Q: How did Godโs Unblinkable Eyes get started?
A: In March 2018, God asked me to be more intentional about teaching my three boys to know Him so I started doing one on one Bible โsessionsโ with them. I thought I was going to be doing all the teaching, but God has used them to teach me so muchโand they are still teaching me. I refer to them as both my students and teachers. God's Unblinkable Eyes came out of one of those Bible sessions.
My eight-year-old son is the type who likes to ask questions. He is very inquisitive about life, family, random observations, and most of all, God. We were reading Psalm 34:12 and Psalm 121. In verse 4 of Psalm 121, the passage talks about God do not slumber nor sleep so my son wanted to know what the meaning of slumber was. I tried my best to explain the differences between slumber and sleep to him with the help of a dictionary.
He then asked how come God didnโt need to take naps but he had to. He went further to ask more questions, which brought our discussion to the differences between Godโs eyes and human eyes. He also asked whether God had multiple eyes all over His body that makes Him see everything at the same time and how interesting it would be to have a staring contest with God. Did I tell you he asks so many questions?
Most of the time, my son puts me on a quest to dig deeper into Godโs Word. Answers come through reading a scripture verse, or by way of a television program, a church service, a conversation with my spiritual mom, conversation in a small group fellowship, an encounter with a total stranger, or life experiences.
Through Him, Iโve learned the importance of being able to say to someone โI donโt know.โ Such simple three words yet very freeing. And the thing about telling someone that you donโt know something is not to leave it at that. If that individual is someone who cannot find out about things on their own like a child, then itโd be wise to add that even though you may not know what they are asking now, you are determined to do some research and share your findings with them. It teaches kids about learning to accept their limitations and the option of exploring for answers.
The mom in God's Unblinkable Eyes encourages her son to ask questions and that is very important. With all the hustle and bustle in todayโs world, it is so easy to quickly brush kids off and extinguish that curiosity God placed in them. As parents, we shouldn't brush our children off when they ask questions but try to nurture their curiosity.
As children of God, it is vital for us to ask Him questions. He longs for us to come to Him with questions. He is not the type of a person who folds His arms and enjoys watching us try to figure out things on our own. Thatโs not the kind of Father He is. May I encourage you to start building a relationship with Him? A great way to start is by asking Him questions. His WordโThe Bible is where most of the time you will find His answers.
Q: What are you reading right now?
A: Donโt Limit God by Andrew Wommack
Q: If you could spend
an evening with one person who is currently alive, who would it be and why?
A: Joyce Meyer โSheโs one Bible teacher who has
positively influenced my life. God has used her to help me deal with so many
emotional issues especially in the area of unforgiveness.
Q: What is your
current work in progress?
A: Iโm working on my third childrenโs book. About
80% of the work is done but itโs not quite there yet.
Q: What is your most difficult writing obstacle,
and how do you overcome it?
A: For me, English is my
second language so I spend so much time on constructing sentences. Iโd like to
make sure itโs exactly what Iโm trying to convey on paper and that can be time
consuming and expensive as I seek professional editing a lot. Iโve found out
that if I can give myself time, Iโm able to gradually polish it and avoid having
to pay all the time for editing.
Q: What advice would
you give to a beginning author?
A: Be your authentic self. Write in your voice and itโs very important because
thatโs the one thing thatโll set you apart from others.
Also, run your own race with patience (Hebrews 12:1 KJV). The KJV has the word โpatienceโ in that scripture verse and I love it as it gives me a beautiful mental image of a group of people in a race against an individual running by him or herself.
When you are running with a group of people, itโs called competition and thereโs no room for patience because your main aim to run fast and win. But, if you are alone in a race, thereโs nobody to compare yourself with. You can do it at your own pace. No pressure.
It is you letting God guide you one step at a time. Thereโs no need to compare yourself with other authors who have sold thousands of books while you may seem to be crawling.
You are in your own race and they are in theirs. Taking advice and learning from them is different than wanting to be exactly at their level within a short amount of time. That will cause you a lot of frustration. God sees differently so be thankful for the people He sends your way whoโll purchase your book. Appreciate the little things while you aim higher.
Q: Is there one particular message or "moral of the story" you hope readers walk away with?
A: The book teaches
kids about the unique nature of God's eyes. The word Omniscient is broken down
to a level where children can easily understand.
The other thing too I want readers to see is, encouraging kids to ask questions. These days, itโs so easy to brush their questions off especially when we are clueless about how to answer them but readers should see that as a teachable moment.
Q: Whatโs on the horizon
for you? What will you be writing next?
A: Lately, God has been polishing lessons He gave
me awhile back from my personal devotional journal. Iโm
getting motivated to put together the little things Iโve been sharing here and
there on my blog into a devotional.
Q: What are your
hobbies, besides writing and reading?
A: I love cooking and hosting people.
Q: Where would you go on your dream vacation?
A: Singapore
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