I wrote a book once. I know, it seems crazy because it came out almost 6 years ago ( I think, I don’t have the mental fortitude to do the actual math right now), and most of the time I almost forget that I did that. Sometimes it comes up though, and when it does it’s usually friends who walked through that particular season with me or friends who have been kind enough to read my book since. What a fun surprise and blessing that is.
One of the funnier joys of having written a book is that I have now become a resource for those who also want to write a book.
I one hundred percent have the same advice for every single one of those friends who writes me or calls me and tells me about the idea that has been burning in their heart, wondering what first steps they should take: Write.
Write, write, write
I don’t really know if this is good advice or not. I just know that’s what happened to me. I started writing because I knew that is what God told me to do. “Write about it, Abigail.”
So I did, and it turns out that writing was my form of therapy when going to therapy was out of the question (newborn, toddler, moving states…). The Lord was so kind in that process, and when it was almost all out onto paper, and I had pages and pages of my ramblings, it was only then that it turned into a book.
I think it helped that I then had so much of my story on paper, because then it was easier to see the story I needed to tell, the story the Lord had for me there. Sometimes you don’t know until it’s all out in front of you.
And so I tell my friends to write. I tell them to see what comes out, I tell them when the mood hits, or when you’ve set aside an hour, write and see…
Sometimes these friends send me what they’ve written. I’ve read about suffering, motherhood, premie babies, adoption, travel, I’ve read fiction and nonfiction. I too see the books lying within those words, I practically see the titles and cover art right along with my friend!
But also I see obedience. Isn’t this just how life as a Christian is? All of us want all that time writing, all those hours sitting in front of a computer screen to add up to a best seller. But what if it doesn’t? What if it was just that? The act of writing, the act of being obedient.
What if we spend our WHOLE LIVES being obedient to the Lord’s call? What if we love hard, pray hard, share hard. What if we never see it come to anything “big”?
Ah, but there is a book in heaven.
In the end of the analogy of a writer is everywhere in the life of a Christian. The Lord gives us gifts to use, we are to use them without question. Without knowing how it will all turn out, or if it will ever turn into something “worthwhile” we are all asked to pour out our giftings each day. Be obedient.
Just write.
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