Whatever It Takes
by Susan Boltz
For some of my friends, writing is their deepest passion and pleasure. If you stuck them on a desert island, they’d immediately find a stick and begin chronicling feelings, poems, and stories in the sand. Then they’d go look for water. After finding water, they’d have to find rocks to scrape together to make a more permanent record of their musings. That’s just who they are.
I’ve never told my friends the truth. I envy them. I don’t enjoy writing. The process is no fun for me, and at times it’s excruciating. Why do I bother at all? Seems to be God’s calling in my life. Why would He ask me to do something that I don’t want to do, have spent years learning, and seems painful? Everyone since Moses asks these questions, and only God knows.
He puts stories in my life, teaches me, and then won’t let me get a decent night’s sleep until I write them down. He places people in my life who encourage (nag) me to submit them or more sleep will be lost. I call it a spiritual discipline and keep going. I could be playing a computer game now, but instead I have to share this with you (I want to rest well tonight). I need the discipline, so I can glimpse God’s glory.
His glory came to me in a fan letter. I’d never had one of those before. The letter was in reference to a Chicken Soup story I wrote last year, The Power of Gratitude – The Grocery Store. It came from our local school superintendent: “Sometimes God puts something you need to read right in your path. This story made a difference in my life.”
I struggled and prayed to write that story. Agonized to make the story flow, the internal dialog clear and find the right ending. I am so humbled because it was God who wrote that story and used my friends in my discomfort. That’s why everyone writes—to make a difference. Thanks to our Lord and St. Davids Christian Writers’ Conference. Perhaps writing is difficult for you too, but God keeps calling you. He’s placed people at St. Davids who can help you become who He’s calling you to be. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it all.
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Susan Boltz has been published in The Upper Room, Vista Magazine, and Penned from the Heart. Lately, she’s been featured in the Chicken Soup for the Soul books, The Power of Forgiveness (page 287) and The Power of Gratitude (page 237). Although retired, she stays young by teaching a High School class on Sundays, and the students help her embrace technology.