ocean in front of me. But there is also something special about being in the woods. When I’m out in nature, I feel at peace. Anyone else?

The journey is such a great metaphor. Everything in life is a journey. Although we reach certain destinations, it eventually leads us to another journey.

As someone who loves to run and hike, I decided to call every chapter in the book “mile”. Each mile will offer opportunities to explore, meditate, dig deeper, and experience beautiful things. Some miles will take longer than others, but this journey is not about getting to the destination quickly, it’s about enjoying the journey and finding the beauty within.

Yesterday I received some great feedback from Chara. She mentioned how a sentence wasn’t flowing well. I can’t tell you how much I appreciated her input. This morning as I read through it, I completely agreed. I highlighted the sentence and clicked delete. It now flows so much better. Thank you, Chara!

The reason I mention that is I want you to know that I appreciate and value your feedback. Please feel free to comment or message me with your take on things.

Mile 1 is called “God is Love.” I’m going to share an excerpt from the book. I won’t be sharing the entire chapter with you but would like to share a portion of it. I’m super excited to share the journey of this editing process because it means that growth is happening. I’d rather do this with all of you than on my own. The portions I’m sharing are coming from different parts of the chapter. I’ll indicate where I’m jumping forward by using …

In case you’d like to meditate on the Scripture that goes with Mile 1, you can read 1 John 4:7-21

One morning, Love came into my kitchen while I was cooking breakfast and wrapped His arms around me. My body melted at the warmth of Love’s embrace, and I found myself on the floor. While the pan was heating on the burner, my heart was melting. Tears poured down my face as I felt this warm blanket cover me, lifting every burden, calming every nerve, and setting me free from the fear that had paralyzed me most of my life.

…

What kind of love is this? This was a Love I did not know, a God I did not know.

…

God doesn’t just love. God is Love. Who He is, is Love. There’s nothing about Him that’s apart from love. He doesn’t exist without love because He is love, and love doesn’t exist without God. After all, love is God.

When Love breathed into man’s nostrils, God-breathed love into the fabric of every human being.  

God is Love, and when He made man, Love also became part of our DNA. When a human loves, it is the expression of God through humanity. God is Love. There’s no way He cannot love you. It would go against His nature. Everything God does is motivated by love.

The Journey to Love: Mile 1