Trusting God – His words, not mine

This summer I’ve committed to complete the manuscript I started almost three years ago.

It’s been an amazing journey so far…

I look back and see how much I’ve changed through writing this story. At first I thought I had squandered away valuable time by going back and re-writing the first part of this manuscript. You see, I started writing before I knew a thing about writing. As I learned things, I entered into the editing black hole and stayed there for many months. Every writing book says get the first draft completed then go back and edit. I couldn’t do that…couldn’t move forward knowing how horrible those beginning chapters were. God knew I needed that time to grow. Not just as a writer, but as a Christian. Although far from being an excellent writer or Christian, I have learned much about the craft, but more importantly, I’ve learned much about myself and my God.

Through writing, I’ve learned to rely on God more than ever before. Everything I’d done before came easy. Not so with writing.

It’s hard.

The hardest thing I’ve ever done.

Some days I press on simply as an act of obedience to the One who has called me to do this. I have found that I need to pray before I sit to write. I pray for His words to flow through my fingers and heart. On those days, the words fly. I can’t type fast enough. And while I type, my heart expands because, with gentleness, I’m shown humility. I needed to be at this place in my life to finish this book.

Because it is Him and not me.