It’s easy to focus on
the negative in the world around us. In observation of a month many dedicate to
counting their blessings, I’ve started a 30-day challenge in which I’ll focus
on one aspect of my writing life for which I am thankful. I’d love to have you
join by sharing about something that has blessed your own writing life in the
comments section below. - Jen
Wednesdays are the hardest day of the week for me to get any
real writing done. My day starts with me heading out the door at 7 to meet with
a couple of the high school students from my youth group. After that I spend
the next eight hours sitting at a desk. If I’m lucky, I run home for 30 minutes
to grab a quick bite to eat and then it’s off to Youth Group, which I am
currently leading. Come 9 o’clock I’m usually pretty brain dead. Once I walk
through the door all I want to do is put on my jammies and zone out for a
little while before conking out.
Wednesdays are also the most rewarding day of the week. I
get to spend a good portion of my day interacting with an amazing group of
young men and women. It’s such an incredible blessing having the opportunity to
be a part of their lives — to be trusted with their confidences. And it’s not just on Wednesdays I have
that blessing either. They contact me all throughout the week with updates,
questions, and prayer requests.
Occasionally a group of them will call me up on the weekend
and want to hang out outside of youth activities. We’ve spent Saturdays at a
park climbing over the jungle gyms. We’ve followed long dusty trails along
rapid flowing creeks. We’ve spent afternoons combing through new book titles.
We’ve also gotten more than a few stares from Toys ‘R Us employees. (OK. I
suppose it does look odd for a 29 year old to get THAT excited about a new Lego
set, but can you blame me?) And as I type this, I got a text inviting me to one
of my student’s 16th birthday parties this weekend. I don’t know if that makes
me cool, or just really odd.
All of this is a roundabout way of saying I am thankful for
my youth. Their excitement is infectious. It inspires me. And so much of what I
write in my fiction has stemmed from my interactions from them. Rarely a week
goes by without them asking about my work in progress. They think it’s so cool
that their youth leader is trying to get a book published that is targeted to
their age group. (You’d think there wasn’t anything available for them, but
it’s also a huge ego boost for me when I’m wrestling with a stubborn scene.)
Best of all are Wednesdays like yesterday where I had the
privilege of witnessing the spiritual awakening and rebirth of a 12-year-old
girl. The image of the peace and joy shining from her eyes will stick with me
for a long time.
I have a quote by Thoreau above my desk that reads: How vain
it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live.
No Writing Wednesdays are the perfect reminder of that.
It's amazing exactly where inspiration can come from. How exciting it would be to pick up a book and when a character is introduced to be able to point and say, "My youth leader wrote that based on me!" I know when I've told people that I'm working on a book several ask me the same question, "Can I be in your book?"
ReplyDeleteSuch a blessing! Thanks for sharing!