Colleen James

Tag: writing for God

  • Why I Write

    Photo by lil artsy on Pexels.com of a woman writing in a notebook

    Hello again. My youngest is a little over two months old now, and I have had a growing desire to write again with each passing week, so here I am. It feels a little crazy to be jumping back into this hobby, I’ll admit.  My little baby is still so demanding, and I am finding a hard enough time managing some of the basics of life right now. But I want to write again and have things to say, so I shall try.

    Years ago, I was discouraged from writing altogether when I confided in someone I knew that I hoped to make a living out of writing someday. I was told there was no money in it (which I believe to be true at this point!) and that I’d be better off finding a stable career. On other occasions, I have let discouragement eat away at me when I have seen what few followers I have for my blog, and although that does not upset me so much anymore since I’m largely focused on other things now, I can still be discouraged when I see that few people have read a blogpost that I felt was especially worth reading.

    On days when discouragement weighs me down, I wonder what’s the point. Why do I put the time and effort into writing something that seemingly has such little impact? But then I think of Eric Liddell.

    Eric Liddell was born in China to missionaries in the early 1900s, and he eventually became a missionary there himself. But he was also a fast runner and saw that God gave him an ability for the sport, so he competed in the 1924 Olympics in Paris before submerging himself onto the mission field.1

    According to the movie Chariots of Fire, which is based on Liddell’s life (and where I first learned about his story), his own sister tried to discourage him from racing at one point. She didn’t understand how he could entertain such a notion when God had called him to be a missionary to China. She saw this “hobby” of his as a waste of time and distraction. But Liddell gave her a response that not even she could argue about.

    He told her,

    “I believe that God made me for a purpose. But he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.”2

    Eric Liddell

    Much like Liddell, I believe that God made me for a purpose too, which includes a number of roles at this stage of my life. But I also believe that God gave me an ability to write. And although I would not quite put it in Liddell’s exact words, I sense God compelling me to use both this gift and the words He gives me to bring Him glory. So, although I may never make any money with this talent or make a huge impact from it, I write because I know it pleases God, and that alone is enough. I pray I’ll never lose sight of that.

    My friend, I hope you can sense God compelling you to use the gifts and abilities He has given you too, especially on those days when others (or your own inner voice) would discourage you. Let’s not give into the voices that would try to dissuade us from doing what God has intended for us to do.

    After all,  “…am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10).

    Let’s choose to seek God’s pleasure and to walk into the good works that He has created for us to do.

    “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

    Ephesians 2:10

    1 https://www.christianity.org.uk/article/eric-liddell

    2 https://firstliberty.org/news/how-an-olympic-runner-and-a-postal-worker-gained-strength-through-faith/#:~:text=Liddell%20promises%20Jennie%20that%20he,%2C%20I%20feel%20His%20pleasure.%E2%80%9D

  • The Unexpected Blessing of Blogging

    Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels of hands on top of each other in a circle

    I began this blog in the fall of 2019 when I sensed God inviting me on an adventure with Him. Excited about the idea, and not wanting to forget any lessons learned along the way, I decided to document the journey as it transpired. Little did I know of the adventure awaiting just a few short months down the road! This journey has been much more epic than I could have ever imagined, and God has been teaching me so much throughout this past year and a half.

    Soon after beginning my blog, I realized what a good outlet it was for me. My family and I had already experienced nearly a year of semi-isolation due to some health issues my son was experiencing, and it was easy to feel lonely and to question why God would allow our current struggles to be part of our lives. Starting the blog gave me a sense of purpose through our struggles, however. It also provided a means of expressing my thoughts and feelings on a regular basis—something that had become harder to do now that I was home alone with my son a lot more.

    Several months later, my sense of purpose in blogging grew as illness became a worldwide issue and concern. God gave me ideas throughout that time that I knew would be relevant to our current reality. He encouraged me in the months to follow with different Bible passages and insights, and I prayed that others would be encouraged and experience renewed hope alongside me as I wrote.

    Now, over 18 months later, I am so grateful for what this blog has meant to me and for the comments I have received on how it has encouraged others. Perhaps one of the best and most unexpected blessings from blogging, however, has been gaining a sense of community throughout this journey.

    I’ve always considered writing to be a solitary activity. It is for me, at least. But as I have posted my writings and started readings posts from other bloggers, I began to see a community forming in front of me. I started following the blogs of talented, godly women and noticed that many of them also began to follow mine. And as we all wrote and commented on each other’s blogposts, it felt like God was giving me friends through this means.

    After a year like the last one, where my family and I experienced even greater isolation like many others did throughout the world, I can only say one thing about the camaraderie that I’ve gained through blogging.

    Only God.

    His timing for this blog was perfect, not only so that I could encourage others through a pandemic, but so that I could receive the encouragement I would need, and so that I would be challenged to grow in my walk with God amidst the present-day difficulties.

    So, thank you to all of you who have been faithfully following God and sharing about your journeys while encouraging me on my own. I admire you, and you inspire me.

    Sometimes I think of what it would be like to have you all over for a brunch or tea. We’d all sit around my dining room table and share about the most recent lessons God has been teaching us or the most impactful blogs that we’ve read of each other’s. And after hours of talking, eating, laughing, and deep connection, we’d pray for each other and encourage each other to keep writing for God’s glory. Perhaps we would end our time together by planning our next rendezvous several years down the road, in a different country in one of your homes, or perhaps in just another state (or city).

    I don’t imagine that we’ll all get a chance to meet in person like that, much less have subsequent reunions afterwards. Not this side of heaven, at least. But if any of you are ever in my neck of the woods, mi casa es su casa. I hope you’ll contact me so that we can meet and mutually encourage each other in person, much like we’ve already been doing through our blogs.

    In the meantime, I pray that God would immensely bless each of you. And may He continue to be Who you write for, guiding your thoughts and words so that you keep blessing and encouraging others through them, just like you have blessed and encouraged me.