Today we’d like to introduce you to Kim M. Clark.
Hi Kim, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
When our family walked through a challenging time a few years ago, the Lord told me to write a book of the sweet words he spoke to comfort me.
The writing was the last thing I wanted to do. I’ve been a college marketing instructor, public speaker, and business owner. I’m not gifted at writing — my husband is. I even have him proofread my emails. I’m gifted at teaching and speaking.
I told God, “You’ve called the wrong woman.”
I emphasized my point by pouting and telling God what he was asking me to do was like having a duck climb a tree. I told him that he made squirrels climb trees (or write), not ducks (like me). After my tantrum, I prayed for help and for God to change his mind.
The Lord then showed me a picture of a palm tree growing perpendicular to the ground with a duck waddling up the trunk. And I heard him say, “See, I can even make trees grow crooked to accomplish my will.”
Yet, unsure of how to be God’s scribe, I refused to move forward. And to make matters worse, God also impressed upon my heart to start running. I was awful. I couldn’t even run a mile. After our first run together, my husband told me that my form was ridiculous and that I looked like Rocky. I was flailing, not running.
We didn’t run together after that. To guard our marriage, I started running on my own. During one of my early solo runs, I had worked my way up to five miles. I was pretty proud of myself. The Lord spoke to my heart, “I want you to add a mile to your run today.”
I told God, “That’s impossible. I can’t do that.” Then I reasoned, either one of two things is going to happen. I’m either going to die and go to Heaven or since God made my body, he’ll help me run the entire six miles.
Amazingly, I easily ran the distance. In complete awe, I praised God for giving me the strength to run the whole six miles—almost a 10K—since I’ve never been a runner before. Then as clear as day, I heard the Lord respond, “You’ve never written a book before, either.”
Convicted, I hung my head and went home to start writing my first book. And miraculously, to date, I have run two full marathons with respectable times. I wrote and rewrote my first book, “Deep Waters: Lift Your Gaze” during those five years of marathon training. Then I started a publishing company, “Deep Waters Books.” I became an Amazon bestselling author and won several awards as an author, publisher, and public speaker.
At the beginning of 2019, I felt led by the Lord to start a nonprofit, “Lift Your Gaze,” to bring my message of hope into the prison system. In the Spring of 2020 at the height of the pandemic, I wrote and published my second book, another award-winner, “Deep Waters: Lift Your Gaze 30-Day Devotional.”
Now, both the book and devotional are being used as a trauma-healing curriculum throughout the U.S. prison system and by groups of veterans, first responders, and people and children diagnosed with serious illnesses.
My devotional has been translated into Spanish and will be published this year. My book is currently being translated into Spanish and will be available towards the end of 2022. I am also writing my fourth book, a prayer book on praying personalized scripture prayers with the Hebrew names of God.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be an author, publisher, and nonprofit founder. This journey was a HUGE step of faith for me.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
This entire process has been a test of faith, but God has always come through. When I first started my nonprofit, I needed quite a bit of seed money. Unfortunately, the revenue in our other business lines was down, and we didn’t have the start-up funds. I prayed for wisdom on what to do next.
That night the Lord woke me up and asked me, “If money wasn’t an object, what would you do?” I responded that I would move forward with the nonprofit. Then I heard, “Money isn’t an object. Move forward.” I submitted my paperwork and received my EIN number the next day. I raise the seed money within a week.
That interaction gave me the faith to move forward. Since 2019, “Lift Your Gaze” has provided hope for thousands of people experiencing trauma across the United States.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Deep Waters Books exists to publish works that glorify God, including, but not limited to, nonfiction, fiction, and illustrated books. With a Masters of Business in Marketing from Johns Hopkins and as a former college marketing instructor, I offer a unique business approach to marketing communication and promotion.
At Deep Waters Books, we walk alongside our authors and clients, encouraging them to refine their work, message, and manuscripts for the audience of One. To find out more about our publishing, author promotional services, or marketing consulting, go to www.deepwatersbook.com.
Lift Your Gaze is a hope dealer to the hopeless—everyone from the inmate in solitary confinement to the child who has terminal cancer. We provide hope in the midst of the pain, healing from trauma, and peace in the midst of the storms of life. We are also fundraising to support the translation and printing services of our trauma-healing curriculum into Spanish. For additional information on our initiatives, visit www.liftyourgaze.org.
Our differentiating corporate attribute or brand feature through both organizations is exceptional quality encased in hope, specifically targeted to your audience.
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk-taking?
I follow God’s leading, wherever that leads me. This includes writing a book, starting a publishing company and a nonprofit, or walking past several layers of twenty-foot barb-wire fences to share my message of hope to the entire inmate population and all the correctional officers at a local jail.
Or even sharing the Gospel with a Muslim woman at the park or with one of my college marketing students. I follow Jesus. For some people, doing what I do is risky. For me, it is an act of obedience.
Contact Info:
- Email: kim@liftyourgaze.org
- Website: www.liftyourgaze.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kimmclarkauthor/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/liftyourgaze
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/KimMClark
- Other: www.deepwatersbooks.com
