Dreams- Don't Let Them Die

I remember the first story I wrote in elementary school. The Radioactive Rabbit, was based on a movie I watched on TV with Mickey Rooney. He was caught in the fallout of a radioactive blast. My radioactive rabbit was as big as a person. Another attempt at writing came years later when I wrote a story about my dog, Scout. He was caught in a coyote trap. I found him nearly frozen late on a February night a couple of miles from our house, in the wilderness of northern Michigan. I sent the story to Readers Digest and got a real nice, Rejection Letter. I was disappointed and it took a few weeks for me to get over the rejection of a piece of writing that was sure to be prized.

I am blessed to be able to have a book near publication. My work on, A Mother's Heart Moved the Hand of God, was my therapy. I had no intention of putting it out into the public world. I wrote because I needed to, I had to write down experiences and pains to see if anything made any sense. For hours at a time the words gushed out and the yellow tablet filled. To stop writing would have been like stopping a dam with a giant hole in it. At many point the writing was raw and painful, wounds would bleed again. When I came to what I thought was the end I wanted to set it aside. I would be able to look at it and feel some sense of accomplishment. A few people knew what I was doing and wanted to read it. The exposure of my thoughts and spirit was not what I wanted.

Purpose- My writing struck a nerve with some people, people I trusted and valued. They encouraged me to complete the writing in a manuscript form. I was told that the real message of the book needed to be told and that I was entrusted with the story for a purpose. Well, that put a whole different light on the subject. If I was entrusted with the story how could I not put it out into the world. So, I decided that if I was entrusted with the truth and story I must complete it and wait to see what should be done with it. When it was done I let a few people read the entire manuscript and the encouragement continued.

Hold On- I completed the body of the story and knew that some important truths were in the writing. Now, what should be done with it. I researched the publishing world and learned some pretty sobering facts. Hundreds of thousands of manuscripts are written and submitted each year and very few get read. For first time authors the chance of finding an agent and publisher is almost impossible. What made me think I would be any different. Time passed and doubts piled up. Pretty soon the manuscript was in a nice binder and sitting on the shelf. The passing of time brought a great friend into my life and new hope. The manuscript was recorded as an audio book. The few copies that we made were an impact in the lives of the people that listened. I needed to hold on to the dream that what was entrusted to me would find a place when the time was right.

Message and Messenger- I needed to remember that I was just the messenger. God could have picked any other person to tell the story, but He picked me. Good or bad, pain or joy, I was the one who was to tell the story. The message is always more important than the one proclaiming. John the Baptist heralded in the ministry of Jesus Christ. He proclaimed His coming and told others that, He must increase and I must decrease. Christian writing must always keep the proper relationships. Writers are entrusted with a message and they will give account of the message and talent in which they were to proclaim the message. Communicating the message from God, in print or voice, is, and should be, an awesome responsibility. A responsibility not to be taken lightly, nor thought of as being optional. The accounting finds the faithful and the lazy, the accountant knows what each has been given.

Dream- The thought that words put down on paper could influence the way people live has always been compelling to me. Do writers have big egos? I suppose most do. But, the idea that what is written can be used by God for years to come out to temper any ego with the sobering fact of, truth. Do not let your dreams die. Believe that there is a time when God will make light shine on the truth He entrusted to you.