Let’s start here
I am at a loss for words on what to say as I launch this website, as I launch this cookbook but I want to be honest and real here with y’all. It’s why it is titled Real Starts Here. Real talk, real food recipes, and real resources on home education; all from a Christian perspective.
Thank you for stopping by today.
I have had this e-cookbook on my heart for 10 years. It’s crazy how much time has passed and how quickly. It used to be 2 years, 4 years, and I stopped counting after 6 years went by. This project has been an uphill battle to create and release. Sooner or later, I will get into the details of what it took for me to get here. A testimony in and of itself. Long story short, I started working on this book in 2013 with a specific word from the Holy Spirit that God wants me to do this. I worked on it very slowly at first. Then, in 2017, I picked up some major speed and completed the entire thing in six months.
In January of 2018, I was ready to launch it but life threw me a major curveball. I began going through intense physical pain on my left side of the body. From that point on, my primary focus was on trying to figure out how to get better. Multiple blood work, CT scans and MRI’s couldn’t find the cause. All I knew was that sitting would always make the pain worse. Whatever goals and dreams I had for 2018 disappeared. That year, I cried for months and months. Tears from the constant pain and tears from being fearful and tired of the pain, tired of not being able to sit. And since I had to be on my feet a lot, this was only creating more pain in other ways. But God got me through it. He led me to the right resources and the right people. It was a two year long journey that taught me so much.
When I started to feel ready to launch again in 2020, I encountered technical issues with the cookbook and it took me sometime to fix it all. But that turned into more editing and re-editing in general where I felt like the project wasn’t good enough no matter what I did. I had to force myself to stop being so self critical and finalize the file. I had to be okay with what I created. It was finished and ready to go. The website was also finished and ready to go. Yet I still couldn’t bring myself to launch it.
Close friends and family and social media friends, who have loyally followed me for years, have all known about this project since day one and kept asking me for updates. The answer has always been the same, “I have a few more steps left but now I am just downright terrified of hitting publish". I had put so much heart and soul into this book that the thought of people hating it just felt unbearable. I kept waiting for the “right time.” The right time never came. In fact, life threw curveballs at me over and over and I knew that the only person holding me back was me.
As my birthday approached this week, I knew the best birthday gift I could give myself was to push past the fear and finally release this project.
So here it is my friends! It is published! And you are here, reading the short version of the journey behind it all.
I can’t wait to connect with you in this space! I truly pray that every time you come here, you walk away encouraged, empowered, and inspired. I want this space to bless you every time you visit.
Go check out the ebook here to discover all it has to offer and spread the word. Your support is appreciated!