Dear friends:

Sometime during our lifetime, many of us have had a desire, whether strong or faint, to write a book. When we were young and going to college it may have been a textbook about the area we were interested in, such as history. As we grew older maybe it was a desire to write about our life’s journey—taking passages from our diary and putting those words into a book.

Some of you may have even pursued your dreams. Possibly some of you have not been able to write a complete textbook but have written chapters in textbooks. Doing this makes you feel worthwhile and most important contributing your acquired knowledge to help others.

Also, some have actually put their memoirs into a book but with minimal desire to market it. The important thing was their memoirs are in a book.

As all of you know, many dream about writing a book that becomes number one on the Amazon best-seller list; but in reality, most of the time our dreams are only that—just dreams.

I am sure I had dreams of writing chapters in obstetrics and gynecology textbooks—those who know me might say I was probably dreaming about writing a complete textbook. Those of you in the field of obstetrics and gynecology are most likely aware of a book called Williams Obstetrics. I think every OB/GYN physician has a copy of this great text in his or her medical library. For many years Dr. Norman Gant was the lead author. I had the honor of becoming friends with him. I admired him for many reasons, but one was because he was the lead author of this great textbook. The last edition of Williams Obstetrics authored by him was published a few years ago. I was fortunate to get a copy signed by Dr. Gant. His words were “David, I hope this is easier for you to read than it was for me write.” Dr. Gant had more than a dream about writing a book. His knowledge will be remembered and shared by many for years to come because of his book.

As many of you know, I was involved in a serious go-kart racing accident on July 29, 2001, that rendered me paralyzed from the waist down. My world went from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the valley within a matter of seconds. As I lay in Neuro ICU fighting for my life, God started talking to me. He told me that He would never leave me. He would carry me when I could not walk and pick me up when I fell. He also told me He was going to use me to glorify Him. I, of course, had no idea what that meant. I was just so grateful that the Man in charge of my life was going to be always there for me. How important that was when I thought I had lost everything.

As I started down my road to recovery, I began to realize some of His new plans for my life. While I was a patient at the Rehabilitation Institute of Michigan (RIM), He started utilizing me to encourage others. I had always been a positive thinker but this was somewhat new to me. At first I did not know exactly why I was encouraging my fellow patients to “press on” in their darkest days. Many at RIM thought there was not a tomorrow. They felt they had lost everything including, in some cases, even their loved ones. But there I was encouraging them to “press on” even though I was in their same situation.

God also started using me to tell others about hope in other venues. I started to get requests from churches and social organizations to talk on hope. The audiences ranged from just a few up to a thousand people at any one time. My talks always centered on hope and His grace.

He, however, was not done using me to glorify Him. I was asked to talk to the men at my church on a Saturday several years ago. It was a special day for all. My heart was filled with Jesus and His grace, and many men in the audience had tears in their eyes. After my talk a missionary from Paris came up to me and suggested that my message of hope was so powerful that a broader audience should hear it. He suggested I write a book on encouraging others in their time of despair.

WOW! It was hard for me to believe that God wanted me to not only give hope to those in a rehab hospital, to those in churches and social organizations, but now to thousands in the form of a book. This was a little overwhelming to me, especially since I was trying to overcome my own tragedy.

God continued using my heart to glorify Him. Several special situations reinforced the missionary’s message of writing a book. Because of His love and encouragement, approximately seven years ago The Gift Is You was begun with Connie Hurn.

The launch date for The Gift Is You is July 29, 2014—exactly thirteen years from my accident. I have no idea what the impact of the book will be for those seeking hope during life’s tough times. Only He knows. However, I can’t wait to find out. I am very excited to watch His miracles in the coming months.

Finally, I am so thankful He has asked me to be a part of His special plan for all!

David