![](\"http:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/AnneGreene_2014.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\tA few weeks ago I committed
\n\t\tto speaking to a book club in Texas. But I faced a problem.\n\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\tI live just north of Dallas
\n\tand traffic is horrendous. I have very little sense of direction, but I do have
\n\tmy trusty GPS. So arriving at my destination thirty miles away through heavy
\n\ttraffic was not the problem.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tNormally at a book club the
\n\tmembers all buy my book and then we discuss the book. This club operated
\n\tdifferently. They wanted a review of my book—by myself, the author. Well, that
\n\tsounded like loads of fun. I could give myself a five star review. So that was
\n\tnot the problem.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tI love to speak to book
\n\tclubs, but this club boasted almost one hundred members. I’d never spoken for one
\n\thour to such a large group.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe problem is that I’m a
\n\ttotal introvert. I love speaking to book clubs because they are usually small,
\n\tintimate groups of between five and twelve people. I can do that.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tSo, a pall of dread descended
\n\tover me. The horror of speaking to a large group grew and magnified inside my
\n\tmind. I imagined I would look out over the group and freeze. I would forget
\n\teverything I had to say. My soft voice would not carry to the audience. Since
\n\tthis was a secular group, there might be a heckler—a person who didn’t like
\n\tinspirational writers.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tAnd so my dread grew.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tSince I’ve become a writer,
\n\tthe Lord has taken me far out of my comfort zone so many times I should be
\n\taccustomed to the nerves and tension. But I’m not.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tJust a few days before my
\n\tscheduled talk, I was in a mental and emotional frenzy.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tAs I was thinking on my
\n\tproblem, God brought to my mind another time He’d forced me out of my comfort
\n\tzone. During that experience He’d given me a precious verse. Deuteronomy 31:8 – The Lord Himself goes
\n\tbefore you, and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do
\n\tnot be afraid; do not be discouraged.<\/i>
\n\t <\/i>\n<\/p>\n
\n\tAnd God had gone before me,
\n\tand He had smoothed the way. The moment the Lord brought that verse back to my
\n\tmind, every shed of fear left me. I looked back at what He had done and I enjoyed
\n\tcomplete peace. The peace lasted until the speech, during the speech, and after
\n\tthe speech.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe talk was a success, and I
\n\tactually enjoyed myself in front of that audience.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tSo, once again, God taught me
\n\tthat I don’t need to slip outside my comfort zone alone. He goes before me, and
\n\tHe is always with me. Even in something as insignificant as speaking to a
\n\tgroup. Isn’t God wonderful? Claiming His promises leads to peace and joy.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tANNE GREENE delights in writing about wounded heroes and A few weeks ago I committed to speaking to a book club in Texas. But I faced a problem. I live just north of Dallas and traffic is horrendous. I have very little sense of direction, but I do have my trusty GPS. So arriving at my destination thirty miles away through heavy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":854,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[512],"tags":[26,97,98,99],"class_list":["post-130","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-about-books","tag-guest-blogger","tag-inspiration","tag-nervousness","tag-speaking-engagements"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n\tgutsy heroines. Her second novel, a Scottish historical, Masquerade Marriage<\/i>, won three prestigious book awards. The sequel Marriage
\n\tBy Arrangement released November, 2013. A
\n\tTexas Christmas Mystery also won awards. Anne’s highest hope is that her
\n\tstories transport the reader to awesome new worlds and touch hearts to seek a
\n\tdeeper spiritual relationship with the Lord Jesus. Anne makes her home in
\n\tMcKinney, Texas. Tim LaHaye led her to the Lord when she was twenty-one and
\n\tChuck Swindoll is her Pastor. Anne loves to talk with her readers. View Anne’s books,
\n\ttravel pictures and art work at http:\/\/www.AnneGreeneAuthor.com<\/a>.
\n\tBuy Anne’s books at http:\/\/www.PelicanBookGroup.com<\/a>.
\n\tOr at other online retailers. Visit http:\/\/www.anneswritingupdates.blogspot.com<\/a>
\n\tfor information on writing an award-winning novel. Talk with Anne on twitter at
\n\t@TheAnneGreene. Visit Anne’s Facebook page at http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AnneWGreeneAuthor<\/a>.
\n\tAnne loves to talk with her readers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"