Writing Pearl

The writing of Pearl has felt like both a lifelong journey and a very focused two-year season of bringing something into form.

I have been writing for as long as I can remember—short stories, reflections, prayers, and poetry. My notebooks are filled with scattered ideas and unfinished thoughts, many of them quietly waiting through the years. Becoming a children’s picture book author has long been a dream, but there was always the question: where do you begin, and which story is the one to tell?

For me, the answer slowly unfolded through life itself.

Working with children over many years, alongside travelling to different countries as a missionary in the field of child development, shaped much of what I carry. I witnessed both deep hardship and remarkable resilience in children’s lives. In those moments, something began to form within me—a story that would eventually become Pearl.

The inspiration also came quite simply, during a mission trip to the Philippines, when I photographed a clam. I have always been drawn to pearls—not only for their beauty, but for the process behind their formation. A pearl begins with something small and uncomfortable: an irritant such as a grain of sand or a parasite. In response, the clam slowly builds layers of nacre around it, transforming something painful into something strong, luminous, and beautiful.

That image stayed with me.

I often found myself reflecting on why the pearl is used in Scripture as a metaphor for the Kingdom of God. In Matthew 13:45–46, it is described like this:

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

There is something profound about that image—something worth everything.

As I reflected on it more deeply, I began to see how closely it connects to the experiences of life. We all encounter adversity in different forms, yet within those experiences there can also be growth, shaping, and resilience. I began to wonder if this truth could become the foundation of a story for children—one that speaks gently and honestly about challenge, while also pointing to hope.

From there, Pearl began to take shape.

What started as pages of research and scattered notes slowly developed into something more cohesive through time, reflection, and the support of other writers and an editor. The original idea—an analogy about the formation of a pearl—grew into a narrative about a young clam learning and growing through adversity.

At its heart, Pearl is a story of resilience. A story for children to see themselves in. A story that opens the door to conversation, reflection, and hope.

And in many ways, it is also a reminder to me of how stories themselves are formed—layer by layer, over time, through both beauty and struggle.