I Am Rooted: A Devotional & Journal for Kids

What do you do when you can’t find a resource to help you concisely share foundational Biblical truths with your daughter? You create one!

In the summer of 2019, Amanda Friedel started dreaming about creating such a resource for her daughter, and other kids.

She had no formal training in writing and no experience with how to independently publish a book. But she was motivated by a mother’s heart and encouraged by her dear friend Kelly Martin, to put something into her daughter’s hand that would communicate the truth about God’s love for her. As well, Amanda began to develop a vision for a resource that would help parents keep tabs on how their children are feeling emotionally and spiritually.

Amanda was also motivated by a burning in her own heart about how the Lord wanted her to use her time and gifts once her kids went back to school.

Amanda’s 17-month journey of creating “I Am Rooted! — a 12-week devotional and gratitude journal for kids 9-12 — is a testimony of determination, resourcefulness and perseverance. It’s also a testimony of Amanda’s faith and trust in God to help guide her and lead her from the point of creative inception to publication.

Through the journey, God often brought to Amanda’s mind ideas for what the devotional could look like, the content and how to get parents involved in what their kids were learning.

After beginning the writing process, Amanda searched for potential illustrators, an editor and a publishing company. She knew that because of her background and training in graphic design she could do the graphics and page layout herself, and that God would lead her to the rest —and He did. God, in His faithfulness, brought her to the illustrator who was responsible for the adorable illustrations and cover art and an editor (me!). Her husband Kris and others also acted as proofreaders.

After researching and praying about the publishing process, Amanda ultimately felt led to self-publish through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing print-on-demand service, rather than slogging through the long — and often unsuccessful — path of traditional publishing.

Amanda truly became a self-publisher in every sense of the word!

A year and a half after she started this project, “I Am Rooted!” debuted on Amazon’s best sellers list only five hours after launching and still earns the coveted ‘Best Seller’ badge frequently.

“I Am Rooted!” is many things all packed into one.

It’s a 12-week devotional that guides young readers on how God loves, helps and guides and answers big questions such as:

• Where do I belong?
• Why did God create me?
• Where can I go when I’m afraid?
• Can God use even me?
• What is integrity?
• How can I know Jesus more? and much more!

It’s a means by which youth can reflect, journal and doodle about what they’ve learned. Each day they can record how they’re feeling (and why), their prayers, and at the end of the week they can even connect with their parents by going through a series of kid- and parent-led discussion questions.

“I Am Rooted!” encourages kids to have fun in their devotional time and engages them in a way that helps them establish deep roots in God’s Word. It shows them how God sees them, what His desire is for them and how they fit into His plan of redemption.

Amanda’s prayer is not for great success in the world’s eyes, but rather that her book would get into the hands of whomever God directs and that it would make an impact for the Kingdom.

Currently, Rocky Mountain Calvary Chapel is using Amanda’s books as a resource for the entire Grade 6 Kids Church class.

Amanda’s “I Am Rooted!” journey is a testimony of how God can use a stay-at-home mom mightily for His kingdom. It’s also affirmation that when God tells you to do something, you need to be obedient and follow His call — wherever that may lead you.

Amanda Friedel, her husband Kris and their two children, Leah and Ethan have attended Rocky Mountain Calvary Chapel for the past 11 years. “I Am Rooted!” is published under the pen name Amanda Lee. You can find Amanda’s book “I Am Rooted!” on Amazon and in the RMCC bookstore!

Written by Gayle Eng