Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: EXPRESSION (11/12/20)
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TITLE: How It All Began | Previous Challenge Entry
By Laurie Glass
11/18/20 -
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When I was in my 30s, I wanted a Christian plaque for my home. How hard could that be? As I browsed the Christian bookstore, I found plaques that said, “God Bless Our Home” and “A Marriage Prayer.” I’m single, so they weren’t a fit for me, and I couldn’t find anything that was.
Over the years, due my marital status, or lack thereof, others in Christian circles treated me differently. This was just one more way I felt out of place. And to be honest, it perturbed me. Should I have been upset? Probably not. But…well, you’ll see.
Riled as I was, I decided that if people living alone weren’t good enough to have plaques made for them, I’d write something myself to put on my wall. While I never took a creative writing class and never formally learned how to compose a poem, I’d dabbled in writing poetry off and on since I was young. So I wrote a poem about the Lord’s presence in my home, prettied it up, and hung it on my living room wall.
That’s all I wanted, and it was done. Well, the poem was done, but God wasn’t. For whatever reason, he chose that time to do something I never saw coming. I felt inspired to write like never before. The ideas kept coming, and the urgency to get them to paper was overwhelming. There was no way around it. I had to write. So write I did. Thirty poems in five weeks, in fact. I’d never experienced anything quite like it before. It was clear that the Lord was up to something. I wondered, What next?
Later that year, God did amazing work in my heart and life, helping me to break free of some significant personal issues. And again, he filled my mind with ideas and my heart with inspiration. I had to write…and write…and write. He had a message of hope and healing to speak through me.
I didn’t know what to do, so I simply started sharing my poems with others. I couldn’t believe people were actually touched by them. Yet, since it was happening, I thought I should learn about writing and getting published so the words God was speaking through me could reach more people. I wanted confirmation of this as well as direction for the next steps. I prayed and prayed. I also took a three-ring binder of my writings to a Bible study group and asked them to pray over it. I remember one older gentleman prayed, “Dear God, if this isn’t of you, nothing will come of it. If it is of you, nothing will stop it.”
God answered, and continues to answer, those prayers. Over the years, I learned a lot about writing, honed my skills, and had several poems and other pieces published. In time, I built a website and published a paperback and e-books. It’s amazing to think that thousands and thousands of people all over the world have read something I’ve written.
I’m so grateful God chose to express a bit of his love through me. It’s been an honor and a privilege. And it all started when I was irked because I couldn’t find a Christian plaque for my home. You never know how or when the Lord may invite you to join him in his work.
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