Amy W. Vogel is an accomplished author, speaker, podcaster, and ministry consultant. She loves learning and sharing her knowledge through stories in her inspirational projects and fiction novels.
Amy creates, leads, and speaks to large and small groups and churches to help people understand their inherent worth and goodness by giving them a vision of hope for everyone, everywhere. She is married to David, has three daughters, and lives in Houston, TX.
Website: https://amywvogel.my.conva.site/
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/amywvogel
Facebook: www.facebook.com/amywvogel
Thanks for this interview, Amy. Would you say it’s been a rocky road for you in regard to getting your book written and published or pretty much smooth sailing? Can you tell us about your journey?
I learned a long time ago that writing is itself an act of creation. And for me, writing a book is a lot like pregnancy. Sometimes it is easy and sometimes it is the scariest thing you’ve ever done. Come to Me: A Devotional for Healing from Hurt, is the second book I’ve published but the first one I self-published. The writing part wasn’t hard, as I’ve learned to write when the creative spirit is with me. And this being the second of this type of book, I knew my process. However, learning the business of self-publishing has been a pretty big learning curve!
I’m also writing two fiction books now and that is definitely different!
When not writing, what do you like to do for relaxation and/or fun?
I read like a champ. Speed reading is my super power. Last year, I read over 70 books in less than 6 months. I’m doing a lot more writing this year so I don’t have as much time to read. I’ve read thirty+ books this year so my super power is still on point!
I also love to work out. I do Pilates, cycle (outdoors, no Peloton yet), do yoga and dance!
I have three daughters, so my husband and I are pretty busy with their various activities when we aren’t working, and sometimes when we are.
What makes your book stand out from the rest?
Come to Me: A Devotional for Healing from Hurt is different than any other devotional on the market because it focuses on only one passage for the entire book. Most use different ones, bouncing around. This is a deep dive into an invitation in Jesus’ own words, which is critical for me. I want the reader to experience the healing power of not only the passage, the practices but mostly learn to listen for what the voice of Jesus sounds like for them.
I didn’t write this book for exclusively Christians either. Anyone who wants to grow spiritually and find healing. I believe Jesus is a voice that can speak into anyone’s pain and exploring what that looked like through the reflections is intentional for people to take up their own space, rather than have to only read what someone else believes.
Can you give us the very first page of your book so that we can get a glimpse inside?
Day 1 – Come
Come to me…. (Matthew 11:28a, NIV)
What do you picture when you think about the word "Come"?
What do you see behind your eyes when you imagine Jesus saying these words?
Do you see His hand reaching out for you?
What does His face look like?
Once He stretches out His arm toward you, what does He do?
When I try to imagine what Jesus looks and sounds like, I place myself in the crowd listening to Him. When I catch a glimpse of His eyes, I see gentleness. I see kindness. I do not feel pushed or stretched or obligated. I feel welcomed and that warms me.
In the original Greek for the word "come", there is an urgency. It is meant to grab your attention, like God has your face between Their palms, looking you directly in the eyes. Jesus is calling us gently, and invitingly. Jesus’ intention in this passage is to intervene, whether that is circumstances but I find it is most often my emotional response to my circumstances. His aim seems to be to arrest the current process, the current system, and the current pattern and get us to look toward a new vision. It is the vision of God are at the center so that we and everything around us can be transformed.
{You know what I mean by intervention, right? Yeah, I mean THAT: when family and friends sit down with someone deep in the throes of addiction, to force the person’s hand to get help.}
Reading this word "Come," on its own is that serious an invitation. It is gentle but is STRONG, a bucket of ice water over the top of your head. We are meant to sputter and reel in shock. It is meant to stop us in our tracks, which some of us (ME) need because we are so used to just keep it moving.
What we are being invited into is a revolution of human thinking, behaving, and existing. It is meant to be a total and complete shock, even if we don't have a clue what we are really getting ourselves into. The Disciples had some experience with that. It's not necessarily safe, but it is good.
I love what C.S. Lewis writes about Aslan, the lion character who is meant to connect us to Jesus in his Chronicles of Narnia book. Several of the characters are discussing Aslan and the conversation goes like this,
Lucy asks, "Is He safe?"
“Safe?" said Mr. Beaver."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."
Mr. Tumnus says, "He's wild, you know. Not a tame lion."
Jesus is no marshmallow kind of God. Yet the image of the all-powerful, conquering King doesn’t do Him justice either.
In my time of hurt, I’m finding I don’t need a white knight to ride in and save me. That’s the easy way out and sure it feels like it sometimes, but if I'm honest with myself and how I was created, I am not a damsel in distress. I am a competent person with complicated emotions I must learn to navigate. I need a soft, safe place to land that also pushes me to realize I need to do something about this hurt now. I don’t need to continue to let it fester.
I need the shock to the system that this hurt isn’t my whole story. I need intervention so I will be able to see there is a different path. Otherwise, pain is all I know, and I’ll get used to living with it, with the end result of a half-life God never intended for me to live.
Even if doing something about it means I put it into Jesus’ hands, with shaking, scared hands. I can look into His face and really focus on what I see there. It is a brave step to accept the invitation to stop, redirect and go a different way. Even just admitting I have hurt in the first place. It is only a place to start.
And I can trust this good, wild Savior to care for me as I heal.
Prayer: Dear God, help me to hear You say, “Come,” and give me the courage to respond. Help me to do the next brave thing, even if it is as simple as thinking of showing you, my hurt. I pray for the willingness to be healed, letting this intervention show me there is a possibility of something more beyond what I know. Amen.
Healing Step: Take five minutes to sit with the visual of Jesus’s invitation to come. Is it any different than you first imagined, now that you know there is more to that invitation? Spend this time letting your imagination take you somewhere as you picture the scene. Refer to Matthew 11, specifically starting at verse 25 for more context.
If your book was put in the holiday section of the store, what holiday would that be and why?
That’s hilarious, I have no idea. Maybe the Easter section? Some religious bookstores have a section for Lent and my book would certainly work there. But in a general bookstore for a holiday, only Easter comes to mind!
Would you consider turning your book into a series or has that already been done?
It is in a pseudo series already. It is a continuation of my faith journey from where I was with my first book and the next devotional, I plan to write will continue that path.
When you were young, did you ever see writing as a career or full-time profession?
No!!!! I have always loved to read but I wanted to be a marine biologist or a doctor.
What’s next for you?
I am preparing to release a fiction novel in early 2024 and am working on a series of books that retell the stories of certain women in the Bible, who are usually looked at as villains or unsavory characters. I want to explore not only why they were viewed that way but to see them in context and as the heroes of their own lives.
Amy W. Vogel
Nonfiction / Christian / Inspiration / Spiritual Growth
From the author of Third Person: 30 Days with the Holy Spirit comes a unique devotional experience. Come to Me stands out with messages from one particular passage, Matthew 11:28-30.
It is an invitation by Jesus to those who are hurting, with a promise to bring hope, soul-level rest, and a new vision of wholeness to those experiencing the wounds of life.
Jesus meets us right where we are, and through this collection of personal reflections, time-tested spiritual practices, and new ways to imagine God working, you can find the healing from the hurt you long for.
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