Some of you may know that I’ve been discouraged lately about my writing career. Not big stuff, just little things toppled one upon the other. If you’re not careful (particularly in life), you can begin to think those little disappointments suddenly define you.
So I prayed. I said,
“Lord, please encourage me specifically in my writing ministry. Please let me know if I need to keep walking down this path of words.
Show me You see me.”
And I asked others to pray the same way. I have a terrific, encouraging prayer team who faithfully lifts me and my family up.
And God answered. Specifically.
How?
- My daughter texted, “I love you, Mommy,” at precisely the time I felt the lowest. Uncanny, the timing. Made me cry.
- My friend called me and told me this wild story. “I got a call from a friend who asked if I knew you. I said, ‘Yes, she is my dear friend.’ The friend then said she saw the dedication in your book to me. Later, after she finished the book, she told me it had really, really impacted her.”
- Then, I received a Facebook message from my hairdresser who said that the book I’d given her to give to a friend had impacted her. And guess what? She’s the same woman from story #2! We’re all connected somehow!
- Then, I got a call from my friend Olivia who was speaking with her hubby in a small town in a small Texas church. Before the message, they flashed things on the screen of the church. One screen had a large picture of Daisy Chain, and they’d recommended the congregation to buy the book!
- Then, I got an email from someone who just picked up Ordinary Mom, Extraordinary God. It had really blessed her, helped her not feel alone.
- Then this morning, I received an email from one of the writers I met in France. She’d downloaded Daisy Chain on her Kindle and then wrote about it. So fun!
- Last, a friend of ours in our community group via church offered to send out my press release on PRWeb. Already the book is getting great exposure!
- A book club organizer sent me this: “Your book is making a huge impact on the hearts of the readers in our book club, Mary. Some of the ladies have experienced sexual abuse and other have sisters/friends who have. They are well into the book, and already are having emotional reactions. Good ones.”
- My agent called me today with good news, and a heart to encourage. She speaks life over me.
- An excerpt of my latest book will be on a big ministry site next week.
But even more than these very specific things, God spoke directly to me. He helped me see, through another prayer team friend, that I’m a missionary writer. If I remember back to being a missionary in France, and how beautifully God provided for our ministry there, I can see this writing as an adventure. I wrote this:
If I see myself as a missionary writer, every provision seems like a beautiful mystery, not obligatory.
I also processed my frustration, and received great insight from Jesus. I posted about that here. I concluded it this way:
Jesus endured the cross for “the joy set before Him.” I fear I’ve wanted the joy here. Now. Today. But He calls me to think of the joy then, in the Great Future. And that’s why He could sit down when He accomplished His work on earth. He had One Master. He kept close to the Father, heard His voice, did His bidding, no matter how counterintuitive or countercultural it may have seemed. And even though His work seemed incomplete (meaning the disciples hadn’t come into their own yet), He knew the entire plan and rested in that.
Since I don’t know the entire plan, I will rest on the sovereignty of God. Or I’ll try. I, by God’s grace, will write for the joy set before me, enduring whatever trials come my way. I pray I can rest there. I pray you can, too.
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