Paul writes in his letter to the Romans that God works everything together for good for those of us who love Him. But often my life feels more like a field filled with half-told stories. Yes, many are happy memories, but there are also ones of pain, misunderstanding and even anger. How can I make sense of such contradictions to the love of God in the face of tragedy and grief? The answer came on that first Christmas, in a Bethlehem stable. There, God began a story that connected all of our stories to His. There He was born as Emmanuel, God with us, through every twist and turn, every sorrow and smile. Then He published that story on a cross for everyone to see. But the best part is that His story wasn’t over! He wrote another surprising chapter at an open tomb. There He promises to meet us and weave everyone of our stories into His amazing conclusion!
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV
Someone once asked, “Why do we write?” But instead of “why,” perhaps that their real question was rather, “Why should we write?” Now that is a great question, and it has a variety of good answers, because it all depends on who we intend for our audience to be. For example, if I were I to make a diary entry, my hope would be that no one but myself would ever see it. On the other hand, should I be putting together a report for a property manager on what steps would be needed to get a home ready for rental, my proper audience would grow by at least one. As Christian writers, sometimes we are tempted to think that our sole obligation is to write for God. But if we would be honest, most of us also want someone besides Jesus to read what we have put on a page. Perhaps the best answer lies within the words of the hymn Frances Havergal wrote titled, “Take My Life and Let it Be.” In her challenging lyrics, she tells us that her moments, her days, and even her hands, and feet, as well as her will and wealth are all meant to be her offering to God. As writers we would do well to notice her third verse’s ending couplet:
“Take my lips and let them be Filled with messages from Thee”
As Frances Havergal notes, our messages are not just for God, they should also be from Him and for others. As writers, connecting our audiences to God is our unique and urgent calling. So, let’s shed false modesty about only writing for an audience of one. Jesus hasn’t called us to write only for Him, rather to connect with as many precious people as possible to tell them of the riches of the glories of our God and King!
When word processing, meant following The MLA style guide and font size was determined by the preprinted lines on your paper, learning to write was quite a different kind of adventure. In those days, our school desks came complete with a hole in the upper hand corner, that held the ink well where we would dip the nib of our pen, before attempting to scratch out our letters. Our teachers would prowl the aisles, looking for offenders, who were not holding their pens correctly, had their papers angled the wrong way or who smudged their letters. Painful as it was at the time, we eventually learned our upper- and lower-case alphabets, in both printed letters as well as in cursive handwriting.
Though we sometimes felt we were being tortured, our poor teachers shared plenty of the pain along with us. I feel certain there were times when they wondered why they were consigned to seven-year-olds scratching away on lined paper, when there were plenty of easier ways to make a living. God bless those patient teachers who taught us how to form our letters, piece together words and then later how to juggle them into stories of our own. Those long-ago days came to my mind as I thought over the skills I have had to pick up as a writing coach and editor. Though the following are overly simplistic, maybe one of these will be an encouragement to you today.
As class begins, the first order of business a teacher has, is to hand out papers. For us as editors, handing out a paper can be simply encouraging someone that they have the skills needed to tell their story. It doesn’t require a PhD to tell a first grader that he has lousy penmanship or that she dripped ink all over her paper. Teaching them how to do better, means handing them a blank sheet of paper every single day and offering them a chance to try again.
Secondly, our teachers gave us pencils, long before entrusting ink pens to us. Those pencils gave us the opportunity to practice dotting our i’s and crossing our t’s in a way that could be erased and done over. And when we use those pencils, somewhere along the way, they get dull. A teacher is the one who says, “Why not go to the pencil sharpener, before you do the next line?” In the same way as a writing coach we need to come alongside, not to write their assignment for them, but to help them sharpen their skills so they will better be able to make their own point.
Lastly, a good teacher is the person who refills all the ink wells. As writers, we all have mornings when we can’t think of a single new idea, and we simply stare at the blank page in front of us. We have run dry, and what we need is fresh ink in our well. As Christians, we know that real refreshing only comes from our Lord, but many times, God chooses people to do His work. A godly teacher is the one who comes along side, puts a hand on our shoulder and says, “Take a breath, look outside your window, and come back to your work in a minute. Don’t quit, because God has not quit on you, and He has a great ending for the story He has given you to tell!
And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:6 ESV
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