You Might Be a Writer IF...

You might be a writer if…someone asks you to explain what your day was like and you actually tell the person—in the long, drawn-out version instead of the condensed short story.

To the best of my recollection, this is how I began. It started with that first writing assignment in school and then progressed to the high school newsletter. My writing pen lost its shine a bit during my college years and was promptly replaced by an electric typewriter and a desk job in Washington, D.C.

In 1978 I was born again of God’s Holy Spirit and married the following year. I began to experience the reality of the spiritual realm and learn to know His voice. My husband Tom and I had three children together with out-of-the-ordinary circumstances surrounding each of my pregnancies.

As I shared these stories with family and friends, almost every one of them would say, “You should write that down,” or “You should write a book.” I liked the idea of picking up a pen once again, so I did as they suggested.


One day I pondered the possibility of having my multitude of notes compiled and published. “Lord, I will only do this if it is Your will.” I had recently written a letter to the editor of a Christian magazine, so I prayed, “Lord, if you want me to pursue publishing, let this letter be printed in the next issue.” (I was really into asking God for signs back then.)

Well, wouldn’t you know it—the letter was in the next issue of that magazine! Not that I would call it a miracle, but I believed it was my Heavenly Father’s go-ahead signal. I submitted my manuscript to only one publishing house whose representative sent me a rejection letter—a very kind one—I should mention.

I thought perhaps I had ‘missed’ God and the book was to be a manuscript I would hand down to my children. So I dismissed it.

One morning not many days later, Tom and I were just waking up and he blurted out, “The Lord gave me a dream last night. I am supposed to publish your book.” And that is how The Mommy Manual (With Notes for Daddy Too) came into existence. (See the “Published Work” section of my blog for more information.)

Life with a husband who worked at home, three children, a cat, and a turtle kept me busy, but I did squeak out a couple of articles that were published. Still I did not think of myself as a ‘writer’.


I have learned, however, that the people of God go through seasons. Women especially go through defined periods of time when they marry and have children. We choose to set aside aspirations only to pick them up again later.

Being an author was never a goal of mine, but lately more ideas for books have sprung up within my mind. Having gone through the arduous process of self-publication, I shoved them to the files in the back of my brain. “No way am I going to go through that process again, Lord,” I told Him. "Not unless You show me in a BIG way." I prayed this even though several years ago, He spoke clearly to my spirit that I should not be asking for signs for every situation; BUT:

You might be a writer if…the Lord Jesus Christ sends a stranger to confirm it to you. But that’s another story…