The two of us are vastly different in nearly every way—our backgrounds, where we are on the introvert/extrovert scale, how we communicate, how we react under stress, how quickly we process information, and more. Co-writing Great Peacemakers definitely gave us chance after chance to practice what we were writing about—honoring diversity and peacemaking! In fact, as far as adventures in peacemaking go, some days it felt like we were climbing Mt. Everest!

But, we believed in the project and each other. When we disagreed, we managed to hang in there and work it out. We did not compromise, with one person giving in to the other. Instead, we took time to find solutions we were both comfortable with. In the end, we truly believe the book is much stronger and appeals to a wider range of readers than if only one of us had written it. Plus, the process brought us closer together and strengthened our relationship. As with the book, we are better and stronger together than we would be apart.

So, when we say that creating the book was a labor of love, it is in two ways: we loved learning and writing about these amazing visionaries, and the process strengthened our love for each other.

Have you had an experience like this? How was it?