One Talent

For years I was busy with the important work of raising our four children. I'd always longed to write, but I believed that if I honored God by focusing on my maternal calling while my children were young, He would provide another avenue of service in His perfect timing.

Like a skilled surgeon, God used circumstances to cut some things out of my life. I didn't know that I was in surgery and it was a painful process, but those experiences allowed me to begin writing for God.

I felt as if I'd finally dug up my meager talent and put it to work in His Kingdom.

It was a great feeling of liberation, but I am very conscious of the fact that I'm only a one-talent writer in a world of many two-talent and five-talent writers.

Sometimes I wonder about if things had been different -- if I had completed my education and begun writing as a young adult, if I had continued writing during my childrearing years -- wouldn't I be a much better writer? wouldn't I have achieved some status? wouldn't I have accomplished more for Christ's Kingdom?

When these thoughts cross my mind, I ask myself: Do you believe God is sovereign or not?

That alone ought to be sufficient for me to shut my mental mouth, but God reminds me that all of my experiences and the wisdom He's imparted to me over the years contribute to the writer I am now.

So instead of thinking of myself as struggling to find my writing voice, I dust the dirt off my one-talent and put it to work.