After 18 Years, our Sheep has a Lamb!

When I released “There’s a Sheep in my Bathtub” in 2007, my friend Bill Stearns. Bill, along with his wife Amy was the author of several wonderful mission books and a prolific Perspectives speaker. He and Amy wrote “Catch the Vision 2000“, “Run With the Vision” (with Bob Sjogren) and “2020 Vision” Bill’s idea was that my book needed a study guide. He told me that simply by making a study guide available groups and book clubs would consider buying numerous copies of the main Sheep book so that they could experience it together.

I loved the idea and immediately began the project. However, several things conspired to stall my work. The biggest was that my friend Bill died very suddenly of a brain tumor, leaving Amy a widow with two siblings they had just adopted. Louise and I immediately flew to Fayetteville, AR, from California to be with Amy during her grief. In the months and then years to come, the project for a study guide languished.

Fast forward to last year. Louise and I were staying with our host for Mission With God in Saint Louis MO, Karen Sechrist. As we got to know her I found out that she had produced several study guides. I brought up my long stalled project and Karen agreed to do some work in formatting and coming up with a really good skeleton for me to fill in. It all took a bit longer than either of us thought it would As life has a way of jumping up and complicating things. When Karen was able to send the fruit of her laborers, I was in the middle of a storm and it sat at the bottom of my inbox causing guilt. It wasn’t until a week ago that I was able to take a serious look at what Karen had sent me and begin the labor of filling in and finishing the study guide.

As is often the case, once I got going it was actually pretty fun. Choosing the best quotes, refining the discussion questions which Karen had done a fantastic job of formulating, and coming up with action points So that it would have a practical impact in the life of the user. I was basically finished with the interior content on Monday, but it took 4 days to whip it into final edited and printable shape. Of wrestling with the publishing program to get it to accept my document and the cover art that I produced. persistence paid off though and the study guide is now live with Amazon.com in paperback or Kindle format. You can also download it for free here:  Sheep Study Guide DOWNLOAD