“Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart”
-William Wordsworth
When I began this blog, I just wanted to share pieces of our SCIDS story, to give encouragement and hope to those struggling in sickness and suffering. The journey we walked, almost losing our daughter, was a long, painful road with many twists and turns, but demonstrated God’s grace, mercy and love toward us, in powerful ways.
Inside the depths of our suffering, He reminds us that He is with us, He shows us grace and mercy to take the step needed for today. We begin to see that if we surrender to trust, our eyes widen to see pieces of what He is doing, to recognize the work of His hand, the answers to prayers, and the small gifts He gives us along the way.
This was the “breathing of my heart” as I began.
As the story itched to be told, I began to write. As the year went on, I began sharing more writing; reviews on books I was reading, learnings from a life overseas, and curated lists of articles which I enjoyed and thought would be helpful to share.
Maybe it seemed like I had an easy time writing.
Truth be told, it is often a struggle.
I’ve read that there are two sides of a writer: the side that longs to tell the story, to share a truth, and then the other side that cowers in fear to the question “why would anyone read this anyway?”
This perfectly explained me.
I’d get excited about writing, the spark of a new idea, an important truth rediscovered helped me to 'pen' my thoughts. Yet, once it came time to click ‘publish,’ I would second guess myself, thinking that it wasn't really worth reading.
It has been good for me to battle through this struggle. This feeling of ‘good enough’ has been rooted in my attitude of perfectionism (which I have been learning, is not a helpful attitude, but mostly unhelpful) which is the antithesis of creativity. Thus this practice of creativity in writing, has given me many, regular opportunities to work through the fears and trust that words can touch someone, somewhere, sometime, as God allows
Learning to trust who God has created me to be is challenging. There is much to be said about accepting who we are, as indwelt children of God, given gifts of passion, character, skills and abilities. We play the comparison game, we long to be someone else, to be better at this, and stellar at that.
May this confession of my heart, bring you encouragement today, that God has created you to be you. With the passions and desires He has planted inside of you, He has designed you with a great purpose, to bring Him glory and to serve others.
So through these "beatings of my heart", I pray God would stir and encourage yours, and continue to stir mine, that we would live a surrendered life that abides in the Vine.
You may have already seen these articles, but I thought I'd share the top 5 articles on the blog for this year:
As you have been following the blog and my writings, is there anything that you would like me to write about? What are you struggling with the most, that you are looking for some insight in? Which was your favourite article that you read?
I would really love to hear your thoughts, to help equip you in the coming year! Send me an email from the contact form, or through facebook!
Thank you so much for reading. The fact that you stop by helps me to keep writing. Be blessed as you make plans this new year, to glorify your Creator and serve those around you.
Have you struggled with sharing your gifts with others? How does the truth that He has created you for a great purpose impact you today?