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All God's Creatures 60 Days of Devotions for Animal Loving Kids, Children's Devotional, essay about faith, Musings from a Writer's Brain, Rachel Pellegrino, Writing and Publishing
Do you know how many devotionals I have sitting on my bookshelf? 17
That’s right, 17. Of course, this number doesn’t include the ones in the boxes that have yet to be opened from our last move right before the pandemic.
Now, I’m going to be vulnerable with you and ask you to guess how many of those devotionals I’ve read in the last few months, let alone two or three years? Three!
Yep. That’s it. Just three. Go ahead and shake your head. I’ll wait.
I’m not sure what it is about a devotional, but I love having them on my nightstand and bookshelf. I love looking over and knowing there is a title to help inspire me when I feel uninspired or assist with my faith walk when I feel like I’m struggling. But I don’t always read them.
The truth is when I started out as a children’s publisher, I never intended to produce a devotional. I was all set to only publish fiction, and entertaining and “fun” fiction at that. I wanted to provide kids with clean and faith-based stories and characters that they could fall in love with and share with siblings and friends.
I was a teacher for many years and I love fiction, so this has always felt like a good fit. Then, COVID hit.
As the days turned to weeks and then to months, I realized that along with my Bible, I was pulling out my devotionals more. I was hungry for something that would ease the fear and worry I was feeling. I was searching for answers on how to cope. I was looking for inspiration and encouragement. I enjoyed my fiction stories, but I yearned for comfort I couldn’t find in all those interesting stories.
Then, it hit me as I did this searching that it might be the same for my daughter. She’s nine and aside from me, the one she trusts daily to comfort her, assuring her that all would be well, that God was going to be with us, and that she was going to be okay, I saw her reading more and she began to seek out books that would comfort her, inspire her, and allow her to not think about all the things the adults around her were worrying about.
So, as God usually does, He began to nudge my thoughts and nudge my conversations to what many on our team already knew was missing. Yep, a devotional for kids.
And, that God-nudge can really shake you a bit. Since starting Little Lamb Books, I’ve had days where I felt confident and days where I wondered just what He was thinking calling me to own a publishing company. I mean, it was a nudge from Him that started this whole thing to begin with.
So, once I fell down the research hole of comparative titles and themes and topics, I wondered more than once what I was getting us into, but I also felt a peace that this was what we needed to do.
The blessing of working with amazingly talented authors is that you can go to them with an idea and watch that idea develop into real pages of a book. Much like a writer that participates in a book club or critique group, being vulnerable and honest with others opens up the opportunity for inspiration to strike and greatness to come forward. And, of course, taking a leap of faith and following the nudge that God gives can teach you to rely on Him for the answers to all your questions and needs.
It’s been over 12 months of working on a project that started as nudge that led to a conversation with our editor and became a full-fledge devotional for ages 6-11. I’m super thankful for everyone who worked on the entries, illustrations and design. I’m inspired by the entries that I know will help so many families and kids. I’m beyond in love with the finished product full of bright colors and adorable animals.
But, even more, I’m beyond blessed by a Heavenly Father that gave me the nudge and trusted me to bring to life the biblical truth that will encourage young kiddos to believe in who He made them to be – unique and loved.
Interested in a Children’s Devotional? Check out
All God’s Creatures: 60 Days of Devotions for Animal-Loving Kids
Scripture meets sheep in a sixty-day devotional made just for kids!
Encourage habits of Scripture reading, prayer, and journaling with Little Lamb Books’ first children’s devotional! With contributions from over fifteen children’s books authors and an introduction by the publisher, All God’s Creatures: 60 Days of Devotions for Animal-Loving Kids explores a variety of wonderful animals God created and the amazing traits each one exhibits to show each of us how to be more like Christ. Children will love learning fun animal facts while learning Scripture and practicing prayer habits that will last a lifetime.
About the Author:
Rachel Pellegrino is the founder and publisher of Little Lamb Books, an award-winning indie publisher of faith-based fiction and non-fiction for elementary, middle grade, and young adult readers. Passionate about empowering authors who write Christian children’s literature, Rachel strives to take fresh manuscripts and turn them into fulfilled author dreams and is focused on bringing stories to life that are creatively entertaining, full of interesting characters, and uplifting to children as they grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ. Based in Texas with her husband, kiddos, and their two dogs, Rachel talks with her hands, prefers Pepsi to coffee, and has a growing plush lamb collection.
You can find Rachel on her website links: http://littlelambbooks.com https://www.rachelpellegrino.com
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