Waking the Sleeping Giant

Young Girl Reading. Jean-Honoré Fragonardc. 1769

Have you ever gone to an event and felt right at home, right away? As a certified ambivert-leaning-introvert, that feeling hadn’t ever really hit me before in a social setting. That is, until I attended the Catholic Writers’ Conference in late January.

Sure, it was a virtual conference, but the topics and the side conversations all of the attendees were having spoke to my very soul.

There’s nothing quite like sipping coffee early in the morning and hearing someone verbalize the deep-seated dream you’ve had for years, but were too afraid to whisper.

We need stories. Good stories.

The most convicting line of all, though, came during a session I tuned into while sating my hunger with a Cava bowl my husband graciously picked up for me. The talk was about spiritual warfare intermingling with our craft as writers, and a speaker proclaimed these words:

“You were given the gift to create with words, just as God creates with words.”

Those words took my breath away. I had never felt so validated in this calling as a writer.

You and I are truly made in His image…and God is the author of life. His Word is living.

Hearing this affirmation over my field of expertise just soothed my soul…all while kindling a new flame of potential. Over the past year, I have been stoking my creative flames and just doing my best to flex my writing muscle. Now, I want to take it a step further…

I want to write a book.

Being totally transparent right now, I’ve sat on this post for quite some time, realizing the implications of this dream. It probably doesn’t sound revolutionary, I know. But putting this hope out there makes the dream all the more real.

What will it be about? Well, I have a few half-baked ideas right now. They’re not much, but I know that, if the Lord wills it for me, He will pave a way with my ideas. I just have to be open and respond to Him.

I encourage you to take a look at what you love. Why don’t you go ahead and do the thing? We all have something planted on our hearts, something that comes from a place deep within. I challenge you to pursue that, whether it’s in your writing, your vocation, your new hobby, or whatever it is that sets your soul on fire. Go, do the thing. You were made for it!