The Long, Hard Road – Rodney Jacobs and The Power of Restoring Books

Rodney Jacobs is an author of spiritual and children’s books and the founder of The Power of Restoring Books. However, he did not grow up dreaming of being an author, and his road to this trade was not a short one.

In 1982, Jacobs entered the U.S. Army. In January of 1989, he was discharged from the Army but continued in the Army reserve until 1999. During this time, Rodney worked in finance and accounting. Soon, he went back on active duty in the active guard reserve program, continuing in finance and accounting in several capacities in many places, including Colorado, Korea, Georgia and Florida. From 2005 until 2008, he was a recruiter, then became a career counselor until the end of his Army career in March of 2012.

Since then, Jacobs has created a company called The Power of Restoring Books. The Power of Restoring Books sells several original works, including a book titled Recognizing God’s Call to You and Poems of the Heart calendars. He also has a children’s book in the works.

So why did he make the leap from military to inspirational author?

In his own words, Jacobs says, “Last year, I retired from the United States Army after thirty years. Within that thirty-year time span, I’ve done many jobs- my last job was as a career counselor. During that time I had a supervisor that humiliated me in such a way as an E7 to an E8 that made me believe I’m just nothing, just dirt. One day, this person asked me to drive to his office. To make a long story short, I didn’t make it there. I broke down in the car on the way there.” He pulled over to the side of the road, was taken to the hospital and had a nervous breakdown.

Naturally, Jacobs retired. He worked a different job for a while, but soon found another calling: “The Lord one day came to me and said, ‘You’re going to write a book.’ And I said, ‘Yeah right.'” He never thought he had the talent to write a book and says that it took some convincing for him to believe that this work was a possibility.

Making the decision to do what God has told you does not mean it will be an easy ride. His company, The Power of Restoring Books, came to be a little over a year ago. Jacobs produced Recognizing God’s Call to You in July 2012. Concerning the startup process, Jacobs says, “It’s a ‘who you know’ business and you have to use a lot of your own money. The money I have used to make this thing come to life has been my own money. I don’t work any other place but doing this every day. There is some struggling time… I’ve spent between forty to fifty thousand dollars to get these projects off the ground of my own money and have not recouped it back yet. The bottom line is the passion that you have… the other things will come.”

Jacobs says there have been several obstacles he’s had to face. The first one is his prospective clientele. Because he is not an ordained pastor or minister, some have questioned his ability to write a book about God and recognizing his calling for you in life. Another difficulty he has come across is people who criticize things like small grammatical errors. “You’re going to get those little frustrating moments… No one is perfect. You’ve got to have thick skin.”

Through these trials, there are several things that inspire Rodney and keep him going. One of these is receiving letters from those grateful for or inspired by his book. He has sent many copies of his book to high-profile people, from Oprah Winfrey to Joel Osteen. One person wrote him back- Joyce Meyer. Jacobs says she wrote him a beautiful letter telling him how thankful she was to receive his book, which he did not expect. He appreciated that someone would take the time to do so and tell him to ‘keep up the good work.’ Lastly, he sent the book to First Lady Michelle Obama, who wrote him back, thanking him for the book. Touching lives in this way greatly motivates Jacobs in his work.

Rodney does some public speaking; his long-term goal is to one day take that public speaking to the circuit level. He hopes to travel to different cities and areas speaking about The Power of Restoring Books and helping people through their daily challenges. One issue he especially hopes to focus on is youth and young adult suicide. He says, “We really need to get on the ball and find out what’s going on… My five to ten-year goal is to have a platform where I can go around to different cities and talk about not only the books but also the tragic cancer that is leading young people to these heartbreaking deaths at a very young age.”

Through it all, Rodney has persevered and is now walking the path that he believes God intended for him. For others thinking about or in the process of starting a business of their own, Rodney offers the following advice: “The journey is not a sprint, it’s a marathon… With every stumbling block you come across, if you don’t get back up, you’ll never be successful. It’s a long hard road, but the road has an end. The end is prosperity.”