Answering Your Call and Buckling Down — MANN

Sometimes the position of between writing projects is as scary as the excitement of beginning or finishing an assignment. With the latter, I have my story down, I know my characters well and the setting is somewhere I’d like to spend the next month without a cell phone or Blackberry. However, that in-between position is a problem. It gives me too many options that take me nowhere, except to the flowerbeds to weed, or maybe the upstairs closet to fill that bag for Value Village. Feelings of regret that I can’t get going again, or fear that I’ll have nothing to write, or worse yet that the birthday I’ve just celebrated with my family, including my great grandchildren, tells me I’m tired of writing. Maybe I should just climb into our RV, turn on the engine and say, “Go West, old man, go West . . . and take me with you.”

Some of you who read this will say, Been there, done that. Either some of you will still be there or you will have taken a right turn and come full circle back to respond to your call of writing. Call is something that doesn’t go fishing, or hide in excuses or dismissals. Call is a gift. A fisherman became a disciple, a seller of purple cloth became a church leader, a Tax Collector became an author, a wife became a judge. They were someone else and they became something different—because of their call.

Writers in the between position have only to wait until the moment. Perhaps the key is using everything you do, see or feel in the in-between to reflect upon later. Then you will begin to think and dream and ask those funny questions of why, when and where. Pick up your pencil to write, boot up your computer, knuckle down because it’s going to be hard work to response to your call and give words new life.

Like a new baby that can’t do everything he or she will be able to do when mature, the new writing project goes through growing stages as well. Each time you pick it up and nurture it, it becomes a little more independent and takes on a life of its own. Until it is developed, enough to stand alone with out your help, and speak its voice to the world, it needs you.

Then you are back in the between position again. But, now you’re practiced at letting go and beginning again with the knowledge that your call will continue to draw you out to give birth to something new. Behold I make all things new, even those old dusty manuscripts in the back of the closet.

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My Writing Testimony - Payne

It was in the year 2000 that God called my husband and me to Orillia. We bought a home in a town where we had no family and no friends and started a new life.

It was the first time that I ever stayed home with my children full-time. I was used to working when they were young and then started my own business when my oldest started school. In Orillia, I was home all day, everyday.

Being a social person, I sought out other women and ended up attending a Women’s CARE Group at the Christian Reform Church. It was there that I gave my heart to Jesus and began my personal relationship with the Lord.

At home, I took to reading and studying Christian books. I enjoyed such classics as Hannah Whitall Smith’s The Christian’s Secret of a Happy Life, Josh McDowell’s More than a Carpenter, Catherine Marshall’s Something More and The Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge.

By following the advice of Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way, I began to journal a minimum of three pages each morning. They were called, quite appropriately, “Morning Pages”. Through this process, I wrote about my fears, anxieties, observations and lessons learned as a new Christian. At first, my writing was between God and me. He revealed things to me that I never would have been open to receiving any other way. I remember the day when I was having a “discussion” with God about what my call in life was and He responded, “to write”. He told me to write to bring people closer to Him.

Since that day I try very hard not to miss a morning without writing my morning pages. I share my walk of faith with others through my weekly column, "Today’s Faith," in the Millbrook Times and Cornwall Seaway News. God has done so much for me in my life, writing a book – Fit for Faith, writing regular Christian articles, and writing this column are just some ways I can be obedient to His call in my life and bring others closer to Him.

Kimberley Payne
http://www.kimberleypayne.com/

What to write, what to write

When God first called me to write, I was so excited and ready to do His will. But I didn't know the first thing about the business of writing (besides the fact that I enjoyed it and kept a regular journal). So when I saw an advertisement in testimony magazine for the God Uses Ink (now Write! Canada) conference, I felt led to attend.

At this conference, I excitedly signed up for every class and booked one-on-one appointments for every spare moment. I couldn’t get enough! I learned all about writing for children, writing for newspapers, writing for magazines, writing for publishing houses etc.

From there, it was a process of elimination. I tried just about everything.... I tried writing poems, writing for children, writing articles, writing songs, writing book reviews, writing short stories etc. I liked it all but felt torn and unfocused. I needed to narrow my love of writing into where I best fit.

I took two excellent on-line courses; a devotional writing course and a children's writing course. From these, I learned that writing for children was too tough for me, yet devotional writing felt natural. In the meantime, I wrote a nonfiction book on health and fitness, articles on health, a weekly faith column for mainstream newspapers, and I started a novel.

Through all this, I learned that I don't mind articles but only if I'm invited to submit. I don’t want to interview people. I don’t like research. I don't want to be a journalist. I like to write songs but feel that'll be in the future. And so on.

I am glad to have the opportunity to pursue my interests slowly and discover in my own time where God wants me. I also pray and ask for guidance daily. If you are called to write, there are many opportunities to use your gift – have fun and enjoy exploring your call!

Kimberley Payne

www.kimberleypayne.com
http://www.fitforfaith.blogspot.com/