The idea of teaching writing has been rolling around in my head for a while now. Last week, I was working up my newsletter and this was the original post:
It's been coming up a lot lately that I should consider teaching writing. My initial response to this suggestion was, of course, typical lies from the enemy: You're not qualified. There are better teachers out there than you. What big ideas do you have to share? You're not traditionally published. No one cares what you think. You can't teach a gift...
As I pondered these excuses, the Lord reminded me of a few things. I was a writing tutor in college and enjoyed it very much. I was the editor of a campus newspaper. I have talked to different groups on numerous occasions. I've been writing since I was five. My scripts have placed in 99% of the festivals I've entered. Oh, and I am a USA Today best-selling author.
And then the Lord started giving me some fascinating ideas for a curriculum. Not just teaching story structure and pacing or POV, but ideas on how to deal with sex in Christian novels, how to write characters that get saved and leave the reader wanting that kind of peace. Among other thoughts.
What's my point? Simply this: believe what the Father tells you, not the enemy. He'll lie to you every time, but the Father--he knows you can do all things through his son. What's the old saying? If God calls you, he'll equip you.
I don't know that I'll be teaching any time soon, but I am drawn to the ideas the Lord is giving me. And if they are from him, they'll go forward. And I'll go along for the ride.
What about you? Has the Lord called you to anything that you don't think you're qualified for? Are you listening to God... or the enemy?
Literally, just after I had finished writing the first two paragraphs, my son, who was looking through job ads on the other couch, says, "Oh, here's a job you could do. UNC is looking for a part-time fiction writer lecturer."
I looked at my screen and read my post to him.
And then I cut the post from the newsletter...because it was all too...too something. Scary, maybe? LOL. I decided to hold off publishing it.
But wait, there's more.
A few mornings ago, I opened my laptop and went to Facebook and this was the first post on the screen: The Writing Gals writing conference is looking for proposals for teaching classes at the October conference.
I felt like God had dropped a piano on me.
Now, I know the enemy can get you to follow leads that aren't from God, but there is no reason Satan would want me to teach writing aimed at how to make Christian fiction more real, more heartfelt, and more believable. NOT cheesy. So...
I believe the Lord has given me a lot to think about. Bwahahaha! What do you think?
