Last year I heard a writer I admire speak on the topic of purpose and passion. She talked about using our gifts and said that sometimes, oftentimes, God will drop "breadcrumbs" along the way -- little clues to indicate we are on the right path.

As I sat there listening, I couldn't help but make a mental list of all the breadcrumbs God had dropped in front of me. I thought about the day the idea for Coffee + Crumbs flew into my brain while I was standing in the shower. I thought about the writers who took a chance on me, on all of this, and graciously donated their talent, time, ideas, and courage. I thought about the unexpected viral posts, the quick growth that nobody saw coming. I thought about Brittney and Meaghan and Jenn, women who practically fell in my lap with perfectly-timed offers to run the shop, manage Twitter, and create newsletters for free. I thought about all of the encouraging e-mails that popped up in my inbox on days when I felt insecure and overwhelmed. I thought of every "Keep going!" message that has come through our Facebook page. I thought of all the readers who have gone out of their way to leave kind comments and generously donate to our pledge drives and Patreon account. 

How did this all even come to be?

It doesn't feel that long ago that I was six months pregnant with my second baby hitting "publish" on the first post here. Despite the doubt, stress, and imposter syndrome that I've battled every week for the past 2.5 years, a greater force has undoubtedly been at work -- a collection of voices and answered prayers and tiny clues reaffirming over and over again: this is your passion, this is your purpose, here's another breadcrumb, you belong right here.

And today, I get to share with you the biggest breadcrumb of all -- our first book.

These pages are filled with stories of love and grace, heartache and hope. While it would be picturesque to imagine us holed up in a cabin in the woods for a month-long creative sleepover, that's not how this book was made. We wrote these stories together, but apart, living our very real lives with our very real children who did not stop needing us just because we had a book deal in motion. We wrote while rocking babies in the middle of the night and while sitting in the therapist's waiting room. We wrote while driving in the carpool lane and running toward the sunset. There were plenty of late nights and early mornings and stolen moments in coffee shops and parked cars. 

And now, here we are. Our beautiful book is heading out into the world on April 4th, and everything about this feels like a dream. As the founder of Coffee + Crumbs, I want to take a moment to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart -- for being here, for reading our stories, for telling your friends about us, and for continuing to affirm our art.

The Magic of Motherhood is our love letter to mothers everywhere -- we hope these stories provide you comfort and healing, friendship and love, and hope and encouragement on the days you need it most.

Believe me when I say: we wrote this for you. 

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Head over to our official book page to watch the book trailer, redeem your preorder gifts, and see what other people are saying about The Magic of Motherhood!