Thoughts on Writing
I started writing these blog posts during the Covid-19 period, when I was not allowed to go to work outside our home. I have written on several topics and with several ideas in mind as to what I might be sharing. If truth be told, I have had a desire to write since I was in second grade. One of my best friends at that time and I used to read Nancy Drew mysteries, and we spent many a day dreaming that we were just like Nancy Drew, solving mysteries. We also talked about writing books like those stories that we loved so much. From that time on, I loved books and reading. I spent much of my childhood reading. Both of my parents were avid readers, and my two brothers and I followed suit.
Over the years of my adult life I have not had much time to read or write. My husband and I married the week after we graduated from college. As a young married wife before children, I worked full time and life was full of daily tasks. Our first children were twin daughters, and by the time they were five years old, my husband and I had five children. Two more would complete our family three and six years later. From the time our twins were born, my life was hectic in a way only mothers understand. But during all of the years of childrearing I managed to read and also to write occasionally, as well as dabbling in other outside activities like trying to sell face and home products, residential real estate, public speaking, some television work, and then finally going back into the work force after my husband’s health had become an issue.
Writing was still that pipe dream, and there it remains to this day. During all of those years, I have wondered what I would have to say to the world if I did write. Would I tell stories, as I had dreamed of while reading Nancy Drew mysteries? Would I share things I experienced while working as a Mom or as an employee? Would I try to become an expert on something that would matter to others? It was all very confusing. I had no particular expertise. I didn’t really have some huge idea that would lend itself to story telling. My stories of employment ranged all over the place, with nothing out of the ordinary. I often would start to write and soon find myself wondering what good my writing would do. I couldn’t get a purpose figured out, and who wants to spend hours doing something that has no purpose?
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit our nation, we were living just outside New York City. I was working at Target just because I wanted something that would bring in a bit of extra money while giving me some exercise and a place to be of use to others. Because I was now of an age that made me susceptible to the worst aspects of this new virus, I took a leave of absence from my job. My daughter was beginning a new career as the creator of several web businesses, and I knew she could help me if I began to write a blog.
The problem still remained, however, of finding a purpose. It still seemed important to have a reason to write, or at least to have something to say that might be helpful to others, even if it was just to have something that would entertain one.
The only thing that I have felt is a thread throughout my life that makes any difference is the fact that I discovered that God exists and that He is a willing participant in life if we allow Him to be. Meeting Him at age 24 completely changed the trajectory of my life (for the better, I must say). And so I have decided to share stories of His direct interaction within a very normal life. I am a nobody, a person who has nothing to recommend me, and yet the God of the universe has made His home in me, and the stories that I am going to share will be those that show Him interacting within a normal life.
It is God who makes my life a series of “Fantastic Events.”