More than Writers

Last month I reached a significant milestone on my writing journey – ten years since I began blogging and shared my words with others for the first time.       When I hit “publish” on that first post, I had no idea what I was doing or what to expect, but I sensed God’s call to write, and it has been an interesting journey.        As I’ve reflected on it, my mind has been drawn to some of the journeys we read of in the Bible and the lessons they have to teach us about journeying with God as we seek to obey his calling.        Firstly, journeys often involve stepping out in faith. God doesn’t usually give us a detailed road map. Abraham was called to leave his home and go to the land God was showing him, but he received no specific plan of the route he was to take. Similarly, as the Israelites travelled to the Promised Land, God led them by a pillar of cloud and fire. Rather than knowing the whole route in advance, they had...

  Last month I reflected on motivations that drive our writing . Sometime these goals can seem a bit vague or too far off. As with any destination planning, knowing your route can be helpful. Not least because you can make decisions on how to get there and identify key obstacles to navigate. Writers often need to plan. Novelists may plot the storyline and accommodate any genre guidelines. Short/flash fiction writers may need less preparation but adhere to strict word limits. Poets may experiment with set forms or let the muse loose with free verse, but competitions will have topics or line counts to consider. Sometimes planning means looking a bit further ahead. When a freelance writer, I mostly reported on recent or due local events, writing about what was happening around me. When I speculatively contacted a Christian newspaper to ask if I could submit some articles, the editor offered a commission for a thirteen-week column. However, they also asked for an outline of the art...

We had finished the Church leadership meeting and were about to disperse when one of us, Nigel, remembered he wanted photos for the website.  In turn, we stood against a white door and he asked us to position ourselves as if walking towards the corner of the room, but look to the right, towards him.  It felt strange, but as we each turned towards Nigel, as instructed, there was that little moment of connection with a friend when he clicked the camera. It set me into a pattern of noticing changes of direction in all sorts of places, especially in my readings: 'Because of the Lord's great love We are not consumed,                                       For his compassions never fail, They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness'.     Lamentations 3: 22-23 I love this affirmation that God is there.  But, look, here is a piece of writing that turns in...