In Which I Start Writing

Photo by Wilhelm Gunkel on Unsplash

Allow me to pull back the curtain for just a moment — we’re all friends here. Quite literally. You, the people who will read this, are men and women I see in the halls at church. You’re longtime friends who have known me for twenty, even thirty-plus years. You’re my loved ones — my mom, my dad, my sister.

So, with the audience defined, I want to share a little of my writing journey. Some of you have been on my email list since the spring of 2023, when I took a class on “Writing and Publishing for Ministry” with the late Dr. Adrianne Miles. You have my sincere thanks for your support and your patience with me! I’ve had a pattern over the past few years of writing one email (two, tops), then going radio-silent for six months or more. It’s easy to blame those gaps on schedule or workload, but the real culprit is perfectionism and its old pal, procrastination.

A friend has been encouraging me for some time now to push past the need to finely tune my words and to start writing. Write for the people you know, she said. Write for those you know and love — they’ll give you a safe place to think out loud and untangle your thoughts.

I’ve had a desire to write for as long as I can remember, even going back to my childhood. (I used to do “book tour interviews” in the shower, but that’s normal, right? Don’t answer that, please.) I believe that the Lord has given me gifts as a writer, and that those gifts are intended for the building up of his body, the church. I want to exercise those gifts and grow and develop as a writer. That requires . . . writing. Hence, my friend’s wise advice: start writing.

So that brings us here. Actually, it brings us to two weeks ago, when I last wrote in this space. I made a commitment to myself at that time: to write and publish every two weeks. I didn’t announce it with any fanfare, because let’s be honest — my track record of holding to any kind of writing commitment isn’t great. But I did tell one or two friends, and those faithful friends have checked in. One of them texted me two days ago:

(Side note: friends like this are one of the Lord’s kindest gifts!)

So now . . . that brings us here. Two weeks after my last post, here I am. And to be honest (once again), this is not what I intended to write. I planned to write about my current study in the book of Joshua, the promise of victorious rest, the triumph of King Jesus, and the rest he secures for his people. I may still write that. I’m tucking it in my “ideas” folder for now.

But as I sat down to write, I heard my friend’s words once again: write for those you know and love. So, remembering the faithfulness of those friends who have held me accountable, I’m doing something that feels incredibly risky: I’m opening myself up to greater accountability.

I’m committing to you — the friends and family who have my phone number, could knock on my door, will see me in the halls on Sunday — not just to start writing, but to keep writing. I don’t have a content calendar or a fully-stocked folder of drafts ready to post, but I’m committing to show up here again in two weeks.

If I’m honest (and why stop now?!) I want to delete this even as I’m writing it. That’s not because I fear the commitment, but because I find myself wondering, who cares?? But so many of you have told me that you care about what I have to say. You’ve shared with me ways that the Lord has used my weak, imperfect words to encourage and strengthen you. You have given me the confidence to say, “The Lord has given me gifts as a writer.” You’ve affirmed that in me, and you’ve encouraged me to use those gifts. So I’m committing to you that I’ll do just that.

I promise not every post will be quite as raw, unfiltered, and off-the-rails as this one. You can expect to find regular reflections on the resistance of living a peaceful and quiet life to the glory of God. Lord willing, those reflections will be more finely tuned than this morning’s, but I can promise you they won’t be perfect. I’m okay with that, though. Or at least, I’m learning to be okay with that — learning as I simply start writing.

---

P.S. I wrote the post above in another app, then opened Substack to copy and paste. Here’s what I saw on the default home screen for Substack’s editor:

😂 Message received.

---