I don’t know if it’s a good thing or not to find one of my books at Half Price Books. I mean, it’s not like I’ll get a royalty from the book a second time. But it also means someone didn’t love the book enough to keep it enshrined on a shelf. Then again, it means the book can minister to one more mommy. Hence, my schizophrenia.

What I found on the shelves: A copy of Watching the Tree Limbs, then a very interesting find…

I pulled out Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God. Over the word “Ordinary” someone had placed a skull sticker. I flipped it open. There, inside, was my signature and a note. Oddly (perhaps God’s excellent sense of humor), I had written the inscription to someone named Mary:

Mary, I pray this book will be an encouragement to you. With joy, Mary.

It was as if God was telling me a hilarious joke, letting me know that Mary should be encouraged by what Mary had written. I laughed. I so wanted to find someone in the store, perhaps a random patron, and point out the irony. I thought for a second about buying the book, just so I had a record of this encounter, but I was simply too cheap to do it.

So, some other “Mary” will pick up that book for $5.98. And perhaps she will be encouraged by what’s written inside. I hope so!