As you most likely know if you are reading this post, my new book On the Bright Side recently came out. It was to include a foreword by my dear friend Jen Hatmaker. It even said that RIGHT ON THE COVER.
However, my publisher somehow left it out of the book. You would think since her name was RIGHT ON THE COVER that there would have been some quality control that caught this before it went to print, but alas, dear reader, you would be wrong. This is where I take deep, cleansing breaths because I realize life happens, yet Jen Hatmaker was dear enough to write me the loveliest foreword and it got left out of the book.
Here’s why I wanted Jen to write my foreword for On the Bright Side. We have been friends for the last decade. I knew her before her monster success with her book 7: An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess that had us all frantically cleaning out our closets and before she’d ever filmed a show for HGTV and before she’d taken all the hits she’s taken over the last four or five years.
She was a delight then and she’s a delight now. But I will tell you – and she would tell you too – that we don’t necessarily agree on every single thing. There are issues that we just view a little differently. For starters, I’m an Aggie and she’s a Longhorn fan. And guess what? WE STILL LOVE EACH OTHER. WE LOOK FOR THE BRIGHT SIDE.
We can still sit down over a glass of wine and laugh and talk about our kids and our lives and fully agree on things like eighth grade being the worst and junior high kids being overly dramatic and our girlfriends being the saving grace of our life and that Hamilton is the greatest thing that has ever been written. I make her pizza crust and pizza sauce recipe at least three times a month. She recently shared with me that you can get already shredded chicken in the deli section of HEB and changed my life. We both believe that Jesus and loving our neighbor are the most important things. And she makes me think about why I believe things and to know where I stand and why. She challenges me to think deeply and I’m better for it. This is the type of friendship that makes the world go ’round. It makes us all better.
She’s a reminder to me that most of us have a lot more in common than it sometimes seems if we just listen to social media. I like spicy and Jen is, without a doubt, spicy. She is a bright side in my life that I’m so glad I didn’t miss.
Here is the foreword she wrote that made me cry.
“I was born to a man who is delighted to RISE AND SHINE every single day of his living life. His enthusiasm knows no bounds. And not just for his four kids, whom he overloved and overvalued our whole childhood, but for anyone. I am telling you right now, he would be equally as excited about your new pair of Nike’s as he was about the first grandkid I produced. It’s all great. All the things are great. Our careers, your new baby stroller, the weather, great. He is still stumped why none of us ended up in the Olympics or the White House as Rhodes Scholars (his theory: “Whoever interviewed/hired/decided on the award is a jackwagon”). If you need a cheerleader, my dad is your guy. We go to our mom when we need someone to tell it to us straight; we go to my dad when we need a clearly biased hype man.
Here is my point: my dad basically invented the bright side.
I found it difficult to escape my dad’s vortex of positivity. Thus, I entered adulthood pretty excited about almost everything. I inherited his big feelings and have been known to over-emote in ways both embarrassing and cringey like the time I threw my arms around Constantine Maroulis’ waist without permission after seeing his performance in School of Rock on Broadway; look, it’s not every day you see the sixth-place finalist on American Idol Season Four just walking down a NYC street.
I like my dad’s approach to life. Is it naïve? Too earnest? Too simplified? Probably. I still like it. I’ve yet to regret jumping feet first into a big, juicy experience or giving the benefit of the doubt or letting my enthusiasm hedge north of respectable. The majority of my greatest memories are located somewhere near the bright side, even when all light appears to be dimmed, for even there, hope lurks.
It is just a weird time to be alive, isn’t it? I have never been so tempted to give in to the beast of despair. I find myself searching the history books for comfort – as one does – asking: Is this the worst it has ever been or no? Turns out life has always been hard and people have always disagreed and injustice has always snuffed out human flourishing. This is, of course, not to say we throw in towel and let the tide of human misery just rush along; we must fight for goodness in a world gone mad. But there is solace in knowing we are simply the current generation searching for the bright side. Our parents did it. Our grandparents did it. Their parents did it. And lo and behold, it could always be found.
A quick word about Melanie. I wanted to bear a meaningful witness of her integrity, so I searched my mental rolodex and found dozens of stories. We’ve been friends for a decade. But I have no more significant example to hold out than this: I am a Texas Longhorn fan and Melanie is a dyed-in-the-wool Texas A&M Aggie, and every single fall, she sends me adorable fashion options in what is arguably the grossest shade in the history of the color wheel (burnt orange) so I will look cute on game day. Now for some of you, that entire sentence was gibberish, but for those who know, please find me a better example of Christian character. I’ll wait. People, she clothes her enemy in strength and dignity, and she can laugh at the days to come. I don’t know if Perry and Caroline are rising up and calling her blessed, but I am sure rising up and calling her for Anthropologie links. This is my sister in arms, and I love her.
As the daughter of a Bright Side Dad, I have a high standard for hope-bearers. I’m looking for a brand of joy that can celebrate the bejeebers out of life but can also cut through loss and pain and suffering. It’s a tall order. It seems so few are up for the task right now. But Melanie sure is. This book will delight you, encourage you, relieve you, and nourish you. Don’t read it in public because #laughter and also #tears. Close the last page then give it to the people you love most. Melanie is a gift to us right now. Play your cards right, and you might also get a grainy picture of her in a burnt orange plaid duster over yoga pants in the Target mirror because come what may on game day, she has your back.”
With great love,
Jen Hatmaker
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2020
Do you know how much it made my day for Jen Hatmaker to admit burnt orange is the worst color ever!!! Love you both and gig ‘em.
I read that part of the forward aloud to my Aggie husband, and he said the same thing!!! LOL
GIG ‘EM
Can’t believe your publisher missed such a great foreword! Did they give you a bigger advance to make up for it? 🙂 Congrats on the new book!
Beautiful words for a beautiful book!!
Well.
Spot. On. Jen Hatnaker.
I still don’t understand how they left out the whole forward! I know you are so disappointed, but I admire you for being as gracious as you have been. It is a beautiful piece that Jen wrote for you. Thank you for sharing it. I cannot wait to read both books!
Well, this is delightful! It’s the essence of what I love about both you and Jen. Happy Book Release Day!
That’s just about the most awesome foreword I’ve ever read! Many blessings on the release of your book, Melanie!
What an awesome forward! I’m so glad you shared. A great tribute to your character and your wonderful friendship with Jen!
I could not adore Jen Hatmaker more than I always have. To me, she is one of the greatest voices in women’s leadership, writing, speaking, and friend-ing. She empowers and encourages us all to be better versions of ourselves, while loving us right where we are. Even on days she doesn’t believe it, Jen radiates light that cannot be shadowed, nor extinguished.
You are blessed beyond measure to be supported and loved by her. Thank you for sharing Jen’s words with us. And thank you for daring to write a book on the bright side of life.
Blessings to you and us as we read your words!
Everyone needs a Jen Hatmaker in their life. Such kind words. Good for you for showing grace in a situation that clearly calls for a lot of it. Happy Book Release day!
Well, that was a beautifully written forward. While it’s a bummer that it wasn’t included in the book as you both intended, the bright side is that I now have it bookmarked to read again and again when I need a push back to the bright side. Cannot wait to read the book.
I seriously could not love this more…or I guess maybe if it was in my actual book I could…but other than that it is such a gem! You girls are both inspirations on how to love well.
Loved this forward, I’m so excited to read your book. I want you to know I printed it out and I’m putting it in my copy so that when I pass it on to friends they can read it and enjoy it to. 😉
The “bright side” is I still got to read it! 🙂
Well what an amazing forward! I can only imagine your frustration but it was a blessing to get to read it in some form or fashion!
So sorry that the publisher left this out, but thank you so much for posting it here. As a fellow member of the Longhorn sistern with Jen, I feel her “Who on God’s green earth looks good in burnt orange” pain, and it is a very tough burden to bear. Thank you for being an Aggie who is willing to reach across the aisle to help her on Game Day. It is not an easy job. I agree, that is some Christian character of the highest order. Your new book and all of your writing are a delight and a gift. Thank you for your words. And PS “Hook ’em Horns.” 🙂
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Love it and you and Jen! I see a burnt orange amazon haul in a future IG story. ?
Glad to see I’m not the only one who is printing out this foreword so I can stick it in my book(s). It is wonderful. I love to see people encouraging each other – even when they are from opposing schools! Love you and Jen; you both have such a way with words.
I got the pre-order chapters and have been pacing myself so I wouldn’t read them all at once! Looking forward to reading the rest.
Thanks for sharing the foreword (and being so gracious about it being left out)!
You are two of my favorites (and we wear burnt orange and maroon in the very same family!). Both of you keep doing what you’re doing and I’ll keep laughing (out loud in public) and crying (in the same paragraph) with both of you!
We DO need more laughter and more of the bright side In our lives! As my family is about to make the move to San Antonio from College Station, we have sure needed that! While San Antonio is of course amazing ( and my home town), Aggieland has been home for 17 years. And as my 15 year old son says.. “ people don’t leave College Station, mom!” Moving is hard, but I know good things are ahead..
Melanie, I can’t wait to read your new book and bring it along with me to San Antonio, I’m ready for laughter and tears! ??
Is it possible they did not include Jen’s foreword because of her unorthodox views of historical Christian theology and morality?