Baton passed by Lucy Rycroft

Image credit: Pixabay

"You could just introduce yourself for the first slot," she said.

Yes, that sounds do-able, Amy. I'll self-indulgently talk about myself for 500 words because I'm British and therefore talking about myself isn't hard work at all.

But how else do I begin my time on the More than Writers second-of-the-month slot, having taken over from the talented Amy Robinson? Hers are big boots for a fledgling writer like me to fill, and you might be wondering who I am and why I'm here.

It'll probably tell you all you need to know about me when I say that I've taken the precaution of writing and scheduling this blog in advance, because, as you read these words, I will most likely be lying unconscious in a sugar-induced coma, husband and children having long abandoned me, muttering things like "Mummy's eaten all our Easter eggs again", before returning to whatever it is they were doing when Mummy realised that Lent had finished and her chocolate fast had therefore come to an end.

OK, so now you know I'm a chocoholic, a mum and a wife. But is that really what you want to know about me? And is that actually who I am, or who I want to be known as?

I suppose that having a confused sense of identity is a problem which, at some point or other, attacks all of us who are trying to follow Christ. On the one hand we are trying to be the person God made us to be. But on the other - we can't always tell who that person is. 

Or we may pine for the life being led by those around us - but God is leading us in a different direction, and we feel conflicted. As Wendy said in yesterday's post, we can end up wearing so many different hats, we barely know which one we're wearing.

Up till November 2017, I thought I was a teacher who’d had a rather long career break and more children than it would be thought sensible. I thought I was a mum planning to return to teaching once the littlest ones started school. I thought I was being sensible and Grown-Up-ish by gaining up-to-date work experience and building my CV.

But then God told me differently.

An out-of-the-blue email, an offer of some paid freelance writing work, and perhaps God was telling me to spend my childfree hours of 2018, er…writing.

I mean, I’d been rambling on to goodness-knows-who in my blog for over five years, but I wasn’t a writer. Surely not?

It would seem God had other ideas. Once again, I found myself committing my identity, my dreams and my expectations of life to Him.

I don’t know if I will eventually ‘be’ a writer who earns enough to contribute to the household income. Perhaps this season is more about allowing God to shape me and teach me, whilst practising something I love to do. And that's OK too. God knows the future I don't.

So there you go: some manner of introduction as to who I am and why I'm here. I look forward to writing and reading, listening and commenting within this amazingly supportive group. Thank you for having me!

Lucy Rycroft lives in York with her vicar husband and their four crazy children. She blogs about faith, food, family life, adoption, and whatever else takes her fancy at Desertmum, and you can follow her on Twitter and Facebook, should you wish to keep up with her ongoing battle against chocoholism.