A New Arrival

 

This is a day of excited, breath-holding anticipation for me as I have a new book being published… (drum roll please…) ...tomorrow!

‘Hurrah and Hallelujah!’ –  a sentiment I know will resonate with many of you who have walked this bumpy road. It’s finally time to pause and enjoy the moment before the whirlwind of blog tours, interviews, podcasts, speaking engagements, social media posts and the whole jolly circus take over.

I’ve realised that I’m not good at celebrating.  Perhaps it’s my upbringing; perhaps it all feels just a little bit smug and self-indulgent.  On the other hand, this has been a project that’s germinated and bloomed over a period of twenty-five years, so something to mark the occasion is thoroughly appropriate.

Polished Arrows was an idea that sprang from a Bible verse brought to my attention  when my husband was preaching in London many moons ago.  The reference was one of the Messianic verses from Isaiah 49:2:

 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,

    in the shadow of his hand he hid me;

he made me into a polished arrow

    and concealed me in his quiver.

That evocative picture of an arrow hidden in the cool, dark shelter of a leather quiver stayed with me. 

I’m a lover of historical fiction so, over the years, the novels of Conn Iggulden and Bernard Cornwell have provided me with multiple references to the feared longbow men of England and the victories they won with their formidable fire power in multiple medieval battles, including the famous encounter with the French at Agincourt in 1415.  Such arrows are now only to be found on film sets or amongst historic societies recreating the conflicts of the past.

It occurred to me that if God refers to us as ‘polished arrows’ – and biblical prophecy is often many-layered – we must be subject to some of the same processes that an unpromising stick undergoes in order to become a lethal weapon in the hands of the Master Archer – God Himself.  

Modern arrows, such as those we’ll be seeing in the Paris Olympics this summer, are made of carbon fibre composites but traditional arrow-makers were skilled craftsmen shaping wood broken from a tree, the bark stripped, pressure applied, splinters sanded, knots navigated and the whole result oiled for flexibility and protection before the blacksmith and fletcher got to work with arrowheads, fletching and whipping cord.  A powerful picture of the journey of discipleship.

In case your church or small group is looking for something new, let me boldly, if slightly cheekily, recommend Polished Arrows.  Every chapter closes with a series of ‘Target Questions’ followed by a biblical example to illuminate and ground each step of the process.  

Polished Arrows is available to pre-order on Amazon now, as a paperback or ebook.  If you’d like a signed copy do get in touch; I’ll organise it for you and throw in a  complimentary bookmark. You can also sponsor a copy for young believers in Zimbabwe, for whom books are currently an out of reach luxury, which I will deliver in September.

If you’d like to come to the online book launch on Wednesday June 12th, let me know and I’ll send you the Zoom details.  There’ll be a Facebook ‘live’ launch on Thursday 13th June too.

Meanwhile, thanks to the ACW-ers who have volunteered for the blog tour and/or endorsed/reviewed the book. You're all fabulous!

Do let me know how you celebrate your writing victories large and small; I’m happy to adopt some and enjoy the moment!

Polished Arrows details:

Publisher: Instant Apostle

ISBN: 978-1-912-72678-3

Price: £12.99 paperback

            £5.99 ebook

Jenny Sanders has spent the last eleven years living between the UK and South Africa. She writes faith-inspired non-fiction: Spiritual Feasting (2020) asks how we can ‘feast’ when life serves unpalatable menus; Polished Arrows is available now, exploring how God shapes us to be fired effectively into our culture and contexts.                 

Jenny also has two published collections of humorous short stories for Key Stage 2 children. She is available for author visits in primary schools, taking creative writing sessions.  She loves walking in nature, preferably by a river, and has a visceral loathing for offal, pineapple and incorrect use of car indicators on roundabouts.