Living Virtuously…My New Book

I am so thrilled to announce that I have been writing my first book, Living Virtuously: Keeping Your Heart and Home.  Here is a little background…
About 4 years ago as I was making my bed, a light bulb went on.  It was during one of the hardest times of my life.  I was overwhelmed with pain and my world was turned upside down.  In 2009 I went into the hospital for a routine surgery for a bladder lift.  During the surgery I sustained an injury to my right sciatic nerve.  It caused a chronic pain syndrome (RSD) and paralysis.  The once bubbly super woman, who could do it all, was reduced to life in bed. 

Some days the only thing that kept me going was making my bed.  Then I thought to myself, right now there are women complaining about their “hard” lives because they feel overwhelmed.  But I was laying there thinking about how nice it would be to get out of that bed and make a meal for my family.  Or bake a cake.  Or wash the dishes.  Or pick up my 4 year old and put him on my back for a hike up into our woods.  As I pulled the covers up, I thought to myself, I did it!  I did something.  And it kept me feeling like I was useful in some way to my family.

It may seem small to many of you, but when you go from fully functional, energetic, and super productive, to a complete invalid in a split second, it changes your perspective on life.  Some say that was the worst thing that happened to me, but I rather like to believe it was the most loving thing God allowed in my life.  It was the best thing.  It changed me.  Instead of shaking my fist at God asking “why me?”, I started asking “How can you love me this much?”  He loved me enough to change the course of my life.  The suffering caused me to be more thankful.  When you can hardly do anything, you are thankful for the little things in life.  When you are awake all day and night, thrashing in pain, you are thankful for the night when you can finally sleep soundly.  Thankful for being able to make your bed.  When I finally could get out of bed, about 9 months later, I cried with thanksgiving because I was able to wash a few dishes.

I think of that time as God’s refining fire.  It hurt so much.  It was the worst pain imaginable, but it formed a thankful heart.  You can not put a value on the worth of a thankful heart.  It solves all the problems in the world.  No matter what may be going on, what a mess life seems to be, if you have a thankful heart full of joy, you can handle anything.

God gave me direction, as I was laying in that bed, to share this joy, this thankfulness, this virtue with other women.  Years went by and I did not heed the call to minister to others.  I think it was due to the fact that I felt small and not fit for the job.  I was not equipped to help others.  I was not a bible scholar or an aged woman.  I had a lot of scars, a lot of baggage.  I just was not someone that I felt others would look to for advice.  My friend Debi Pearl looked me square in the eyes about one year ago today, and said “You are called to minister to women.”  What?  Me?  Why me?  Then my husband told me, “You NEED to do this.  God did not give you victory over your circumstances in life for you to run and hide.  He wants to use your stories to encourage others.”

God does not call the equipped.  He equips the called.   

I knew I needed to write this book a long, long time ago.  I ran from it.  Until my husband encouraged me, I did not believe I was up for the task.  Finally, I gave in.  I set my mind to write this book.  That was the reason for this blog, Keeper of the Homestead.  It was partly my way of starting this book.  Some of the posts in this blog will be expanded and placed into this book I am writing along with many more things I have not shared so far.  I also have been gathering many other perspectives from other women of faith.  Debi Pearl is adding her 2 cents in each chapter, among other women I think are pretty amazing wives and mothers.  I am so blessed to have an opportunity like this to help others.

For the next two weeks, I am asking you all to be patient with me and pray for me.  I have a lot of writing to do for this book and I want to make sure I am focussed and that my words are full of truth.  I humbly accept this challenge.  I won’t be blogging this next week or two, for I need to be able to pour solely into this book.   I pray this book will be an encouragement to women, challenging them to become virtuous.


About this book…
Living Virtuously: 
A Guide to Keeping Your Heart and Home

Living Virtuously does not mean perfection.  Victory and virtue are gifts to those that persevere on their own journey that God has given no matter what life may bring.  It is learning contentment, choosing joy, and being teachable.  The Lord is calling us to be virtuous in our marriages, in our mothering, in our homemaking, in our relationships with others, and in our faith.  We have victory when we live life to the fullest.  It is in our investment toward the things that have eternal value. Our homes could be spotless, but if within the walls of our homes there is bitterness, jealousy, selfishness, anger, or pride, we are fighting a losing battle.

In this book, we will journey together, verse by verse, through Proverbs 31 in the Bible, discovering the traits of a Virtuous Woman.  I will take you from the spiritual to the practical, giving you a complete, well rounded perspective of what it means to keep your heart and your home.

In this helpful guide you will learn how to…
• face adversity and find joy in your circumstances
• clean and organize your home so that it is a haven of rest
• be frugal and meal planning
• organizing  life so you have more time
• teach your children good work ethic while embracing motherhood
• control your words and actions
• keep your heart pure
• honor your husband
• find balance in all areas of life
• LIVE VIRTUOUSLY!

Get 25% off when you preorder.  

Keeper of the Homestead is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

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  15. I just came across your page on fb today and i am moved, especially after reading this post, about writing a book and telling your story. I have a story to tell as well. Tomorrow is the 4 yr anniversary of my husband’s very successful, miracle from God, liver transplant. He’s doing marvelously well, and all by the Hand of God. Our journey in the valley started in 2007. He was on the transplant list for 2 1/2 yrs approx. As you can imagine, there were some pretty dark times, for both of us, as the sick and as the caregiver. I have most of it documented on a caringbridge page, whcih was my outlet at the time… to keep people updated, and to just write about what God was revealing to me that day. Many have said i need to write a book. I think I have been running from it. How do I start? Where do I begin? Format? I still don’t know… but I have this feeling that I did not read the above blog post by accident. Any quick tips you can share would be greatly appreciated, if you have time. Do you have a printing company you are dealing with? Thanks for your time. God bless you as you put your story to print.
    Wendy

  16. I cannot wait for this book! I just preordered it! You are such an encouragement to me, I feel like when you describe yourself, you are describing me. I’ll be in prayer that God will give you all that you need as you are on this journey.

  17. Hi Erin
    I recently found your blog via Lori at ‘Always Learning’. I have really enjoyed reading your posts!.
    I was wondering, I live in the UK, will I be able to order your books any way over here?
    Blessings
    Helen UK

    1. Erin @ Keeper of the Homestead

      Yes, I sell to UK. Did you try to order? I thought I just set it up to ship to the UK. This book will be sold on Amazon, Barns and Noble, and Books a million. It will be sold all over the world, so you should be able to get it into your hands. I pray it will be a blessing! Lori Alexander will also be in the book with a few words of wisdom. Blessings to you!

  18. I should’ve mentioned that I had Salmonella food poisoning with Reiter’s Syndrome. After 2 yrs I am fully recovered by the grace of God! I am truly blessed because most do not fully recover.

  19. Glad to hear you have a book coming out. I too spent 4 months in bed not being able to walk, not knowing if I would be crippled for life or not. That was the worst part the ” not knowing”, and the never ending pain. It taught me so much. It took awhile, but I am now grateful, and full of new compassion. Can’t wait to read the new book, and I love the cover and the apron. I think you should make replicas and sell them with the book!

    1. Erin @ Keeper of the Homestead

      I do not have a denomination. I am simply a bible believer. I like to take each word of it as truth in my life. I believe every word of the Bible and endeavor to learn from it, applying it to my everyday existence.
      God bless and I hope my book is an encouragement to you!

  20. I wish I had a book (or a blog) like this WAY BACK when I was a young housewife and mother. I too know about debilitating pain and all it brings, both physically and emotionally. I thank God everyday that I can now walk–not a long way, but I can walk! Still a bit of pain, but I CAN WALK!! Bless you Dear.

    1. Erin @ Keeper of the Homestead

      I, too, wish I could have had some help when I was young and in the midst of my MANY wrong thoughts and actions. God is still good to have taught me along the way. I just constantly begged for direction and mercy. And He was faithful, still is faithful, to direct my paths. He is a very gracious and loving Father. You have a great perspective, I love to hear how you appreciate the little things, God is good! Love to you, dear sister in Christ.

  21. Dear Erin, I will pray for you as I often do. You are a wonderful encourager. Like you I know the dark times of being confined to bed in the most awful pain. I have nerve damage in my back and go from no feeling to the burning pain you know only to well. I hope your book will encourage others to never think they are of no use to their family, my girls have said that just being there for them is a blessing. I hope I will be able to buy your book here in England. God Bless you.

    1. Erin @ Keeper of the Homestead

      You also are a sweet encourager! I am so blessed by your comment. I will be offering my book to all countries around the world, including yours. After you wrote this comment, I made sure to add your country! I pray my book would be a blessing to you. I am so sorry for your nerve pain. I struggle with nerve pain on a daily basis, too and it can be hard to do certain things. Glory to God that he can give us strength and ability to do the things we ought to do and be a blessing in ways we surely did not know. Yes, just being there for our family, is such a blessing to them. Here I am, I can not do a lot of physical labor, but I can sit, and praise God, I can write a book while I sit!!! I can still do something special because of God’s unlimited mercy each day! God bless you!

    1. Erin @ Keeper of the Homestead

      My hope is that I can post some samples from the book on the blog to give people a well rounded feel of what my book looks like and what it is about. It will be an unedited sneak peek:)

  22. I had to comment again and praise the cover of your book! It is going to be so appealing to so many women. The readers of my blog will sure want it. The details are fabulous from the ring on your finger, the KJV bible, homemade bread, a home and children in the background with your husband’s arm around you, the apron with a heart on it and a duster in your hand. CLASSIC!!!

    1. Erin @ Keeper of the Homestead

      The cover came to me in a split second. There it was, I saw it in my mind. God is good to give us direction when we seek Him. I thank God for the idea of that cover, all glory to him.

  23. Congratulations, Erin! It sounds like it is going to be a wonderful book. You do so many things well that you are the perfect woman to write to other women about being a godly woman. We ALL need examples to look to and get advice from…those farther down the road in areas than we are. May God bless you in this great endeavor, my friend!

    1. Erin @ Keeper of the Homestead

      It truly is humbling. I take this very seriously. It is a huge responsibility when you are leading others, you never want to lead people astray. May God get glory from this and I pray it will be a blessing and encouragement to other women. Thanks for your kind words, they are so uplifting at this time.

  24. Praying for you. May God give you wisdom. We love your writings and when my daughter saw your post on Facebook for the upcoming book she shouted (I was right next to her :-/ haha), “We need to get that book!!!”
    The things you are writing and teaching about are much needed in this world. Thanks be to God that he didn’t let you stay hidden ^_^

    1. Erin @ Keeper of the Homestead

      Wow, that is so encouraging to hear. I pray the book will be a blessing to you and your daughter. I made sure there is encouragement for girls and women alike. Thanks for your prayers, I need them!

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