Christian music star Rory Feek has announced he will honor the memory of his late wife, Joey Feek, by writing a book "About the grace of God and the girl He used to change me and everyone around me forever."
Joey, who with her husband made up the country duo Joey + Rory, died in March at 40 years old after a long battle with cervical cancer. Through his wife's illness, Rory kept fans updated on his wife's condition and how the family's faith was sustaining them through his blog, This Life I Live.
In his latest blog post, Rory revealed that the book, which is currently in the editing phase, will share the same name as his blog, and will be published by Thomas Nelson, an imprint of Harpercollins.
"It is a book about a man so lost, it's a miracle that he was ever found. About doing unforgivable things, and still being forgiven," he wrote. "About the grace of God and the girl He used to change me and everyone around me forever."
The 51-year-old singer said that long before Joey became ill, he had longed to write a book, but publishers told them they weren't famous enough.
"Though the experience left me a bit frustrated, Joey just smiled," Rory recalled. "She believed - no, she knew - that that door would open some day. She, even more than me, believed that I had something to say. That if I was ever given a chance to write... that my own unique storytelling 'voice' would reveal itself... and I think that maybe it has. But not like I thought it would though."
Everything changed when Joey was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2014, not long after the birth of the couple's daughter, Indiana, who was born with Down syndrome. Although declared cancer-free, it was discovered less than a year later that the disease had returned and spread throughout her body.
"So yes, I am writing a book. And part of me is thrilled," Rory wrote. "And another part of me is embarrassed. Because of what it took for the opportunity to come around. Because the one person that made this possible, isn't here to share it with me."
The book deal was made before Joey died. And she was proud. "'...See, I told you so,' she said as she held (Rory's) hand, 'you were born to do this.'" And she held his hand as he wept, knowing she would pass away before he was able to do what he was born to.
Rory began writing the book in mid-April, about six weeks after Joey's death, in the brown recliner where Joey slept when she was too weak to walk to the bedroom.
"After a rough start for the first thirty-five years or so (about half-way through the book)... Joey shows up in my life," he said. "Right after God does (it turns out that He was always there...I just didn't recognize Him until I was hitting rock bottom, at the top of my songwriting game). Mine is a story about going from being a nobody, to being somebody's... Joey's. And how she changed everything in my life, and how she's still doing it, even now."
"I am so humbled and honored to get to share more of Joey's story in a book," Rory finishes. "More of my story. Our story. And ultimately, more of His story."
