Cec Murphey's Christmas Letter
This has been a wonderful year for me—much easier than I had anticipated. By December 31, I’ll be officially retired.
I kept thinking of all those hours to fill and feared I’d be bored. That hasn’t happened, and this transition has gone smoother than I expected.
I’ll still write for publication if something excites me. I’ve already agreed to do one new book. There may be others, but I’m being extremely selective.
I still write two weekly blogs and put out my monthly newsletter. I’m also a panelist for The Writers View (a loop obviously aimed at writers) and about once a month I do three-day duty to help authors learn and grow. I also plan to increase my time commitment to my church.
I completed writing two books earlier this year and both will be published in 2018. The first, More Than Surviving, comes out the end of March. I don’t have a publication date for the second, which is about a marine, who, on his fourth deployment, lost both legs and his left hand. It’s an amazing story of a true hero.
A few weeks before Shirley died in 2013, I said to her one morning, “I feel a joyful contentment.” I couldn’t explain it other than to say that, despite having an extremely ill wife, I was contented and deeply at peace. That feeling has stayed with me ever since.
At church Sunday, a delightful man named Carson Kennedy mentioned “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Not new, but the words were a good reminder. Since then, I’ve been singing Christmas hymns throughout each day to remind me that Jesus is the reason for this special time of the year. I hope each of you will feel blessed and enriched.
