rowsing Twitter this morning, I noticed the hashtag #WhyIWrite and I decided to click on the link to read why others write.  Not surprising, the answers or reasons are very similar—very familiar, albeit with an occasional condescending comment.  It’s the occasional condescension that trips me up from time to time, but over time I’m learning to not take negative opinions so seriously (and I sure hope those twitter writers weren’t derailed by some of the rude comments).  Insults, along with self-doubt, really have an effect on creativity, so it’s been instructive to me to weigh negative comments carefully, glean what I can and literally ignore the rest.  Sometimes, insults can be instructive: they help me refine my message, they help me see what I might be blind to and surely to see what I don’t want to be, and they help me clarify or to attempt to more carefully articulate my thoughts.

So why do I write? Words. Words in my head every day, all day long. I write because of what the Lord has done for me in all I’ve seen and done in my life.  I write because He’s lavished blessings on me (especially in hard days, the deep blessings I couldn’t see at the time!).  I write because of His great and precious promises—His unfailing kindness and mercy every day of my life. I write because in all these ways the Lord has given me the gift of words to encourage, instruct, inspire, comfort and/or affirm others.  It may well be to a very small or limited number of people, but my goals or purposes have never been dependent on the number of readers or listeners–only with the hope that they would minister to those who do. Incidentally, most all my daily writing is never seen by anyone but me—dozens of journals bear this out.

You know… I think most everyone could, should, would write if they recognize the great gift and value of their life—or if they realized that their unique experiences could help someone. Maybe many someone’s.

I began writing newsletters in high school, first as the activities commissioner and then as student council president. From there I wrote the newsletter for a day school and childcare center in Seattle. In those days we used a mimeograph machine using spirit masters and a manual typewriter.  It was a banner day when we bought our IBM Correcting Selectric II typewriter (If you’ve never used/seen one, they’re pretty cool!!).  Eventually, those were replaced by various computers and, in time, I wrote church newsletters and Bible studies for women which led to the privilege of speaking at women’s retreats and seminars.  All of this was just prior to creating the website that ‘launched’ this blog in the late 90’s. This progression of writing projects also included stamping and lettering… and occasionally, my antique Underwood typewriter.

I share all this to hopefully inspire *you* to write… using whatever you have on hand, whatever your experience, whatever your ‘platform,’ to encourage others, to be used of the Lord to bless and relate to others.
In the end, I hope you’ll enjoy the journey, writing it down as you go.

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