Ancient Words

As Christian writers we strive to include a spiritual thread in everything we write—or we should. If we don't what makes our articles and books and short stories any different from the secular world's? It certainly doesn't have to be blatant; subtlety works just as well. Look at the stories Jesus told, for example.

Since I was a child, I've always had a fascination for the Word of God. One my parents both nurtured in me. And over the years I've grown in my love for it (though I haven't always nurtured that love and desire as I should have). As a result the Lord has gifted me with the ability to remember and apply scripture when praying and, as He emboldens me, when counseling.

At the recent CCWC the Lord gave me strong confirmation that this indeed is His purpose for me: to encourage others to return to the ancient truths revealed in His Word. These truths are alive and very apropos to our world today.

I was part of the JOY of Rediscovering Creativity clinic. Several weeks in advance we were each given a name of another person in the clinic to pray for, send encouragement to, and then to bring a gift to present to that person during one of the clinic sessions. It was wonderful to sit in on that session and listen to the various stories people told as they gave their gifts—stories of how God had directed their thoughts to give just the perfect gift to someone they didn't know.

Tiffany Shaw got my name. She handed me a gift bag. Then explained how she had gone to my Web site and blog to find out as much as she could about me. Then she had the idea to use her photography skills for my gift. Reading my Web site, she learned that shevet meant a writer’s tool. So she gathered old pens, a couple of ink bottles, and the Bible, arranged them into a lovely still life, and photographed it. When I pulled the framed picture out of the bag, I was amazed. Such a powerful picture of how I view my writing and editing. (It's the picture at the beginning of this post. Tiffany doesn't have a Web site up yet, but if you want more info about her photography, click here.)

Isn't it so neat when God confirms what you suspect He's doing in your life? My prayer is that each of you (whether you're writers or not) would see/hear that confirmation, as well.