On Writing, Ministry Calling, and iPad Blogging

It's been so long since I've had the time and luxury to sit down and blog. When I do it, I realize how much I miss it and need it. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a born writer - and by that I mean that it seems to flow from me and always has. Formal education in English and a career in communications has honed it, but it was in me - breathed into me by a gift-giving God - long before I learned how to do it well.

I recall a Thanksgiving when I was about 9 or 10 years old when my mother told me I could say the blessing in front of our entire family for our Thanksgiving meal. She mentioned this several days prior to the holiday, and in retrospect, I strongly suspect that it was because she knew I had the ability to do it and that I would take it seriously. This may sound odd to Christian families whose children frequently offer a pre-meal blessing or lead their families in daily devotions or prayers, but I was raised Catholic, and our prayers were of the more memorized and predictable sort. My mother was asking me to go bigger. And with the intuition only a mother possesses, she knew God had called me to something special...a life that would involve teaching, writing, and Him. And here was an opportunity to step out and do all three at an early age.

I would give anything to still have a copy of the prayer I wrote that Thanksgiving. I remember taking great care in writing it, taking seriously the opportunity to say something meaningful to and about my God, about gratitude, and about the blessing of my family. I don't remember the prayer I wrote but I do remember that it took up nearly four pages of college-ruled paper...front and back! When the time came, my Mom's lovingly prepared meal laid out on the table, and my family gathered, I stood up with my 4 sheets of notebook paper, hands trembling, and felt the Holy Spirit draw me into ministry for the first time in my life. My family was moved and touched, and I was called. I know no other way to describe it. My love for the power of words, of language, and of its ability to impact lives began that day.

As I write this...from the BlogPress app on my new iPad...I realize that this great love has never diminished. I love writing every bit a much as I did that day. I do a whole lot of it everyday and will be doing a great deal of it in my new job, but I need a place to write from my heart and not just from my mind. When I spend days on end writing white papers, ad copy, product descriptions, and technical-ese, something in my soul just withers. I've come to realize that when God gives you a gift, you can use it for many things, but your soul will only prosper when you are using it as He ordained at the moment of it's impartation.

I've been stoked about my iPad from the moment I put my hands on it (seriously...it's an addictive and empowering blessing), but the freedom and flexibility to write and minister from it have rendered me profoundly grateful.

When did you first recognize God's call on your life, and are you operating in that gift the way God ordained? I hope so!

-Lea

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad