Mom writes book of prayers for college students
Unbeknownst to her, Anna Meade Harris began creating a high school graduation present for her son over a year ago. By the end of April, the end result, Fresh Faith: Topical Devotions and Scripture-based Prayers for College Students, had been published.
Harris, a Mountain Brook resident, will sign copies of the book on Saturday, May 9 at 2 p.m. at the Books-A-Million at Brookwood Village.
Just before Easter 2014, Harris started writing prayers based on Biblical scriptures to email to a small group of mothers of boys. What began as a daily installment for the 21 days leading up to the holiday evolved into a weekly email of prayers for girls and dads as well, covering topics from fruit of the spirit to handling bullies. Over time, the list has grown to more than 300 people.
As spring turned to fall and the emails continued, Harris started thinking about the oldest of her three sons, Mac, going off to college the following year, and how to guide her son and his friends to pray over themselves as they entered that new season of life. Then the idea came: She would write a book of prayers for her son and his friends for graduation. Fresh Faith hit bookstore shelves in April.
Harris’ writing process began with talking to college students she knew, asking them about the things they and their friends struggled with, as well as things their parents were worried about.
Each chapter covers a different topic, 35 in all, from how to choose friends to what to do when you don’t get something you want.
“These kids are leaving home for the first time,” Harris said. “Their parents have probably guided their spiritual life by taking them to church, and now for the first time they have to own it and see that their relationship with God is up to them.”
As the title indicates, she hopes that faith for these students will be fresh, and also stronger and deeper. For the cover, she used a photo she took in Sun Valley, Idaho, where her family spends time every summer.
“It speaks to the idea of the book,” Harris said. “The road leads into the mountains. It looks like adventure is ahead.”
On the back, she printed the benediction that her pastor at Brookwood Baptist Church, Jim Barnette, blesses over the congregation at the end of each worship service.
The book also contains a questionnaire that Harris hopes will get students thinking about what they believe before they enter school.
“Hopefully their faith will grow, and they will experience God more than before,” Harris said. “Ideally the more kids that go to college with scripture in their heads, the better. I hope that the scripture in the book will help someone in a tough experience.”
Harris, an avid journal writer and former English teacher and tutor, said she has always wanted to write a book.
“My son told me to try not to sound like a mom, but sometimes the voice of a mom is a good thing,” she said.
In the book, she encourages her readers not to put God on hold in college, advice she said comes from her own college experience and what she wishes she had done.
“It’s a relationship, and you don’t put relationships on hold,” she said.
Fresh Faith is available at the Brookwood Village Books-A-Million for $15 and was published through the store’s Espresso Book Machine. Harris hopes to sell the book in other local stores in the near future as well, and she is considering using her prayer emails for parents as the base of another similar book.