Called to Write

Being a kid in the 90s started this whole thing. Before cell phones and the internet, we would write notes constantly in class, usually as small as humanly possible, rolled up into spit-wad sized missiles and flicked across the room with a level of precision that never once showed up in my grades. But sometimes writing wasn't so fun. As a teenager, I remember taking the TAAS test. I remember the writing portion being my favorite part, mostly because math is absolutely not my idea of a good time, and the writing section did not require a calculator. When the results came back, I had scored high enough to skip an entry-level course at Tarleton that most incoming freshmen were required to take. It was the first time writing felt like something with real weight to it. I was hooked.

I went to college ready to live a life of writing. As a Communications major, I fell in love with press releases, commercials, and news articles. Over the years I would go on to write grants for nonprofits, policies for the public sector, and lesson plans for the classroom. I'm genuinely good at those things, but none of them ever quite hit the spot like throwing hilarious notes to friends across the classroom. For years I felt the pull toward something more, stories rooted in faith that would actually move people. But the lies of inadequacy and lack of creativity had a way of showing up right on schedule, stalling something I couldn't quite name. I'm a storyteller. And my favorite stories point hearts to Jesus and encourage little ones to faith and adventure.

Today, it's the notepad next to the bed. The one covered in ideas scrawled at 2am in handwriting I can barely read by morning. The worship song. The story for my kids. The running grocery list that has absolutely no business being next to a worship song, and yet. The prayers I so desperately need to write down, not so I won't forget, but because writing them down is a tangible way I can release my burdens into the hands of the ever-present and all-powerful Creator. It's not just a method, a hobby, or a gift. I write because it's one of the things God created me to do.

My favorite stories are the ones that make you laugh, challenge your thinking, and leave you feeling a little steadier than you did before you picked them up. I believe that's one of the most powerful ways we share the love of God with the world around us. We all have a story, right?

So what's your story? What were you created to do?