Lord, what do you want me to write?

A few weeks ago, I shared a little about my journey to becoming a writer. The next few Wednesday - Writing posts will be more about 'what came next'.

In 1999, I was twenty-eight years old and had already published over one hundred articles for national publications. I’d also been contracted to work on two book projects for well-known publishers. Still, I felt far from successful. For five years I’d labored full-time on my own book projects with no luck. My agent didn't understand, "These are excellent proposals," she said. "I don't understand why they're not being snatched up."

I just have to try harder, write more, I thought. It didn’t help.

Around that time, I started going through the workbook "Experiencing God" by Henry Blackaby. I learned one phrase that kept going over in my mind. "Look to see what God was doing and join him." The premise is this: if you're doing something that doesn't work, put what you're doing aside and see what God was doing. I did that. And . . . I discovered God had different plans!

First, my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer. I invited him into our home. Between doctor’s appointments, hospice visits, taking care of my husband and three children, there was little time to pen prose. My grandfather passed away after only four months, but inside I was changed. It was as if my heart had been rubbed raw with sandpaper. My eyes were opened to pain, and I had a new appreciation for helping those in need.

Lord, what do you want me to write? I prayed.

A few months after my grandfather’s death, my pastor and two women in the church approached me about starting a Crisis Pregnancy Center. (There wasn’t one for hundreds of miles.) I didn't want to do it, but I told my pastor I'd pray about it.

The next morning I did pray. I told God. "Lord, I can't help with this center. I'm a writer and my articles are helping people around the country."

His response was, "Well, what about the people in your own community? What are you going to do to help them?" Ouch.

Obviously this was something God was doing, so I joined him.

Soon, I was using my writing and organizational skills to create community newsletters, and to write radio commercials and grants. In one year, we had a huge center (given to us for free rent), forty volunteers, and we were reaching hundreds of women. We even received a $13,000 grant to teach abstinence education in the schools! At night I often felt drained by the number of young women who needed assistance—who needed hope—yet, I also felt a renewed sense of satisfaction. Obviously God was at work. I was glad I’d joined him.

After that, I started getting new writing assignments. I started writing about pregnancy centers, forgiveness after abortion, and other related issues.

When our center was two years old, we hired a director who oversaw everything. I focused my time on working with the young moms. We had helped these young moms make a decision for life, now we needed to help them with their parenting. I started a support group for young moms called Teen MOPS. It’s part of the bigger MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) organization. While working with these young moms, I tried to find Christian resources just for them. I couldn’t find any! So I worked on a proposal, registered for the MOPS convention, and my agent set it up for me to meet with a few MOPS editors while I was there.

That first convention in 2002, I attended alone. I remember sitting among 3,500 women and saying, “One of these days I want to be on that stage talking about Teen MOPS.” In 2003, I had a contract for Life Interrupted: The Scoop on Being a Teen Mom. I’d also brought six other women, three mentors and three teen moms with me, and I was invited to speak in front of those 3,500, telling them about support for teen moms!

Obviously God was at work. I’m just so glad I joined Him!

More to come on a later post!