The Carpenter’s Cup

This Saturday, September 10, I had the honor and privilege of having a book signing and promotion at The Carpenter’s Cup Christian bookstore and coffee shop in Butler, MO. Butler ‘s population was only 4,219 in the 2010 Census, so anything new that happens is a hot topic!

My husband Ray, a paramedic at Bates County Memorial Hospital, heard people talking about The Carpenter’s Cup at his work and suggested I go in there, introduce myself as a local speaker and author, and ask if I could possibly display my books for sale there.

To my delight, the store owner Becky Clift said that while she isn’t yet displaying local authors’ books in her store, I could have a display table for a book signing and promotion on Saturday, during the city wide garage sale when there would be more traffic in town. This was favor from God and I was excited!

Because it was a tight time frame, I had to hustle. I ordered a few copies each of three print books, my memoir Promises In The Dark: One Woman’s Search for Authentic Love, my book on spiritual warfare The Hands of a Woman: Everyday Women in Everyday Battles, and my book on my tumultous 23-year marriage to Ray, Stained Glass & Marriage: Reflections of Light & Hope by an Imperfect Wife.

I already had a physical print copy of my first book which is on prayer, Walking With God, now only available as an eBook on Amazon. 

Also, I printed out the cover of my newest eBook for the Kindle on Amazon, How To Write Fast: Making Your Writing Dreams Come True.  

I’d ordered my business cards from Vistaprint a few years ago, so my Amazon Author Page link wasn’t on the card. I printed out labels with my link, cut them down to size, and adhered them to the back of my business card. They looked nice. This was my husband Ray’s great idea!

Organizing and decorating are gifts God has placed inside of me, and I love doing it. Decorating and making things beautiful makes me happy.

I bought purple tablecloths from the dollar store, fresh red carnation flowers, and a bright red bowl containing chocolates to give away to people who stopped by my table on their way inside the store. (The chocolates were a hit, of course!)

The fresh red carnation flowers gave me joy and looked great with the purple tablecloths.

I already had my printed business cards with my name, website, and info from Vistaprint, and I printed out my speaker one sheet. My table looked beautiful! Several friends complimented it from my posted pics on Facebook. 

My husband Ray also had another great idea: to enlarge pictures of some of my books to poster-size. I quickly created a PDF with four of my book’s covers, and our daughter Leah helped me to convert it to a jpg file for Walmart to print poster-size (Walmart’s photo machines don’t read PDF’s.)

It only took about 30 minutes, and it looked great and professional.  I bought a purple cork board to pin the poster, which I’m giving to Leah for her bedroom as she has been wanting one, and borrowed Leah’s music stand to display it. (Leah plays the violin, mandolin, and keyboard.)

Ray had bought me a butterfly necklace, and I wore it that day with a butterfly ring my precious friend Rochelle Valasek gave me when she spoke at my Released butterfly conference, and butterfly earrings. I noticed throughout the day all kinds of butterflies flying around the flowers near my table: white, yellow, Monarch. I felt they were a sign of confirmation that God’s presence was with me. This greatly encouraged me. 

During the signing, customers to The Carpenter’s Cup stopped by, looked at my books and poster, got some chocolates, and my business card. I sold a few books and may have a possible speaking engagement at one church leader’s church. I was able to just listen to women’s hearts and later prayed for them. 

While there, I also met the owner Becky’s family: her daughter and her son (who brainstorm ideas for the store with her and her son makes the delicious hot and cold, flavored coffees there!), her sisters (who are part of her business team), her friends and her customers.

At lunch time, Becky and her family treated me to a wonderful (and free!) brisket sandwich lunch with cole slaw, broccoli salad, chips, and gluten free brownies. What a blessing! They all made me feel very welcome.

One customer who stopped by the table began sharing her heart with me, some horrible things she had suffered in her life after I showed her my memoir and mentioned some painful things I’d gone through, but told her how faithful God is.

I knew this was my most important “divine appointment” at the book signing. Like Jesus with the Samaritan woman at the well, God wants us to give others His living, abundant waters. (John 4:1-42)

Also, I think that I made friends with the store owner Becky’s grandson, Kuhli. 🙂  He hung around me all day–probably because I had the chocolates! But still, he amused me and talked with me to keep me company. In the picture below, he had just finished eating a bowl of strawberries and was going back inside the store.

This book signing and promotion was such an honor and a blessing to me, and I’m so thankful to God, my husband Ray for the idea, and to The Carpenter’s Cup store owner Becky Clift for the privilege. If you’re ever in Butler, MO, be sure to stop by the store at 102 South Bishop Street, Butler, MO, 64730.

They have great non-fiction and fiction books, Bibles, journals, some nice “bling” (pretty jewelry, Montana West purses and flip flops), home decor for the fall and Christmas, a pastors’ and a children’s section, and the delicious hot and iced flavored coffees. (Try the chocolate raspberry hot coffee-delish!)

I will write another blog post about the store itself, and how Becky, an R.N. for years, came up with the amazing idea for it, so stay tuned!

After the book signing event, I treated myself to the movie Sully which opened this weekend. It stars Tom Hanks and is based on the miraculous story of Pilot Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger making an emergency water landing in New York’s Hudson River after Airways Flight 1549 hit a flock of geese on January 15, 2009. Miraculously, all 155 passengers survived. The movie was partly about the investigation he faced afterward, threatening to destroy his pilot career and reputation. I highly recommend the movie.

Thank you so much to all who prayed for me and encouraged me about this book signing and promotion event. I feel it was a “God” thing and am praying it will bear much eternal fruit.

One opportunity I have out of it is that I’m starting a Bible study tonight with the store owner Becky and some ladies in the local area at the store. We’re studying Priscilla Shirer’s book, The Armor of God. She’s the daughter of Pastor Tony Evans and she starred in the incredible movie War Room.  I’ll let you know how the study goes.