As soon as I tell people the title of my book, usually the first question they ask is if it has anything to do with the song Diamonds by Hawk Nelson. And my answer is always a resounding “yes!”. You see, Diamonds became one of my anthems throughout this whole journey of illness and the truth that God, out of love, has a good purpose in our pain is one of the backbones of my book He’s Making Diamonds: A Teen’s Thoughts on Faith Through Chronic Illness.

I remember kneeling in the kitchen at a friend’s house I was staying at when we were fleeing mold and singing along to the YouTube video at the top of my voice, only to click replay as soon as the song ended.

There are some songs that you listen to once or twice, or a  dozen times and then move on. But there are many others, Diamonds among them, that become the cry of your heart. That you sing with a joyful, unquenchable smile on your face, and that you whisper with tears streaming down your face. When every lyric becomes a prayer, and each one points to a different memory. For me, Diamonds is one of them (for some of the other songs like that for me, see here).

Which, yes, is why the title of my book is inspired by the Hawk Nelson song, Diamonds. 😀

I titled the book and wrote it and edited it and then realized that I needed someone to write a foreword. Hmm, what to do? There were so many options. I prayed and prayed that God would open the doors and orchestrate everything for the person He knew would be the one to write the foreword… if such a person was in His will.

My mom helped me track down contact info, and I began calling and emailing people. But there was no reply. Just lots of technical difficulties. But then I emailed someone, and they got back to me right away. They were interested. I bounced around with excitement the rest of the day, and we worked all the details out.

Even with a very short deadline, he managed to read the book and write the foreword even before my earliest time limit. God was working out everything.

Then, on Monday, I received the first draft of the foreword, and it’s amazing. I’ve been waiting (very impatiently XD) to share the identity of this person with you, but today is the day!

The person who is writing the foreword for He’s Making Diamonds: A Teen’s Thoughts on Faith Through Chronic Illness is… Jon Steingard, the frontman for Hawk Nelson!

P.S. For those of you tiring of all this exciting book news, don’t worry, we have more of a typical post coming out tomorrow! 🙂 

Also, if you missed Monday’s post, go here to see the book trailer and sign up for the launch team! Lastly, on Tuesday, I  was honored to have my first official author interview with someone I didn’t know prior to doing it! Make sure you check it out here: https://litaflame.weebly.com/blog/interview-sara-willoughby