From the Heart

I dreamed of being many things when a was a child…a nurse, a teacher, a singer, a firefighter, even an ambulance, and eventually I dreamed of ministry. Never did I dream of being a writer.  Writing was something I did to process life, it was something I did in private, something I literally kept hidden.

I remember being in middle school and keeping a spiral notebook under my bed. This notebook was filled with devotionals that I had written about the topics that I faced as a middle schooler.  I wrote on topics like: Is Swearing a Sin, How to Love Your Siblings Like Jesus, and many other topics that would make me blush. Yet I smile, because even then I wanted to write from aplace of authenticity and reliability. A place from the heart.

As a young adult I started many blogs, just to watch them fade away.  I was always amazed at the number of views, the kind responses, your stories. Bewildered because these were just my rambling thoughts, brief stories or insights into my life.  I didn’t know that I had something important to say.  

I take up space in the world. I can be passive about that, or I can make a difference.  I want to be a person that speaks up and makes life happen instead of let’s life happen.  I want to experience everything this world has to offer, and then share it with everyone I meet. I want to know Jesus more, and inspire others to do the same.  So now every morning I look myself in the mirror, and say to myself, “I have something to say.” 

This summer I took a retreat to be with Jesus and dream of the next season of life.  While I was a way a man approached me as I was eating dinner. He asked me what I did for a living and I was shocked to hear myself respond, “I am a writer.” Horrified, I quickly corrected myself and explained I work in a church and I wasn’t really sure why I said that.  That moment stayed with me.  Somewhere in my heart I had a dream to share my heart through writing. A dream that I was slowly starting to awake to.  

I don’t know where writing will take me. I don’t know if it is a calling or a hobby…or both. However, I do know that I want to pass along everything I have been given.  When I started this journey, I asked Father God who I am as a writer.  His response blew me away, “You are a daughter of the King, reflecting on the love of her Dad.”  That is not something I want to keep hidden any longer. I want to write from that place, dream from that place. 

Welcome to my 2017, a year of dreams realized.