Be Encouraged: Write the Next Chapter

Since we all need encouragement from time to time, I wanted to share a re-post from about 6 months ago…

I think because I write, I equate a lot of life’s stages to writing. Perhaps, it’s the other way around. Writing probably intersects with various chapters of my life, too.

If we think about the natural order of progression, it might not make sense to non-writers the twists and turns that authors take at certain life junctures.

In society’s eyes, here’s how things are supposed to go: attend school, graduate, seek higher education(perhaps), decide upon a career path, marry, consider having children, raise children, work until retirement, and then enjoy life during retirement as a free-wheeling senior citizen. Well, as a starry-eye teen-ager, that was my dandy perception at least.

Now, MANY years later, I can glance back, clean off my rose-colored glasses, and almost laugh at how easy I thought it all would be. (Yes, there’s a reason Pollyanna remains one of my favorite movies. Even as a child, I always viewed my glass as half-full!)

This is the path my life has taken so far: I attended school, graduated, sought higher education, graduated again, chose an initial career path in human services, married, had children, still raising them, and began a long-awaited second career with retirement a distant dream.

I didn’t really expect that my writing career would happen the way it has, just as I didn’t expect to have to put it “on hold” for many years due to life events beyond my control.

When life-or-death illness strikes one’s family, believe me, writing not only takes a backseat, it jumps in the spare tire well of the trunk. (I might add here–I still wrote. I couldn’t not write. Even if only a line, a thought, a mere word. The seed the Lord planted was still there; it just wasn’t getting properly watered at the time. I was certain back then that my tears didn’t count…)

Fast forward a bit. No one has been more surprised than me the way my life has literally changed within the past year. God is taking me on a fantastic journey. I’ve worked terribly hard. I’ve sought God’s counsel. I’ve hoped. I’ve prayed. I’ve dreamed. It was only when I fully released the dream to Him that my life-course changed direction.

That’s the really neat thing about how God works–He can create miracles in a heartbeat with the sweep of His mighty hand when it’s OUR time. Of course, this doesn’t come without responsibility on our part. We have to be a willing vessel and let Him decide how best to use our talents. If we think we’re going to let God use only part of what He has given us while keeping the rest for ourselves (to be used at our own discretion) we’re playing a dangerous game, and one we’re not likely to win. The Bible relates some very nice examples of this so I won’t go there.

Here’s the deal: the next chapter of your life might be next week, next month, or next year. Then again, it might be tomorrow. Your life-change could happen in the form of a letter, an e-mail, a phone call, a visit, an encounter, or in one hundred other ways.

When God gets ready to move:

• It won’t matter what life has doled out. You’re going to be redirected.

• Feeling inadequate? Get ready–you’re a masterpiece in the making!

• Too young? Not so–we’re ALL babes in Christ.

• Too old? Are you still breathing?

• No one in your corner? One word. God.

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What’s been the most difficult chapter of your life so far? What are you resolving to do about it?