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.
