Called to Write

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By Kathryn Haueisen

I can still clearly remember one particular day when I was a teenager reading in a wingback chair. What I remember most clearly is that day I realized I want to be a writer. That idea planted a seed that has sprouted into a lifetime working with words in a wide range of contexts.

At that point in my life I had no concept that God calls people into certain places.  My childhood exposure to the Christian faith was minimal. My father’s relationship with the church was non-existent. My mother was a perpetual visitor, often taking me along to check out various denominations. In high school I participated in Christian community through a friend who recruited me to assist at her church’s summer VBS program. The world of faith and Christian community really opened up for me when I met and eventually married a young man whose whole family was deeply rooted in their faith tradition.

When I was a young mother looking for ways to connect with the world beyond sippy cups and refereeing preschoolers’ arguments, I wrote freelance articles. More importantly for our family’s financial health, I sold the articles. I still had no sense this might be a calling of some sort. At that time, I just knew I loved to write and how helpful it was to occasionally get paid to do so. Looking back over those early years, I see the vast majority of my work was religious non-fiction. Most of the checks came from faith-based magazines and publishing houses.

The concept that writing could be a calling began to crystalize while on a walk with a church friend. She was telling me that everything God had to say was recorded in Scripture and that was the end of that. While there is a scripture passage about that, I think she misinterpreted what it means. I recall thinking, That can’t be right. I’ve been encouraged and inspired many times by what modern people have written.

In addition to writing magazine, newsletter, and newspaper articles, I’ve published five books. My conviction that God cares and guides us has been a sub-theme in each book, even though four of them aren’t specifically about religious concepts. My goal for my writing is to inform and inspire others to make useful contributions to our global village.

I believe God still has a few things to say to his beloved people and often works through writers to invite people to strive for justice, forgiveness, reconciliation, and mutual respect. In my congregation we sometimes sing the hymn, “Listen, God is Calling.” God continues to call us to use our passions, experience, and opportunities. For me part of answering that call is to write.

For several years my writing efforts have focused on researching, writing, and pitching my next book, Mayflower Chronicles: The Tale of Two Cultures. Thanks to Green Writers Press this historical novel will be published in 2020, in time for the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the famous ship. As I’ve become more familiar with the passengers on that ship, I’ve been amazed at their faith and fortitude that led them to sail to New England in 1620. I was surprised to learn that within hours of meeting the local Natives face to face, they worked out a peace treaty. As a descendant of two of those passengers and as a writer, I feel very much called to tell their story. My understanding of God’s love for all people motivates me to do so.

God still calls people to write words that offer help and healing as part of God’s love and compassion for his beloved. @AuthorKHaueisen #ACFWBlogs #writing #writetip Click To Tweet

Kathryn Haueisen writes from Houston, Texas where she lives with her husband and a spoiled poodle. She loves to visit her family and travel to explore new places to write about. Her weekly blogs at www.HowWiseThen.com are about people and programs making the world a better place.

 

 

 

 

 

Comments 1

  1. Don’t know if writing is a calling,
    or it’s simply what I do.
    When things had become appalling
    writing helped me tell what’s true.
    Cancer’s not a welcome guest
    though it did come bearing gifts;
    and of these, perhaps the best
    was something I had always missed.
    Standing in the gallows’ shadow,
    each moment’s lived here and now;
    in this place I’ve come to know
    that I must tell all this, but how?
    Thus, of course, the need to write;
    a calling, or a way to fight?

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