Writer's Request

"I want, dear God,
to follow Your lead,
to write Your words,
to plant love's seed."

"So, using this gift
You did impart,
teach me how
to touch a heart."

"Help me to pen
salvation's plan,
of how You've loved
since time began."

"Whisper the words
and I will take note.
In poet's terms,
Your thoughts I'll quote."

"Then on that day
when humbly I stand,
head bowed low,
heart in hand,"

"Let it not be said
my deeds were few
or that this poor soul
You never knew."

"Proclaim not that
my faith was weak,
but that Your will
I did diligently seek."

"Then I will look
upon Your face,
with tear-filled eyes,
and know Your grace."

I penned this poem in the year 2000. I had been praying - pleading - with the Lord to show me what talent I might have to use for His service. Why it never occurred to me that writing might acutally be that talent, I don't know. I have always loved how words, when placed together in just the right way, seem to sing. I love poetry, especially the old poets: Frost, Longfellow, Whitman, Tennyson . . . the list could go on and on. But, my own feeble attempts at writing always fell short in my eyes. When God finally put the thought in my mind that writing was my talent, I was unsure. So, still doubting, I submitted and said, "Lord, if this is the talent You want me to use for You, show me how . . ." The year that followed, God provided one need after another, in unbelievable ways, to send this single mom to her first writers' conference in Glorieta, New Mexico. October 2001, right after the terrorist attack, I climbed on a plane fulling trusting God to protect me. The devil didn't want me there. Many tried to talk me out of the trip and I was sick as a dog the entire time (didn't know I was allergic to Mountain Cedar). But, the conference was wonderful! I learned a lot and made many contacts in the writing world. Still, one rejection letter after another and the busy world of having two jobs to make ends meet took their toll. I stopped submitting my work for others to tear apart. My writing slowed, then stopped completely. But, the longer I have gone without writing, the deeper and darker the emptiness inside of me seems to grow. That said, this blog (suggested by my cousin Carol Ann - thanks so much for the encouragement), is my attempt to get back on track; to find the missing part of me by picking up the pen again and sing through my poems and prose praises to my Lord and Savior.

Forgiving Father, reawaken the poet within me. I rededicate my passion for the written word to Your service. I am not complete without doing what You designed me for. ~ Amen