To write or not to write

I am having some difficulty with the concept of having a blog. What is it all about really? Why, when I have no trouble journaling with pen and paper, does my mind go blank when I sit in front of my blog? I need to examine the reasons that I arrived at this place to begin with.

I have always loved to write. I now call myself a writer because I know it is just a part of me. It may never be my livelihood or career but it is in me to write. I love to see how words properly placed can have such an influential effect on others. I love when something is described so fully that you can almost see or taste it. Something becomes alive just by how the words are put together. Reading books has been a passion of mine since I can remember. As I mentioned in my last blog, I used to read the dictionary! Words are a beautiful gift from God.

I began this blog through a natural state of progression it seems. I love to write, people have told me I have a gift for writing. I have been journaling for years and taking various writing courses. I am involved now in B.L.A.S.T. which is Building Leaders, Authors, Speakers and Teachers. It is a one year mentorship class, taught by author and speaker Shannon Ethridge. We are halfway through our year and it has been an amazing opportunity to hone my writing and speaking skills, to encourage others in my small group to reach out and grab what God has for us. It also is an opportunity for me to step out there and trust that God has me in this place for a reason.

I am reminded as I look at the name of my blog site, 2EncourageFreedom&Forgiveness, that that is what it is all about. In my pride I forget sometimes that it is not all about me. I was given this platform by God to encourage others in the experiences or words that He gives me. I know that is the mission that He put in my heart and if one sentence or blog entry can do that for one person then Hallelujah! I may never know if it does but I need to be faithful in the little things God calls me to do. He will do the rest. I read Job 38 today and was reminded that we just don't need to know some things, we just need to trust God who is bigger than all those things.

A man speaking at our church this past weekend said something that impacted me. He was talking about the difference between accepting that Jesus was his Savior and then all the things in between that moved him to committing to his Savior. There is a huge chasm between accepting things and committing to them sometimes. Although I related that to my spiritual journey with Jesus, it also struck me that it applied to my writing. I have accepted that I am a writer, that it is a part of me. Am I ready to make the move to the commitment of writing?

Anne Lamott said it best in her book 'Bird by Bird'. " You are desperate to communicate, to edify or entertain, to preserve moments of grace or joy or transcendence, to make real or imagined events come alive. But you cannot will this to happen. It is a matter of persistence and faith and hard work. So you might as well just go ahead and get started."

So as you can see, my mind did not stay blank. It is amazing what comes out when you just go ahead and get started!