Serving God: Bringing His message to little children
by Pamela Hahn
(Le Roy, Il)
The Star Who Almost Wasn't There
I am a senior getting ready to retire in 2013. I have a long story of being touched by spirit and turning thoughts into action. But here is the shortest summary I can provide:
Last spring I was unable to work for a few weeks rotator cuff and was thinking about how I would like to help my 15 grandchildren pay for higher education and some special projects I want to start in my community as a way of giving back for my blessings. Both are rather large projects that will have to be run as not-for-profit.
I felt I needed a way to fund getting them started since I do not want to deplete my retirement savings. And I thought, perhaps after I retire the first step will be to publish a children’s story I wrote many years ago, 47 to be precise.
I knew that this story was special. I was a college student when I wrote it for my first niece, for her first birthday. And at that time, I felt somewhat guided in finding the words to express the story in a way that children will relate to. . .and in rhyme to make it fun for them.
It is the story of the trial and tribulations of a little star who could not glow but who is transformed by a brief encounter with the newborn Christ child to become the brightest star in the sky and the herald of good news. In the end, the star dedicates his life and his gift to service of God saying:
I will love the Lord my God, with all my heart, and all my soul and all my light.
While I did not have the time to take on the project until I retire, I did do some research on where I might find a publisher who would have interest. I spent an evening on the internet looking at publishers who would publish Christian material.
I sent in a few inquiries and the next evening I received a call from WestBow Press a division of Thomas Nelson. I was encouraged and motivated to try making some sketches thinking that when I returned to work, I would put them away until I retire.
I cannot describe how this all played out but I got caught up in the sketches and with frequent phone calls from WestBow, started trying to make sketches come together in a cohesive whole. The summer slipped away as I struggled to bring the sketches together into something more professional. I had many ups and downs.
Then one evening I realized that there was no way I could do anything I would feel good about until I retire. I thought I had wasted the summer and I would put everything away so I would not be tempted to continue working on the illustrations. I was very agitated as I thought this through.
Then suddenly, as though someone had placed a dome over me, a profound calm descended on me. And I felt these words:
• It does not have to be perfect
• That is not the point
• It is time to put it into the hands of the children
That message changed my plan entirely. I believe God wants us to be more proactive in teaching the little children about His Love and how to have a relationship with Him. I’m sure many people around the world are receiving similar messages.
So now, the primary focus of my retirement is to find ways to get this book into the hands of all children. It will not be a challenge to get them into Christian homes where the parents are teaching their children about the glory of God. The real challenge is to reach children who do not have this environment.
In early 2013, I will be meeting with an attorney to create a not-for-profit or whatever vehicle is best suited for the purpose of getting this story to children.
I am hopeful that some seniors who are part of this retirement site will want to help bring this story to 'all little children everywhere."
• Create awareness
• Provide guidance/advice in fields in which you
have expertise management for example
• Offer creative ideas
I do have a web site "thespiritoflight" where you can read my first blogs that lay out the entire back story and describe the additional missions I hope to help fund with a portion of my profits.
The book "The Star Who Almost Wasn't There" is published in my maiden name, Pamela Hahn.
Wendy: Kudos to you for taking that step!
Many entrepreneurs get stuck in a Ready, Aim, Ready, Aim, but never quite get to FIRE. Just do it - tweak the process as you go, discover new options, but just take that first step!
Wishing you the very best!
