I just returned home from the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference in Black Mountain, North Carolina, where I was a member of the faculty. It’s one of my favorite weeks of the year and my “go-back-to-my-roots” place. Blue Ridge is where my writing career began 15 years ago, where God took dreams that I didn’t even know I had and turned them into something beyond my wildest imaginings.
Don’t get me wrong. This journey hasn’t been all sunshine and butterflies. There have been days when the writing was so hard that I felt like I bled on the keyboard, and times when I was so frustrated that I wondered why I didn’t pick an easier career like shark juggling. There have been months and years with seemingly nothing happening, with so many rejections arriving that I could wallpaper my foyer with them. There have been moments when I was on the brink of an exciting contract—only to have everything come crashing down at the last minute.
But, oh my, the blessings that have come as well! Times when God gave me fresh insights with His Word. Days that, as I wrote, His presence hovered so close that I felt like I could almost reach out and touch Him.
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There have been sweet moments when I’ve heard from readers who shared how the words I wrote inspired them to get back in church, to give their marriage a second chance or to realize they’d been neglectful of their families and to correct that before it was too late. Those are the precious blessings that make me cry, that make me feel so small in the presence of a big God who could accomplish all that and allow me to be a small part of it.
I brought nothing to the table but a willing heart. God said, “I can do a lot with that.” And He has.
What dream has God placed on your heart? Don’t let discouragement keep you from fulfilling the dream He has for you. Don’t let the “wait” keep you from staying faithful. And don’t miss the blessing of looking back someday and seeing how He can do above and beyond anything that you ever thought was possible.
