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The Seasons Of Life For The Christian Writer

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven” –Ecclesiastes 3:1

I’m not entirely sure how long I’ve been a writer. I wrote stories in my head before I could write them on paper. I would lie awake in the quiet dark of night and spin a tale of intrigue in my head that I promptly forgot in the morning. It didn’t matter, though. The next story was just a day away.

I wrote on paper while in elementary school, my stories often influenced by my teacher’s writing prompts and introductory sentences. Those stories never felt like they were truly my own. Instead they were an extension of my teacher’s imagination. For a time, I hated writing.

I learned to type in high school and writing took on an entirely new meaning. My fingers could now record the stories, poems, and essays as quickly as the words came to my head. I wrote often, and journaled for myself. My teachers seemed pleased with my work and my writing increased my GPA.

In college, I discovered the influence of writing…to others and to myself. I took classes and honed my craft. In the days that challenged my faith to the core, I found that God met me in my writing and allowed healing there. Truly, some of my best writing came from those dark nights of seeking.

In my twenties and thirties, I wrote little. I lived much. I fell in love. I became a wife, later a mother. Life was full and my journals collected dust. Every time I moved them from room to room, I dusted them off and thought, “Tonight, I will write!” only to forget that moment as toys, laundry, and homeschool that piled around me.

The forties came with the realization that my children needed me less and I needed me more. I felt lost and alone. Those that I had poured my life into were living their own lives. In the moments of wondering my own worth, I fell back on what I knew…writing. I wrote…and wrote…and wrote. In that writing, I found myself again.

The wisest, who penned the book of Ecclesiastes, said it best…

life is a series of seasons.

Lately, my life has consisted of a myriad of migraines, and for this season, writing has, once again, been pushed back. The years have taught me, though, that what goes around will come around. I will write again, either in this season or a new season.

QUESTION: What about you? Have you noticed that your writing ebbs and flows around the seasons of life? I’d love to hear your story. (Click here to leave a comment)

* Image credit: jasohill (Creative Commons)

Comments

  1. says

    I was in the middle of writing my memoir when my husband and I went to Israel, initially as a volunteers, then working for a congregation. The memoir went on hold for the near 2 years we were away. 

    I found this frustrating but I also matured in my faith and as a human being while away. I learned Hebrew which brought a new richness to the OT for me.  I learned about prayer at work. The memoir, She Does Not Fear the Snow (which was my original working title), will be out in March. God’s timing. 

    • says

      Isn’t He good, Bobbie? It’s so hard for this human heart to understand that His timing is perfect, mine is not! 
      I can’t wait to read She Does Not Fear the Snow. 😉

  2. says

    I have experienced seasons as well. I think this current season will last for the rest of my days. I always wanted to write, but for many, many years, I did not understand that the gift of writing was not for self-aggrandizement. God gave me the gift for service to others. I had to do a lot of growing up in the faith before I was ready to be a “professional.” Today I know that my gift is for serving others and sharing what God gives to me. We often talk about the gift of money and acknowledge first, that we should be stewards and give offerings to God proportional to the gift, and second, that we should use the whole gift in accord with God’s purposes. For me, the gift of writing is to be used the same way. While I will always need to use the skill of writing in many different ways, not all of them in the realm of “professional” writing, I will always be using God’s gift when I write. I had to mature a great deal before I understood that when God gives a gift, it always continues to require stewardship that recognizes his sovereignty over it.
    I’m still learning what that means, and I rejoice in every new insight. This season is a very rich season for me.

    • says

      I love how you say… this season is a very rich season for me. I failed to mention, in this article, that every season has been rich… just in different ways. 😉

  3. says

    Absolutely! Sometimes it just flows out of me and other times it will be days. I’m trying to make it more consistent. You wrote a BEAUTIFUL book that touched me immensely. I hope this season of migraines passes quickly.

  4. says

    Absolutely. During highschool I wrote very little. In college I wrote tirelessly. Now that I am in seminary I am more disciplined about what and when I write but its become such an essential part of me I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I didnt.

  5. Mills says

    I’m writing from India, and the more I read your accounts, the more you remind me of  the last of my four elder sisters, who is passionate in whatever she does. A zoology teacher at school, she is a good writer, speaker – particularly in church gatherings. In a class of almost all Hindu students in small town schools, she used to introduce boys and girls to good bible stories, the peace that comes with christian way of living et al. And years after leaving school, many used to call her still. 
     Black, white or brown; western or eastern; rich or poor, it seems, we all think alike Heidi.  Thanks for your wonderful memoirs. Hope those migraines go away soon.

  6. says

    Heidi, I could relate to you on so many levels. We homeschool, kids are in high school this year and I am in the exact spot as you. Thanks for sharing, reminding me that my path is “right” for me now. In God’s timing

  7. Betty Draper says

    Heidi, I have been hopping around to night on Godly Writers.com and so glad I landed on your post.  You are a wise hearted woman and your word spoke volumns to my heart tonight. 
     Early years up till I got saved at 35 were actually was full of wounds that only a Holy God could heal.  I do remember writing in a couple of diaries but honestly all I wanted to do was escape.  After salvation I begin to write as if there was a well that had been plugged up and released.  God took all of what I thought was wasted years and used them for His glory.   In our 40’s we went into missions serving in Bolivia, South America, which is a story in itself.  My husband and I were both from very disfuncional homes and God ask us to be dorm parents.   Talk about a bold step for God yet He walked every miles with us.  Those were busy, busy years caring for others children along with our two, I journaled little.  A few more hard times in our 50’s, little came out of me except, help me God to come out of this depression brought about by putting my eyes on man.  He is always true to His Word, ask and you shall receive, it just took about a year.  But that year was not a waste,  I know, I know, I know in whom I have  believed in.  So off we head to Papua New Guinea in the latter half of our 50th…another adventure, only by then I knew how quickly the adventure wears off when you buy a one way ticket to a third world country.  I picked up face book as a need to communicate and started blogging those dark night when I could not sleep.  I have written nothing in the form of a jounal this last speeding years but have captured my few words in my blog.  What an adventure blogging is.  Now I have a small circle of blog friends who keep me encouraged to write.   Yes, a few seasons have passed and now I am in the early winter season. 

    As you can see, sometimes once I start I can’t get stopped.  I think I have hit on something tonight though as I type.  I am going to pretent someone is questioning me and I will answer the questions from the seasons of life.  You have inspired me..God has used you in this simple woman life. Blessings my sister.