English Lessons Launch Team: How You Could Be On It

I tell a story in the book about this time in Oxford when somebody stole a battery from me.

I rode a bike everywhere in Oxford. I didn’t have a car, so I depended on that bike to get me from here to there, rain or shine. It was illegal to ride a bike in Oxford without a headlight and taillight. Or, as we liked to call them, “front lights” and “back lights.”

One night I went to a pub and locked up my bike outside. When I came back out, ready to go home, my front light didn’t turn on. After a few minutes I realized someone had stolen one of the two batteries from the cartridge. Not both of the batteries. Not the entire front light. Just one, single battery.

If that is not the strangest theft you’ve ever heard of…

Fortunately, I had a good friend at the time who offered to ride his bike in front of mine to light the way home for me.

“I’ll be your front light,” he told me. And in the weeks that passed before I finally remembered to buy another battery, he went out of his way to make sure I had a light to guide me home.

I needed a front light literally and metaphorically the year I lived in Oxford. It was the darkest my faith had ever been. Suddenly living outside the Bible Belt, away from family and all things familiar, I was forced to ask that question we are all forced to ask at some point: Why do I believe what I believe?

Community was a large part of that year of questioning and doubting. It always is. When the path is dark or blurry, you need a front light to guide the way, to point you in the direction of light. To remind you of what’s true.

Tomorrow is the day we gather a team to help launch English Lessons. I consider everybody on this team a Front Light. By sharing the message of English Lessons you are telling people that they are not alone in their faith journey. You are there with them. We are all here with each other, reminding the ones who need reminding of those truths that they’ve forgotten.

So, I guess I should get to the point.

How can you become a Front Light?

Simply subscribe to my email list in the box to the right.* Tomorrow, March 1, I will send you an email with an application. Don’t worry. It’s not a rigorous application process. It’s really just something to capture all of your information.

There is a limited number of people who can be on the official launch team (though everybody can talk about it as much as they want!), so be sure to subscribe today before the email goes out tomorrow.

If you’re already subscribed, no need to do anything today. You’ll get the email.

What do Front Lights actually do?

1. Share about the book on your social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat) or with your team, small group, book club, women’s or young adult ministry at your church.
2. Share about the book on your blog (but having a blog isn’t a requirement).
3. Post a review on Amazon and BN.com
4. Find other creative ways to tell someone about the book and how it has impacted you.

What perks do Front Lights get?

1. An advance copy of the book*
2. A hardback copy when it releases in May*
3. Access to a private Facebook group where the team will gather for updates and news and get to know each other. (Think: Me, gracing you with Facebook Live chats all day long. Just kidding. Sort of.)
4. An invite to a book launch party in San Antonio, Texas! (Date, time, location…all TBA. But trust me, you’ll want to be there.)

OK, Front Lights, we ready for this? I am most definitely not, but with you around, I feel a whole lot better about it.

(Feel free to ask questions in the comments below and remember, I’m just a girl, standing in front of a brick wall, asking you to be on my launch team.)

 

*A note to my international friends: Because I can’t send you a hard copy of the book or a PDF (pretty sure that’s illegal), I feel like it’s unfair to rope you into all of this. If you want to purchase a copy online and then post about it closer to release date, let me know. You can be on a special “international book launch team.” I just made that up, but I feel like it could be a thing if there are a bunch of you. So just let me know!