Mom’s Choice Awards is excited to announce another post in our interview series where we chat with the inventors, designers, publishers, and others behind some of our favorite family-friendly products.
Hello, Mom’s Choice readers! We hope this finds you well- thank you for joining us for another installment of our interview series. For this interview, we had the pleasure of speaking with Ani Tims, the author of the MCA award-winning book, Hope: An Anchor For The Soul. Hope: An Anchor For The Soul is described as a shocking and ultimately inspirational true story of faith and survival. Through trials and tribulations, Ani comes out on the other side with the help of god guiding her and empowering her every step of the way. To hear more about Ani and her incredible journey, keep reading!
MCA: Hi Ani, congratulations on your Mom’s Choice Award! Hope: An Anchor For The Soul is a fascinating story of struggle and triumph that is truly inspiring to anyone who reads it. Hope: An Anchor For The Soul also sheds a lot of light on your background, can you tell our readers a little about that background along with some interesting pieces you won’t find in the book?
A photo of Ani Tims’ home in the old country
Ani: My husband, myself, and our two daughters were born and raised in a beautiful country which unfortunately became very unstable and known for violent crime and AIDS in more recent years which is the main reason why we moved to the USA in 2000.
Of course, we still miss family and friends and always will, but we are very happy here and we now have three granddaughters as well which is such a blessing to us!
Apart from being an author, I am also an entrepreneur with a successful business that brings its challenges, but my faith has carried me through for roughly 15 years.
My husband and I love to travel and have visited thirty-one countries to date while collecting precious experiences and memories to last a lifetime. Most of our trips have been for personal rest and renewal but several were business-related for advanced training and product sourcing.
I am also an Interior Designer but that was part of an earlier season of my life, although one of my projects was featured in Kansas City Spaces magazine.
I love to help less-privileged children and in my earlier years, I used to hike, windsurf, scuba dive, model, do ballroom dancing and even completed a grueling and notorious bicycle race.
Although I am somewhat of an introvert, I love God, my family, life, laughter, and to encourage others.
MCA: Thirty-one countries, that is amazing. You are certainly well-traveled and have lived a very interesting life! Was it your move from your home country to the USA that inspired your path to become a writer?
Ani: Through the years I always handled tough situations by writing about it – just trying to reason things out by myself.
So I cannot say that I was actually “inspired” to write the book per se, but rather that I was called to “Tell your story” in June 2019.
So I went back to all my ramblings that were written over the years and started filling it out by adding events that I think changed and shaped me into who I am today. God is hard at work, making me stronger, more resilient, and cementing my faith through it all!
MCA: Was is those tough situations that became the inspiration for writing Hope: An Anchor For The Soul?
Ani: My mission was and is to firstly obey and bring glory to God with my humble effort of telling people that He is our only hope. He always has been, and still is now, especially at this scary and uncertain time.
Through the book, I’m trying to remind people that we are never alone. Looking back on some of the events that happened in my life, I can confirm without a doubt that God was always there, even if it didn’t feel like it at the time.
Even if it doesn’t feel like it now with evil all around us, I have confident trust that God is at work – big time! I mentioned in the book, which was published in November 2019, that I had a sense that “something big” was about to happen and I have several friends who felt the same way.
I believe our job now is to put on the armor of God, to grow in our faith to stand strong against the evil one because what is happening now is certainly not just social and/or political conflict, but spiritual warfare.
MCA: I believe you have accomplished that mission through this book. What are some of the key lessons found in Hope: An Anchor For The Soul?
Ani: I cannot say everyone will get the same message that I’m trying to convey, but I hope the following will be clear:
- God’s timing is perfect
- We should never underestimate the power of prayer
- We should live close to God and become still often to hear His voice
- We do get stronger through trials
- We shouldn’t attach too much value to earthly belongings
- And ultimately, we are never alone
MCA: Those lessons are very prevalent throughout Hope: An Anchor For The Soul. What has the response from readers been like?
Ani: Varied, but fortunately mostly positive. Several readers mentioned how the book made them think about life and they found hope in my stories which is such a thrill to me because it means I’ve done my job, which I was called to do.
One person said it was over spiritualized and she’s entirely entitled to her opinion but I do feel sad that she missed the point that the book IS about constantly feeling and experiencing God’s presence.
MCA: Some have referred to Hope: An Anchor For The Soul as a memoir of hope and faith. What has your journey with hope and faith been like?
The cover of “Hope: An Anchor For The Soul”
Ani: Even as a child my faith has always been strong. Sometimes more than others but I always knew that God is my Father, protector, and provider. As I grew up, as many young people do, I probably didn’t stay as close as I should have but I believe God also allowed that to happen because as life progressed, I, again and again, realized that I need God in my life, in all aspects of my life, every day and not just on Sundays.
I have a friend who talks about God knocking you on the head to get your attention through trials and tribulations and in my case, Maddie’s birth and everything that went along with it was my first and most significant “knock”.
Because I felt completely alone in my fight for our baby’s life, I believe God used the two months I spent in the hospital to realize that God was the only one who could save our baby and/or give us strength for whatever His plan was for our little family.
This event put my feet on The Rock for life. This doesn’t mean that I never again doubted, feared, got mad, or strayed, but rather that I knew God would always be there for me, no matter what happens.
He’s not the one moving away: We are and as long as we know we can always go back to Him, sometimes after being knocked down to our knees because we’re so stubborn to hear His calling, we’ll be okay.
Because God loves us.
MCA: If you could ensure readers of your book walk away with one main lesson, what would it be?
Ani: To have absolute faith and trust in knowing that we are never alone.
I was in several situations where I was either paralyzed by fear, on my knees begging for help and direction, or feeling invincible because I could do “it” on my own, but as soon as I consciously took the time to turn to God and ask for His help, (or being knocked over the head to pay attention lol!) I realized again and again and again that He was always there.
That I was the one not staying close enough to feel His love and presence.
If we can only learn to stay close to Him in every moment of our lives, we won’t necessarily have fewer hurdles and problems to face, but it means we will never have to face it alone.
MCA: That’s a great thought to leave off with. Thank you for the interview, we hope to see more from you soon!
You can learn more about Ani Tims and her award-winning book, Hope: An Anchor For The Soul by visiting her MCA Shop pages.
