“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen” (Ephesians 3:14-21, KJV).
Back in 2019, Rapture Ready so graciously partnered with me in what I consider to be a mission endeavor. Rapture Ready published my story SEVEN as a chapter serial, allowing its vast worldwide readership to take a fictional journey through the seven-year Tribulation along with the story’s characters who find themselves left behind after the rapture of the Church. Although the characters and storyline are fiction in SEVEN, the coming events that are on the cusp of beginning as soon as the Church is raptured are NOT fiction.
My heart’s desire was then and always has been to use a fictionalized story to spread the gospel, to warn those who will be left behind of their lost condition, and to warn them of what is coming. My purpose was to do my best to present the truth of scripture via a fictional medium to those who might otherwise never pick up a Bible or read the excellent teaching content housed in sites like Rapture Ready or other Biblically sound Christian venues.
When we began this journey in 2019, I had absolutely no clue first of all that SEVEN would ever be read by anyone but myself, my husband, or possibly my children. However, as is so often the case, God had bigger plans that I could not and would not have ever dared to dream.
From my earliest childhood, my life’s dream has always been to be a writer. Those who love to write and teach simply do it regardless of whether the one writing ever thinks anyone will read or hear what’s on your heart. If you feel led to write, you just write, and for the believer who writes, or teaches, or preaches, or sings, or whatever, we just do it because we feel called to do it, and we leave the results in God’s hands.
Thus, when I began writing SEVEN in the spring of 2018, then put it aside for an entire year after writing only the first chapter, I didn’t feel rushed or anxious or anything. I honestly had no thoughts that it would ever appear anywhere other than on my documents site or be read by anyone but me and David, my husband – my captive audience. Then in 2019, out of the blue, the Lord opened the door, and Rapture Ready allowed me to share my story with its readership, thus giving SEVEN an enormous audience and its first publication. I was then and still am now blown away by that unexpected opportunity. Still, I assumed that that was the fulfillment of my dream, and I was happy and beyond grateful for it. I still am.
However, as God so often does, He went “exceeding abundantly” beyond even the blessing He had already given me through Rapture Ready. As SEVEN was being published, so many readers took the time to email me, encouraging me and telling me how God was using SEVEN to impact themselves and their lost families. I treasured each one of these responses and did my best to respond to each one. So many were asking if I had any plans to publish the story in book form. My answer was always “Not at this time” because, honestly, I had no clue where to even begin such a quest.
After I finished the series in December of 2019, I put SEVEN out of my mind. Then came 2020, when everything fell apart. I, like everyone else, just hunkered down and did my best to survive the COVID-19 pandemic. Then this year, out of the blue, I decided (except that I now know it was God leading) to check into what might be involved in self-publishing. Honestly, from my perspective, it was a lark. I truly didn’t expect anything to come of it except that I could now at least say I had “checked into it.” Again, God did the totally unexpected and “exceeding abundantly” opened yet another opportunity that I never saw coming. He led me to a self-publishing company that has taken SEVEN and is running with it. How far and to what end this new twist in the road of SEVEN’S journey will be is yet to be seen, but as of now, the saga of “SEVEN” continues into its next phase.
In publishing the story in book form, we expanded the title to SEVEN: A Story Of Things To Come, and it’s now in actual print form and available for purchase. Please, I hope and pray that you hear my heart. God knows my heart. With every fiber of my being, I want SEVEN to be a mission endeavor with only two goals: (1) that God alone be glorified, and (2) that the lost are brought to Jesus by reading and being exposed to God’s Word, the only thing that has the power to bring lost souls to eternal salvation through the gospel (1Corinthians 15:1-4).
My goal in posting this here is not to use this venue as a personal platform to sell a book, but to share with all of you who have been on this journey with me, by showing you just how “exceeding abundantly” God works. Most of all, to continue SEVEN as a mission endeavor to reach the lost in which each of us has played a part. Every prayer raised on my behalf, every time SEVEN was published or shared, every encouraging word and legitimate critique given that helped me grow as a writer and communicator – all of that is part of our fulfilling Jesus’ Great Commission to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel…”
Every soul brought into the kingdom will share in the crowns that we are earning for our faithful obedience to our Lord – crowns that we can then lay at His nail-scarred feet when we meet Him in the air.
SEVEN may be my story, but the dissemination of it throughout the world is our shared mission. Beginning with Todd Strandberg, Terry James, and the editorial staff at Rapture Ready, and rippling outward to every single reader who has taken the time to read SEVEN and share it, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for not only making my dream a reality but for making this global mission journey with me.
Details for purchasing the printed book are posted below. I have learned many things throughout this new-to-me foray into book publishing. One of those new lessons is that the retail price of books is determined by the number of pages. SEVEN’S length is 610 pages, which means that the retail price for it is going to be higher than for a book of, say, 300-400 pages. I apologize for that, but rather than write the story as a series of books (as in the LEFT BEHIND series), I intentionally wanted to write a stand-alone story that covered the same seven-year Tribulation period but that would be when completed, one book. Of necessity, that made the length of the book rather an epic.
The prices of both hardback, paperback (which are available now), and eBook (which will be available in a couple of weeks) are as follows: HARDBACK – $43.99, PAPERBACK – $29.99, EBOOK – $3.99. The book is available now at the publisher’s site and will be available on all major online book sites such as Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, and Amazon within the next ten to twelve days. When you go to the publisher’s site to order, there will be a place to write any reviews of the book that you may have.
I’ve already shared a few comments from readers with marketing to help them better understand what the book is about and to show them that there have already been people who have read it. These comments were shared with the publishing team alone and are not on the book page. I would not use these comments without permission from those who made them. However, for any of you who have read the book, if you feel so inclined, would those of you who have already read it when you purchase a copy consider giving it a rating and writing a short review or comment on the WR site? You certainly don’t have to, but I would very much appreciate it if you’d consider doing so.
You can make your order either from their website, or call Writer’s Republic and order by phone at 877-656-6838, or from the website at https://www.writersrepublic.com/bookshop/seven-story-things-come.
They are currently building my author’s website, which they said will take about 3-4 weeks to complete. When it is up and running, I’ll post the info here. It will likely be www.authoralicechilds.com.
Last but not least, I want to take the time to thank each one of you for your support, encouragement, and the love you have shown me from the very beginning of this journey that we have made together. Most of all, thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray for me and to share the book, which contains within it the gospel of salvation and a warning about the coming Tribulation. I have always seen SEVEN as a mission endeavor. May God alone be praised and glorified, and may He send SEVEN throughout the world and use it for His honor and glory, and to bring many lost souls to salvation now and after the rapture, before it is eternally too late – especially those who will find themselves left behind after we are gone.
May our great God alone be praised, and MARANATHA in the mighty name of Jesus!
Alice