Let’s not hold back

I took a long break from writing recently. I found that I kept making it into something bigger than it had to be. Like, I thought that if I wrote I had to write on a regular basis or else “my followers won’t be able to depend on me.” Or “I’ll never gain a following” and my writing will amount to nothing.

This was what I was told. And sure, there’s truth to it. If I wanted to build a brand and “make something of this” then yes, writing regularly would be the way to make that happen. Sure. I can get on board with that.

But I never aspired to “make something out is this.” Writing has always been an outlet for me and I’ve loved processing my life this way. And the bonus was that it helped others in the process.

Why does it have to be anything more than that?

But I believed the lie that if you’re going to write, there’s a formula you must follow.

Lies.

I see that now. But it took me a long time to begin to see that clearly. And it cost me something I love: writing. All because I couldn’t do it the way “I should”.

I was also under the false impression that if I happened to “make it big” as a writer I’d eventually have to become a speaker, too. Something I’ve never wanted. This too led me to give up writing. I was honored to be asked to speak at a small woman’s gathering last Fall, something I told very few people about. Why? Because I don’t want to be a speaker. It’s not a gifting I’ve been given. So, writing had to go because otherwise it would have led to a future I didn’t want.

But now I see that author and speaker don’t have to be synonymous. I can just be an author.

Why do we hold ourselves up to standards like this? Why do we assume that just because we don’t fit perfectly into the mold of what others have done, that we have nothing to offer and no business working in the areas that give us life? No business working in the areas that God may have carved into our very hearts?

You know what I want? I want to share my faith journey so that you will be inspired in yours. I want to be that online mentor that calls you up off the floor, dusts you off and points you back towards Jesus. Because that’s all that matters to me. That’s what I desire. To see you inspired to keep pressing on.

So with all that said, I make my return to writing. And I hope you’ll make a return to whatever it is you’ve stopped because you’ve been believing you can’t do it “right”, so you might as well not do it at all. Just forget that and do you. Honor the gifts God has put inside of you in the ways he has built you to accomplish them.

Write that book.

Write that song.

Record that video.

Create that piece of art.

Run that business.

Serve in that ministry.

Raise those kids.

Love that spouse.

Honor God.

Tell Gods story. Get HIM out into the lives of those around you. We need you to tell us and show us how it is you’re clinging to God and trusting him in all things. We need to hear how he has delivered you. We need to see the peace he gives you in the pain.

We’re the body of Christ, and when each part works together as the part God made us to be…that’s how we keep each other encouraged and emboldened to follow Jesus Christ in all things.

I love you, brothers and sisters. Let’s not hold back.