Inspiration for today: Tracy DeGraaf’s Work at Home Story

I HAD A DREAM….to become a writer. I followed that dream from junior high, through high school and into college where I earned my bachelors degree in journalism and PR in 1988. I was going to be a professional writer. That was my plan. God’s plan was for me to meet the man of my dreams, my husband of twenty years, Ron. We got married in 1989 and we started our giant family of boys!

With each new bundle of boy that we added to our family, my writing dream got further and further from my life! I worked odd jobs here and there, but was a stay-at-home mom for most of those twenty years. Finally in 2006 I got a job working full-time for my church. I was in charge of organizing small groups and writing curriculum for them. FINALLY, I was a writer! (sort of)

In 2007, the church was hit hard with financial shifts that required them to “give me the boot” I mean “downsize” the staff. So there I was with no job, but I still had five boys, all school-age, all still needing mom around, so I knew that trying to secure a position in the corporate 9-5 world would be a disaster! I bought five Coffee News work-from-home franchises and set up my office in my dining room. Now the boys work for me….this is at times, bitter-sweet, but mostly good. One of my boys quit twice and got fired once, but now he’s “Employee of the Month.” AND, more importantly, the flexibility of working from home allowed me to write whenever I wanted to.

So, in 2008, I wrote LAUGH ANYWAY MOM – Hilarious Survival Stories from a Mother of Five Who Tries to Balance Her Load and How You Can Too. It launches on April 22, 2010 AND I COULDN’T be more excited about it!!! It’s a collection of hilarious stories about my boys doing stupid things like walking through wet cement, swallowing nickels, and shoving rocks up their noses. I even have Phyllis Diller’s endorsement for the book.

I was truly devastated when my Pastor told me the news about my job being eliminated. I was hurt. I was sad. I was wondering, “What’s next.” And by that point, I had long forgotten about my dream to become a writer, a real writer, as in “I’m a writer.” God never forgot. He remembered everyday throughout my entire life.

He reminded me of my dream after a thousand mile road trip from Chicago to the beach in N. Carolina. By the time we got there, I thought I’d explode if I didn’t start writing/venting.
So I googled, “How do you start a blog.” Ten minutes later, I was blogging….about the sights, sounds, and smells of traveling with five boys, one husband, one of my boy’s best friends, and my dad – who was too old and grumpy to travel! Pure cathartic therapy!!! My friends started reading it and saying….you should put this in a book.

So that is how it happened. ;0) My blog is at www.tracydegraaf.com This will become my author/speaker/stand-up comedian site soon. (I recently started doing stand-up after a conversation with a coach I am working with.) I have web people working on this now. But you can go to the first blog post from July 2008 and read about that fateful trip.

See, I didn’t realize that God had my writing dream in mind all along. I thought I was just changing diapers, picking up Legos, and pulling my hair out. Meanwhile, God was preparing me to step into my dream.  And today, I have a hilarious book about to come out about my nearly 20 years of “book research.” Yeah God!!! It may look like my dream will begin on April 22, but I know it began before God picked up His knitting needles. ;0)

With Kindness,

Laugh Anyway Mom – Hilarious Survival Stories from a mother of FIVE who has learned how to balance her load and how you can too!

“A funny book that will make you laugh, cry, and take life as it should be – with a grain of salt.” Phyllis Diller – Comedy Legend, Actress, and Mother of Five

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