How Will I Measure Success?

I’ve spent more hours than I care to admit wrestling with this question over the past few years in my writing journey. On the surface, the world’s definition of success seems simple enough: Dollars, sales & recognition.

But when you’re walking in your calling, when you’re moving in step with the will of God, (or at least trying to) does that measurement still hold the same weight?

If my book sells only ten copies, have I failed? Would five hundred feel like victory? Or will I measure its worth by something deeper, something unseen?

I won’t pretend I haven’t imagined the dream every author secretly holds; The moment a story reaches the top 10 seller list, and my name and book find its way into hearts and homes around the world. But I’m a realist and know the odds of that happening are about the same as me winning the lottery… and I don’t even buy tickets.

So here I am, days away from my book’s release, asking myself again: How will I measure my success?

The truth is, the answer isn’t simple. Yet one thing has echoed through this entire journey. A quiet voice that has reminded me that if I am walking in obedience to Christ, and if even only one life is touched through these pages, it will have been enough. The box will be checked. The purpose fulfilled.

I guess the answer is more clear than I thought…

As a result, I can now sit back and bask in the goodness of my success! No matter what! Because before a single copy has been sold, with the book still yet to be released, I already know this story has changed one life.

My own.

Reading Wayward Daughter(s) has stretched me. It’s healed me and it’s moved me. It’s pushed me to face the parts of myself within it’s pages that still had hidden residual pain and unforgiveness festering below the surface.

Wayward Daughter(s) allowed me to fully and completely let go.

What a good God I serve!

In chasing the hope of reaching others, I nearly missed the most profound truth of all. I was the one I set out to help all along.

And while I still pray that Wayward Daughter(s) finds its way into every heart it was meant to touch, I know now that true success will never be measured in dollars, sales & recognition. It will always be found in transformation. In the quiet places where healing begins.

With Love, Katherine Maribeth