Writing For the Lord ~ Thankful Thursday

Well, here it is again - Thankful Thursday! I’m so happy to be able to offer up “Thanks” regularly for the many wonderful blessings I have, whether large or small, significant or mundane. I’d like to offer a special thank you to Iris at her blog, Sting My Heart for hosting this wonderful Meme. If you would like to participate or just read from more thankful hearts, pop on over to Thankful Thursday and join us.

This is going to be a slightly different ‘Thankful’ post for me today. The year is nearing the end, with a new, fresh year full of potential and new beginnings right around the corner. I was thinking about where have I changed or grown the most in this last year. Of course, it would have to be in being a mommy! But that’s a different post, for a different day. The other area that I have experienced great growth and change has been in my writing.

At the start of this year, I felt the Lord impress me to begin writing again and to be public about it. I had no idea what that looked like, but because He is faithful, he took over and has led me to where he wants me to be and He has guided my writing. I am so thankful for this and it is my desire to point others to Him and to give Him all the glory.

He led me to a wonderful site called FaithWriters, an online Christian Writing Group, which allowed me to first get my feet wet and do some writing, which would be commented on and critiqued. I am so grateful for FaithWriters because I did learn and grow in my writing very quickly, and it was there, that I discovered the wonderful world of blogging and was inspired to start my own blog – Seed Thoughts. And the best bonus of all, was the amazing group of writers that encouraged and inspired me, who have become wonderful friends. I am so thankful for each and every one of them. (You know who you are – go ahead, take a bow!)

In April of this year, I discovered blogging, and must say I was immediately hooked. I love this fantastic bloggy world. It is easy to look back and see how God has grown me in my writing, and more importantly, to see how He has used me to spread His word and offer encouragement to others. This blog, Seed Thoughts, has led to starting another one called He Said, She Said which is a team blog with my amazing husband. It gives us the opportunity to offer two perspectives of the same thing, from a man/husband view, to a woman/wife view. I am so thankful for the opportunity to blog on my own and with my husband, and I am so, so thankful for the faithful readers who honor me with their time and comments. Once again, the icing on the cake in the whole blog experience, has been the amazing group of fellow bloggers who continue to bless, challenge and inspire me regularly. The quality of the content of their writing and knowledge of the Word is superb, and I have grown from reading their insights.

As many of you know, I am also participating in NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writers Month, which challenges participants to write a whole novel, of at least 50,000 words, in 30 days. It has been a wild ride, an exciting challenge and a fun experience. It was a deep desire of mine to write a novel before my 40th birthday, and guess what? I will! The challenge runs from Nov. 1st – Nov. 30th and I turn 40 on December 1st. After a rough start, with losing a beloved pet, I am now doing very well and am ahead of schedule! I’m so thankful for this experience and for the motivation that it is giving me to go even further with my fiction writing.

Now, I have big writing day coming up, on Monday, Nov. 24th, 2008. In addition to my regularly scheduled Love Letter of the week, from the His Princess book by Sheri Rose Shepherd, I have two other places where my writing will be featured. I am amazed that God continues to allow me to do this and am so thankful for the continued opportunities.

The first is going to be featured on Julie Arduini’s The Surrendered Scribe blog. She is participating in NaBloPoMo, which is National Blog Posting Month, which challenges participants to post 30 blog posts in 30 days. Julie, who is a wonderful and Godly woman, has chosen a very distinctive way to achieve this. She has chosen the topic of ‘Thankful’ and is featuring a different guest writer each day of the month. As you can probably surmise, I am featured there on the 24th. I am so thankful that she has allowed me to participate and bring my biggest ‘Thankful’ of the year to her blog. If you haven’t been over to read some truly amazing ‘Thankful’ blog post, I highly recommend you do. I’m sure it’ll bless your socks off!

The second other place you’ll find me, is at Take Root and Write, an online collaboration of Christian women writers, who compose words of encouragement, insight and thought for the journey we are all on. I am honored and blessed to be regular monthly contributor there. My monthly column will be an extension of the series I’m doing here on my blog and will be called ‘Choosing Life’. There are many different topics and columns, with dozens of amazing Christian women writers. This is a place that I’m sure you’ll want to spend lots of time. It is a wonderful online ministry. I’m so thankful that Noelle has chosen me to be a regular monthly contributor and share in her vision of reaching and encouraging women as we all go through life together.

Thank you, Lord, for all of these amazing opportunities you’ve given me. You have given me a gift to write and words to say, and have caused me to grow greatly in this. Your faithfulness has never let me down and I know it never will. I know that I am merely your tool, and apart from you, I can do nothing. I am so thankful, blessed and humbled that You have chosen me. In Jesus’ precious Name, I pray. Amen