Writing

For the Write Reason

I LikeI started writing because I love to write. I started blogging because I wanted to share what I write. And I started using social media so I could share what I posted in my blogs. My desire was that something I went through or something I wrote about would help someone else—that someone, somewhere would be encouraged by my words or my struggles, my victories and failures.

Somewhere in the midst of it all, it’s tempting to lose sight of why I started writing to begin with. The world of blogging and social media can so easily be gauged by how many views or likes a post gets. Instead of writing for the love of writing, and sharing words for the love of people, we start writing for the love of approval. We feel validated by the views and likes, or discouraged by the lack thereof—and so write to fill our own fuel tank of emotional need. The end result is writer’s burnout.

When we write merely to validate our existence, or to gain approval from others, we lose our sense of purpose. A compass set to others’ opinions is bound to take us off course. The judgments of man are constantly changing. What’s trending one day is forgotten the next. I don’t want to write to be popular or well-liked. I want to write from the heart, words that will stand the test of time and eternity.

If I have only one reader who was encouraged, inspired or changed by my words, it’s worth more than a million viewers following a passing trend.

Lord, use my words to make a difference in this world—for now and for eternity. Find that one person who needs to hear what I have to say, and let them be blessed by my humble offering of words.

Beyond Average

Blog_ColoringChalkMy six-year old niece hired me for her fashion design company once and that’s as close as I’ll ever get to the profession. As clear and elaborate as the princess gown ideas were in my mind, the end results were nothing more than stick figures wearing lopsided triangles. It was enough to appease my niece, but in comparison to even the most amateur in the field, my designs were average.

This seems to be the case in much of my life. I can sing my lungs out doing the dishes but I’d likely get laughed out of an American Idol audition. My cooking keeps my family alive, but it won’t land me in the Master Chef kitchen. As for looks, I get by, but I don’t turn heads. Even my name is average. There’s 1,423,950 of me in the U.S. and I’m sure that number multiplies exponentially in Jens, Jennys, Jennas and Jennifers around the world.

I’m okay with average in some areas of life. It’s not like I really wanted to be a fashion designer, anyhow. But I do want to go beyond average in the way I live, the way I love, the way I serve and the way I write. I want to live with purpose, love without reservation, serve with excellence and write with passion. I want to use the average I’ve been given to do something that makes an extraordinary difference. Something beyond…average.

“For it is by GRACE you have been saved, through FAITH—and this is not from yourselves, it is the GIFT of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do GOOD works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph 2:8-10)