I hope you all enjoyed your 4th of July weekend. I know we did. Its always good to have some extended family time.
This week I have a very special guest writer – my daughter Emily. She is oldest of our children who are still at home and has always been homeschooled. I must say that I was often discouraged by her lack of desire to finish any writing assignments. She would sit for hours and never write more than a couple of words. But…I’m getting ahead of myself.
Lets hear this from her point of view. Perhaps some of you will be able to share some of her insights with your reluctant writer.
“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Matt. 19:26b)
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’” (1 Cor. 12:9a)
If you’re anything like me, you can likely think of at least one thing that you’re absolutely, hopelessly, bad at – probably several things. There are a number of areas in which I’ve felt that way, and some in which I still do. But, gradually, my perspective is changing. God seems to be taking great delight in proving to me that I have very silly ideas of what is or is not possible for me – and that His plans can’t be predicted or confined by what skills I think I do or do not have.
I am an editor, and a writer. That may not sound surprising, but not so long ago I would never have expected those titles to apply to me. My interests lay elsewhere, as did my talents. When I look at my life today, it’s nothing like anything I had dreamed God might have in store for me. In fact, if I had known only a few years ago that this would be His plan, I would probably have been horrified. But now, even though I don’t yet see His plans fully, I love the work He has given me. It’s not easy, but it is far better than anything I could have come up with on my own.
I became an editor about four years ago, almost without realizing it. Ever since I could remember, I had hated writing, and everything to do with it. In all my years of school, I have never completed a writing course. Oh, it wasn’t for lack of trying. I truly did put effort and thought into it. But even the highly-recommended courses we tried… I loathed. I was so very, very bad at it. I read voraciously, adored good literature, could recognize good writing. But for myself? No. Writing was cruel and unusual punishment. When it was required, I did it, but it was a slow and painful effort.
My poor mother, who had always loved writing, wondered what had gone wrong. How could a child of hers not love writing – never mind hate it? Had she failed as a teacher? Or was there, perhaps, something seriously wrong with me?
But through a number of “coincidences” and circumstances (which are an entire story in themselves), my love of reading led me into reading stories for more than simple enjoyment. It began with my sister – she wanted me to look at her stories, and correct the mistakes in them before she showed them to anyone else. Well, it wasn’t as if I knew what I was doing, but I agreed to help her.
Much to my surprise, I found I was good at it. And, even more astonishing, I liked it. Eventually, other friends gave me their writings to read as well, and even my mother began asking me to read her articles before she sent them to magazines. Sometimes they just wanted a general opinion, sometimes they wanted me to correct the mistakes or make suggestions.
The more I edited, the more I enjoyed it, and the more I wanted to learn the rules and art of language so that I could improve. I sought out books, reading and learning more through experience, and by the time I put a title to it and began working professionally, I had actually been an editor for some time.
At the time I had no idea where I was going, but in hindsight God’s direction has been almost laughably clear, gently turning me away from my own dreams, and replacing them with something even better. Out of something I had always hated and been entirely inept at, God has given me work that I love, and opened countless doors for ministry, giving me the ability to help and encourage my family, my pastor, missionaries, and many other brothers and sisters in Christ. And, as far as a “productive” career is concerned – I’ve never yet had to apply for a job. Again and again, He’s brought opportunities right to me, without any initiation on my part.
Despite all of that, some things didn’t change. Writing…. Ah, there was an area where I was truly beyond hope. I might like editing, but writing was still a different matter entirely. I would never be a writer. It surprised some people – writing and editing were supposed to go hand-in-hand, weren’t they? But I still hated it.
And then, completely by accident, I started writing a book.
It started out as simply a short article for an online writing community. As an editor, certain common writing mistakes really bother me, so I wrote an article on the proper and improper usage of exclamation marks in fiction. It was actually quite fun. One article turned into two, and then three. Not only were they well-received, but when I shared them with friends and family the universal response was that they were helpful – and that they should be expanded into a book.
Honestly, I was stunned, and kind of scared. I wasn’t a writer! I couldn’t write a book! But enough people had said the same thing that I started to wonder if God might be trying to tell me something. It seemed strange – how could writing advice about fiction be a way to serve God? It was perfectly legitimate and reasonable as something a person might want to do, but could it really be something He wanted me to do? But in the end, I surrendered.
So now, I am not only writing a book, but I’m writing a book on writing. I don’t have any idea what I’m doing, and I still have plenty of doubts. But I am confident that it was God who started me down this road, and He’s the one who will give me the abilities I need to walk it. It is certainly pride and folly to trust in our own abilities, but I’m learning that it is equally so to refuse to trust in His ability to enable us to do the tasks He has for us. His strength is made perfect in our weakness, and I truly think He delights at times in giving us tasks we feel completely unfit for, so that through us His greatness can shine all the more.
Sometimes, even though in our minds we know differently, it can feel like we have to be doing something really “spiritual” in order to serve God. The truth is, God calls us to serve Him wherever we are, and anything we do can be for His glory.
In the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), even the servant with only one talent was expected to do something with it, and the Master was very displeased when he buried it. It’s all too easy to listen to the voices of doubt and insecurity: “I can’t do that. I’ve got no talent for this. This is impossible.” This talent may feel like a very little, weak, and useless one, but who knows?
I do know that I’ve got to be a whole lot more careful about what I decide I’m hopeless at, because I never know when it might wind up being in the center of God’s plans for me. When she first asked if I would be interested in being involved with Regenerated Magazine, I told Veronika, the head of our editing department, that I would like to edit, but that I doubted I’d ever write anything for it. After all, I am most definitely not a writer. I didn’t even intend to write this article, but I think it’s quite obvious what God thought of that idea.
Where are you hopeless? Is there something that God’s been bringing into your path, but you’ve been hesitating because you don’t think you’re up for the task? When we are weak, He is strong: “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
It might not be easy, but if it’s something God wants for us, we can do it. And you never know: you just might be surprised when God gives you “the desires of your heart,” (Psalm 37:4) and you find it’s something you once thought you hated.
You can talk with Emily about your editing or writing needs at: Kind Corrections Editing Service striderfcr@yahoo.com
Finding Joy in the Journey,
Contact me Phyllis@Phyllis-Sather.com
