Audio Book Version of “How To Be Made Whole” is now Available
The audio version of “How To Be Made Whole” is now available! Narrated by yours truly (Robin). :).
You can get it exclusively on Amazon! Click here!
“How To Be Made Whole” is Officially Released!
We are excited to let you know that “How To Be Made Whole” is officially released! You can get it on Amazon (click here) OR our website (click here).
We would love for you to share this with anyone that you know need Good News! We are thrilled that thousands of people will get to hear the Gospel through the life of our daughter. Who would have ever thought this was possible 18 years ago??!! We were facing a tremendous impossibility for her to simply live (much less preach all over the world). While in Cuba several years back, I was listening to a young man thank me over and over for sharing her story. I distinctly remember God whispering to me over his shoulder, “Kennady is speaking all over the world.” The message keeps going out! We are loved and accepted by God… right now! (before we get it all together)
Once you read the book, it will be very helpful for you to rate and/review on Amazon or other online stores.
Have you checked out our podcast yet? Erica and I have posted six episodes already on a variety of helpful topics. It’s a raw and real conversation with no script! It gets quite funny at times. We hope people are encouraged and entertained. 🙂 You can search for the Made Meaningful podcast anywhere you get podcasts or click here!
We love you guys so much! Thanks for being our family. We find so much strength from you.
+
Robin (and Erica and Kennady)
How To Be Made Whole – Foreword
I was completely honored when Randy Phillips agreed to write a foreword for my book. Of course, I have known Pastor Randy all of my life, and I currently work with him and his network of churches. For years, I have been amazed at his ability to craft a phrase, sentence, sermon, song…anything with words.
Here is what Randy Phillips had to say about this journey:
FOREWORD
Many of us believe that life is formulaic. Especially, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ. In other words, if I accept Jesus Christ into my life and live righteously according to Biblical principles, I will live a life unscathed. Untouched by tragedy. Robin and Erica Steele would fit that assumption perfectly. They grew up in my church. Full of integrity and love for God. They came from amazing parents who helped start our church, fund the church, and brought many lost souls to grow the church. Robin and Erica perfectly fit the life that we would want everyone to have. He became our student pastor, then our children’s pastor and, ultimately, they became lead pastors of a thriving church in San Marcos. Perfect life. All the boxes were checked…and then.
Everybody gets an “and then.” The email, the phone call, the summons to the doctor’s office, the boss asks you to step into his office.
I will never forget getting a call from Robin Steele to inform me his daughter had been born. His tone was measured and mature—very unusual for such exciting news. On the other hand, I was over the moon for Robin and Erica—their first precious baby was here. I was a bit taken aback by Robin’s tone in light of this amazing event so I asked the question, “Is everything ok?” In the same mature, matter-of-fact tone, Robin’s answer broke my heart. Denise and I immediately drove to the hospital. Amid the tears and the hugs was the presence of the Holy Spirit. Peace that passes all understanding. If God ever entrusted a couple with a special gift, he found the right ones. We have watched how Robin and Erica have walked this road with grace given by God to encourage others who have experienced pain.
Robin Steele’s HOW TO BE MADE WHOLE touched my heart and changed my mind. I could not put the book down. All of us are desperate for wholeness. With practical steps and storytelling that will touch your soul, you will thank yourself for reading and absorbing the testimony of Robin and Erica Steele.
I’m so proud of Robin and Erica, their flourishing church, their friendships and their impeccable character.
—Randy Phillips, lead pastor of Life.Family,
founder of PHILLIPS CRAIG & DEAN
We are getting so close!
We are getting so close.
We approved all the proofs on Robin’s upcoming book last week! Then, we got an email from our production manager that she found an error on…the cover!! HA! We had spelled the word “forward” instead of “foreword”… So, we had to stop the presses and get it fixed. Just a few moments ago we approved everything again and things should be rolling soon. Below is an excerpt from chapter 4, describing the day Kennady was born.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
We arrived at the doorstep of week thirty-eight and with it came the scheduled C-section delivery. Saturday, November 24, 2001, two days after Thanksgiving, Erica and I loaded the car early in the morning and took a nervous ride to Brackenridge Hospital. Our moms and dads were waiting there to greet us at the door. Kennady was to be the first grandchild for both sets of parents. While we waited for surgery, family members and church friends filtered through, offering prayers and advice. I sat with great anticipation and thought of all the possibilities.
I just knew that the doctor would deliver our baby girl, and there would be a miracle in the room. Everyone would be shocked as we saw our baby’s completely healthy body enter the world. We would glorify God because of the miracle He had performed for us all. Final tests would scientifically confirm the great work that an all-knowing, all-powerful God had accomplished. Just then, a nurse peeked her head around the corner and said, “It’s time to go!” Positioning herself as the wheelchair driver, she rolled Erica down the long hallway. The drama and delay began to crescendo with each rotation of the wheelchair across the linoleum flooring. I watched as the corridor narrowed, and Erica shrank out of sight.
My waiting continued until finally, I was called into the delivery room. I walked into a pristine, white room. Nurses and doctors worked around Erica. She was awake and able to squeak out a smile for me. I came to her side, and we whispered about how cold the room was. She was already prepped. Within a few quick moments, the doctor reached in and brought our daughter into the room.
The first moments of birth are life-changing—a flash of time every parent remembers forever. The first breaths, the first cry, the open eyes as they capture the hearts of everyone in the room. We looked in awe at the miracle of life—a distinct stand-alone frame in time—and in the next blink, our hearts sank a notch. We saw that her head was much larger than average.
I went straightaway to the small table where she was being tended to and began holding her hand and speaking to her. There was so much love between dad and baby girl at that moment. Standing there, I realized that my life was going to be different. I realized then that I needed to change my attitude, my expectations, and my prayers. My perspective needed to be shaped, not by my education or experience, but by how God was choosing to work through this child. Of course, all of those thoughts went un-articulated, but looking back, I see that moment at the bedside was monumental in the building of my faith. A day would come, not so far off, that my prayers, attitudes and expectations did indeed change.
That said, the worst was yet to come. The medical team sent our daughter immediately into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The doctors wanted to perform an MRI early in the day to determine the extent of the birth defect. We all patiently waited and spoke with family members who were visiting the hospital. We were praying and believing for the MRI to show signs of healing. We just knew that it was only a matter of time before things would turn around. But, this was not the time…
What if you were whole and didn’t know it?
What if you were whole and did not even know it?
What if you were listening to so many outside voices that the truth was hiding underneath the noise?
Thousands of messages hurl towards us at breakneck speed. We give an audience to the ones that bring the most immediate attention or demand the quickest response. Unfortunately, many messages are negative. They make us feel like we need to earn more money, lose more weight, prove ourselves one more time, the list goes on and on. All the while, our Father in heaven is going unheard.
God continually says things like, “You are good. You are mine. You are forgiven. You matter. I made you on purpose. I will protect you. I will provide for you. I will fulfill all your needs. You will be satisfied with me.” God desired for us to be whole and worked to see it accomplished. Then, He continually proclaims that wholeness over us. Unfortunately, we do not hear His voice, and over time, we drift from being whole to being fragmented.
Erica and I are no different. Over the years, the difficulties of life have shouted to us. With the continual weight of Kennady’s care pulling us down, we have had plenty of opportunities to become discouraged. It is easy to get depressed!
We cannot go anywhere without considering how we will take care of Kennady. Taking a family vacation is almost impossible because of travel limitations. For example, there are changing tables for infants and small children in virtually every public space. However, there are no changing tables for 18 year olds. Kennady requires a full handicapped accessible shower and chair. It is easy to give up on a persistent challenge like this; it is easier just to stay home all the time.
If the physical toll was not enough, we also deal with frequent emotional tidal waves. We have family members who make fun of others by using the “r word.” Think about that for a second. They have known us for decades. They know all about Kennady, yet, they indirectly insult and devalue her with cheap words. A few years back, a friend told a group of us a “short bus” joke. The butt of the joke was that people with special needs ride on the “short” school bus. When that happened, I stared him in the eyes and said, “You do realize that my daughter rides the short bus?” He apologized profusely, but the damage was done.
These are just a couple of real-world examples that we face in our world with Kennady. These scenarios are not only challenging to suffer through from a practical standpoint, but a continual barrage over the years reinforces a loud message that we are not going to make it. They figuratively say things to us like, “You have no future. You cannot sustain this. You will run out of money. No one understands you. No one has the capacity to be your friend. You need to give up.”
As we go through each day, negative messages bombard us. If we listen to them unprepared, we will be swept away on a journey far from home. We will travel from wholeness to a land of bitter, angry, lost, loneliness, and incompleteness. Most people live in this spot separated from the truth of God. As a result, we try to find our way back to peace in any way possible. Humans spend billions of dollars to get our minds off the mess. We try anything we can to distract ourselves, change our surroundings, or buy our way out of it.
The only thing that genuinely leads us home is hearing our Father’s voice. I love what Augustine of Hippo said, “The Holy Scriptures are our letters from home.” The voice of our Father speaks truth amidst the chorus of confusing voices. In my darkest hours, the only thing that has assured my wholeness has been the truth of God’s voice. Hearing His voice and finding ways to center our lifestyle around it preserves the state of our hearts and minds.
This post is an excerpt from Robin Steele’s upcoming book: How To BE Made Whole
Do you hear God’s Voice?
We would love to hear from you.
Please post a comment or send us an email!
Book Update
Hey Everyone!
I (Robin) want to give you an update on my book project. I finished the manuscript a couple months ago and sent it to the publisher. I picked WestBow Press to publish it for several reasons. They seemed to have a smooth process, great distribution, but the biggest reason is that they are a sister corporation of Thomas Nelson and Zondervan. Obviously, those names are the best in the business. If the book does well there is potential for one of them to pick it up and run it through their channels as well.
After I sent in the manuscript, it had to go through an initial examination for content. They wanted to make sure it fit their standards for writing and Christian content. I was quite nervous about this process. I tried my hardest during writing to make sure I covered all the details. However, I had not cited or sourced a paper since college (20 years ago). Do you remember how to do a bibliography? Yeah, me neither! Ha!
They came back with 4 areas that needed changes. I needed a couple of my endorsers to send in a permission email. There was a story that I used in the book that they were concerned might be a libel risk. (The person I talked about might not like being in the book) They wanted me to change the story or reach out to him and get his permission. There was no way for that to happen so I was stuck. I really wanted to use the story. Then, something amazing happened. Someone came into my office this week with the exact same situation. I counseled him and then said, “Would you mind if I use your story in my book?” He agreed! So I got a notarized statement giving me permission. Wow!
The publishers were also nervous about a section of a Martin Luther King Jr letter that I used. They said that I had to get official, legal permission from his estate before I used it. Of course, I was quite nervous about this and wondered what it would take. I looked them up online and sent an email explaining the book and portion I needed to use. They were so kind but referred me to their legal representatives in New York. I wrote to them and they had me fill out a long legal form. There was a blank that they would fill out that said “fee_______”. How much would it cost for me to quote MLK? I was so impressed by this. How awesome that it costs to quote someone that has been dead for decades? However, I was quite unsure about if I could afford it. They finally responded that it would cost $150 to use the portion I needed!
The final change that the publisher needed me to do was funny and tough. They said that I used three words that were profanity! ha!! I never dreamed that I would be marked for profanity. The first word was “heck”. HAHAHAHA The second word was “screwed”. Those two words were easy changes. The third word was “retarded”. They said they do not allow that word in their books. I was a bit troubled when I saw this. I wondered if they even read the book of they just used software that scanned the book for certain words. I called them and asked, “Did you actually read the book? Do you know that my daughter was born with a severe disability? Do you think I would ever use that word in a derogatory way?” The man was very kind and said he understood. He would take it up to the next level of management and see if he could get an allowance for it. He sent me an email a few days later saying, “I’m sorry. You can’t use that word. This is coming from Thomas Nelson.” So, I changed it. If you want to check out our thoughts on the word retarded, click on this post.
We now go through another evaluation that is a little more detailed. It is more about structure of the writing and trying to find out if we could improve it from a literary perspective. This is the longest part of the process.
We have been working on the cover in the meantime with Michelle Hagerty, Luke Tharp and Erica (the best critic I have!). Those watercolor images are concepts we are working through for the cover. Icebergs are a big illustration in the book. That pic does NOT do them justice.
We were hoping that the book would release in January, but it is looking like it will be in early spring. The main issue is the holiday delay coming. Oh, but what a good delay that is!
What People are Saying