Friends on the Journey
Tonight Susan and I were talking about Whatever He Says and what it means to us to write on this blog.
I've always recorded reflective thoughts in journals but I didn't think seriously about sharing them with others. At a writers conference; Write! Canada, about 5 years ago. N.J. Lindquist, in her workshop, Discovering the Writer in You, said that when God gives you something to say, you should treat it like gold; that he doesn't just give it for you, but you have a responsibility to share it.
Marilyn Yocum, another instructor, challenged me when she said, "Don't say you have a 'call' and then disrespect the Lord by not following through on that call."
Towards the end of April 2006, I started sharing the thoughts God gave me each day with a group of friends by email.
That year I went to Write! Canada, and reconnected with Marilyn Yocum. After the conference we corresponded by email for a while and she asked me what my vision was for my writing.
I wrote back saying that I would love to write a daily newspaper column, sort of sharing the journey of faith with friends. Of course I realized that dream was unrealistic. There wouldn't be much likelihood of a newspaper publishing a daily column on faith. But Marilyn had pulled my dream out of me.
She, and another friend, Elaine, suggested starting a blog to post the reflections on. In June 2006, Whatever He Says was born and I realize now that my dream came true at that moment.
Writers usually write for their readers, and I never fail to be honoured when someone chooses to read Whatever He says; there are so many excellent blogs and so much written material that we are bombarded with nowadays.
The friends who faithfully read and comment--who tell me and the other writers when God speaks to them through what is written--are the reason we write. Even if there was only person who was being impacted--it would be worth it.
Whatever He Says has become a team blog with team members posting on specific evenings; Ang Cat on Tuesdays, Susan on Friday and Joyful Fox on Sundays. Faith Girl pops in now and again with a post. The other writers enrich Whatever He Says with different voices and fresh perspectives.
We write to make a difference. We write because we must! And we write for our readers.
I've always recorded reflective thoughts in journals but I didn't think seriously about sharing them with others. At a writers conference; Write! Canada, about 5 years ago. N.J. Lindquist, in her workshop, Discovering the Writer in You, said that when God gives you something to say, you should treat it like gold; that he doesn't just give it for you, but you have a responsibility to share it.
Marilyn Yocum, another instructor, challenged me when she said, "Don't say you have a 'call' and then disrespect the Lord by not following through on that call."
Towards the end of April 2006, I started sharing the thoughts God gave me each day with a group of friends by email.
That year I went to Write! Canada, and reconnected with Marilyn Yocum. After the conference we corresponded by email for a while and she asked me what my vision was for my writing.
I wrote back saying that I would love to write a daily newspaper column, sort of sharing the journey of faith with friends. Of course I realized that dream was unrealistic. There wouldn't be much likelihood of a newspaper publishing a daily column on faith. But Marilyn had pulled my dream out of me.
She, and another friend, Elaine, suggested starting a blog to post the reflections on. In June 2006, Whatever He Says was born and I realize now that my dream came true at that moment.
Writers usually write for their readers, and I never fail to be honoured when someone chooses to read Whatever He says; there are so many excellent blogs and so much written material that we are bombarded with nowadays.
The friends who faithfully read and comment--who tell me and the other writers when God speaks to them through what is written--are the reason we write. Even if there was only person who was being impacted--it would be worth it.
Whatever He Says has become a team blog with team members posting on specific evenings; Ang Cat on Tuesdays, Susan on Friday and Joyful Fox on Sundays. Faith Girl pops in now and again with a post. The other writers enrich Whatever He Says with different voices and fresh perspectives.
We write to make a difference. We write because we must! And we write for our readers.
"The more time you spend in God’s Word, the better writer you will be. We need to really know God – our writing is the fruit of our time with God. Make use of God’s Word. God blesses our feeble efforts – it is His work.”
Shawn McMullen, editor, The Lookout
Comments
Thanks for using you gifts and talents and most of all for being good stewards of them.
Lori Lei