Trusting That the Breakthrough Will Come

Some of you have been asking for a cookbook update, and honestly, it just feels a little stuck right now.

I’m currently under contract with an agent (through early November), and he’s submitted The Plant-Based Table: Nourishing Recipes and Devotionals That Heal Body & Soul to a number of publishers. We did receive one offer, but he didn’t feel like it was the right fit to pursue just yet. Things started off with a lot of momentum after signing, but lately, it’s been quiet. And if I’m being real, that’s a little disappointing.

This project is a big one—100 recipes, a full-color hardback coffee table-style book, with devotionals woven throughout (similar to the Morning Brew you see here), along with personal photos. It’s beautiful, meaningful, and honestly, a bit of a risk for publishers. The cost of printing full-color books like this makes them more hesitant, so I understand why things can move slowly.

There’s also been a lot invested already—working with an incredible photographer (the same one from The China Study Cookbook), and hiring a professional editor who previously worked at Penguin Random House to help create the proposal.

And yet, even with all of that, I still don’t feel anxious about it because deep down, I don’t see this as my project. I truly believe it’s God’s. And I trust that His timing will be exactly right.

Lately, I’ve been thinking about something simple—a tiny acorn. It’s so small you could easily overlook it. But inside that little seed is everything needed to grow into a strong, towering oak tree. And amazingly, given time, that tiny acorn can push through hard ground and even crack concrete. But not overnight.

Before anything breaks through the surface, growth is happening underground—quiet, unseen, steady. Roots are forming, strengthening, preparing for what’s to come. And I can’t help but feel like this season with the cookbook is a lot like that.

On the surface, it may look like nothing is happening. No big updates. No clear next step. Just waiting, but I believe something is still growing. Something is still taking root. And in time—God’s time—it will break through.

So if you’re in a season that feels stuck or slow, maybe it’s not the end of the story for you either. Maybe it’s just the underground part where the most important growth is happening.

And when the time is right, what feels small right now might just break through something that once felt impossible. That’s what I’m counting on for me, so be encouraged for yourself, too.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…” Proverbs 3:5–6

May 6, 2026 Morning Brew

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