Last week I joined Hope writers. It was a big deal because I spent actual money on my writing career. I only bought one month at a time partly because I wanted to see if the group was valuable, but also because it’s hard to assign value to what I write.

After devouring numerous HW lessons, I learned that even though I’d finished a memoir and written a proposal, I wasn’t really ready to submit. Not without a focused, effective platform. Not without clearly knowing my readers. Not without knowing how my writing can serve their needs.  Apparently, I’d done so many things backwards, wrong, or not at all.

Yet one of Gary Morland’s lessons energized me to start anew. He pointed out that promotion is not about promoting ourselves, but the life-giving message God has given us to share. And so, with a younger friend’s help, I dusted off my less than perfect blog and created a post that responded to Gary’s insight.

Almost immediately a positive comment appeared. And almost immediately a hot tear streamed down my cheek. I choked back sobs, embarrassed to display such an extreme reaction to a single affirmation. When I tried to explain my feelings to my friend, I found myself saying, “If I hadn’t carried the heavy chains of shame for so long, I’d have no compassion for those also bound. And If I hadn’t experienced the flood of God’s love, I’d have no relief to offer my readers.

Perhaps Gary’s lesson not only unlocked my reluctance to promote my memoir, but also a certain level of unbelief. At 66, I’ve already lived most of my life. I found Christ at 29, and yet spent far too many of those years, focused on my mistakes and regrets that Jesus had already paid for. But pressing the publish button last week, broke the dam of self-recrimination.

In my life, like my writing, I’ve done so many things backwards, wrong, or not at all, but that is the crux of my message. God is never surprised and completely able and willing to recycle all my junk for my good and his awesome reputation. Maybe I’ve hidden my story under a basket all these years because I didn’t fully believe this. But to write a story and find it affirmed by even one person is freeing for a writer. To read a story and see yourself in it as accepted, even loved, is freeing for any soul who receives it. To share a story and change lives is to partake in the mystery and power of our redeemer.

Here is a link I’d like to share from another Hope*writer. https://www.pamelahenkelman.com/blog/new-year-new-identity-to-know-christ-1