Write the Vision

The urge to write hits me at the oddest times and in the strangest moments. A thought will bubble up in my head, and I will want to capture it. Frequently, it is a “stream of consciousness type of experience.” I do not have to scramble for words. They are just there. And they want to be put on a page. They want to spill out onto an empty page and just chill for a while. Sometimes, my fingers cannot keep up with this steady stream of ideas. I misspell or bunch words together but I keep typing. Until the stream dries up. Until all the words have been released.

I am not sure what the experience is like for other writers. I have tried to write on a strict schedule. I have created beautiful outlines that fit formulas that I have encountered online…but they just…don’t…work. I will find myself frustrated and at a dead end. Grasping for words like a drowning person reaching for a lifeline. But that lifeline will just not be there. And I know why.

Writing truly is a gift from God for me. He connected all the nerves and synapses in my brain to function the way that they do. I cannot follow what works for everyone else, because I am not everyone else. I really have to be connected with Him to operate at the height of my gift. He does not respond to my strict schedules or pretty outlines. He compels me to lean into Him. To trust Him. To listen to Him. And every time I do that, the words flow.

And I am not just talking about writing for the blog. I really mean anytime I write. I could be writing about fish or hot air balloons. I could be writing a short synopsis of a book that I read. I could be writing about my pinky toe and the words will rush out with a swiftness that always surprises me. Sometimes I come across a note on a case at work and think “this person is really smart.” And wish that I was that concise or sure. And then see that I’m the person that wrote the note. It’s not me. It’s Him. And I always acknowledge that.

Since the day the blog was initially published, I have received a variety of backhanded compliments about my writing, but one really stands out. The person asked my mother if I really wrote them because it seemed like a real writer wrote them. And it made me wonder what a real writer looked like to them. It made me wonder why it never occurred to them that a quiet gal might have a lot to say. But you know what it did not make me wonder. It did not make me question my very real gift.

What gifts has the Lord given you that you just sit on? Or downplay? Or question? I have finally reached a season and a place in my life where I am done with mediocrity. I want more. And the only way to receive more is to fully lean into the person that God created me to be. Stay tuned. #wepreach