The Story of Bumper

I am so excited to finally be sharing the story of Bumper with all of you! The Lord has been so gracious in opening doors to make it a reality, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to share my heart. Getting it published has been almost 70 years in the making, so let me go back to the beginning of how this little tale came about:

Maggie Prowell Whitlow was my grandmother, who I called my "Moe." She loved family more than anything and shared with us often about her two sisters, who she loved dearly. One of them, Newell, lived in California, and we saw her a couple of times over the years. But the other, her oldest sister Hazel Prowell Thompson, had tragically passed away at the young age of 38 in 1949. 

Hazel, as it would have it, was a teacher with a bug for writing. She submitted numerous stories to publishing houses throughout the 1940's, but to no avail. Her last one was a short chapter book about a little frog named, you guessed it...Bumper. Unfortunately, she was never able to see her hard work come to fruition, so her mother self-published the story after her death. It was that story that my Moe read to us when we were little, as she shared about her oldest sister, who loved her so well.

Now, I have always wanted to write a children's book, but have just never had the time to devote to it. So back in 2012, when I was praying about how the Lord could use me and our family, I felt inspired when He planted a seed in my heart to share Him with others through writing. I started a blog that year, but it only had about 2-3 posts and got pushed to the side. That was that...for then.

Many years before, the Lord had really placed a desire in my heart for people to see each other the way He sees them. 

1 Peter 3:4 had been a verse laid out for my daughter from the time she could understand: 

"Be beautiful in your heart, with the unfailing beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God.(paraphrased) 

And 1 Samuel 16:7 continued to come up: 

"The Lord doesn't see people the way you see them. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." 

And so, in October 2016, I started working part-time and had some free afternoons before my oldest kiddos got home from school. I sat down to brainstorm one day, with no real direction, and I was reminded of the story of Bumper. The Lord put on my heart to honor my great-aunt's memory by using her character and creating a story for children that would encourage them to look, not at what you can see on the outside, but at the heart. In about two hours, I had written a rough-draft of Bumper. The main characters? Bumper and his best friend...Hazel.

After numerous submissions, the story gained some interest from a small publisher, Legacy Book Publishing, in February 2017. I was fortunate to have a very talented artist, Tyler Helms, agree to illustrate the book, and in February 2018, the contract was signed. 

My prayer is that this little story will be a tool used to encourage our children to look past skin color, economic status, and things visible only to the eye. In a world where judgement, comparison and outer beauty rule, maybe Bumper can shine a light on what matters most, the heart.

*Bumper may be purchased locally in Auburn/Opelika at Victory Designs and Wholesale Mattress Center. Online at Amazon (search Bumper Maggie Cooper) and on Etsy at BeautifulHeartsShop. Please leave a review on Amazon if you enjoy!:) Thank you!

**I would love to share more about what the Lord has been teaching me about the heart, how we see others, and how we can grow closer to Him. If you have a women's/mom's group who might be interested, please shoot me a message. I hope Bumper will be a blessing to you!    

 

My great-aunt, Hazel Prowell Thompson and the original Bumper, circa 1949