In God’s eyes, He created us equal, but apart from His eyes, we have a unique path to follow, and the resources we use along the way, determine who we are. As fiction writers, we create from our experiences.
When I first started to write, I struggled because growing up, I believed abuse, rejection, striving for acceptance and being told I wouldn’t amount to anything were a normal part of life.
But God is faithful. He knows our hearts. To reshape mine, he moved me two provinces away, and into a “searching for God” Bible study. Bit by bit I learned my idea of how things were, really wasn’t how things were at all.
Real love is unconditional. Children make mistakes. Children test their boundaries and still grow up to be productive citizens. The hunch left my back, and at thirty years of age, I could sit up straight for the first time. I turned my hurts into healing by writing and talking about my experiences so others caught in the same web would know there is hope, know there is life beyond pain.
For those who encounter difficulties in speaking about their experiences, journaling is a wonderful key to start the healing process. Abuse forces us into ourselves, makes us ashamed of what happened. Fills us with guilt. Journaling offers privacy to pour out hurts and rejections onto paper, enabling us to accept their validity, and thus begin the healing process.
This type of journaling should remain private until the pain is resolved because good writing brings hope, and without resolution, hope cannot prevail.
My experiences are a wealth of knowledge in writing inspiration. Hope shatters pain, and is what I strive to give my readers. I share my experiences so my hurting reader knows I can identify with them. Then I let them know, I rose above the abuse because someone helped me believe “I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Although pain has marred and pitted my life, it does not control me. I control it, using it as a tool to minister to those caught in situations I have resolved. Because I know I am fearfully and wonderfully made, I can share without feeling the welts I felt all those years ago.
You can get a taste of Eunice's wonderful stories of healing at her blog
www.whirlwindwords.blogspot.com.
We all must endure pain in this life. The Bible tells us in this world we will have trouble. Not that we might have trouble. We will.
If you don't experience trials, feel persecution on some level, you might want to relook your walk. When we share Jesus with the lost world, through verbal testimony, teaching and our stories, we are promised some rejection. Christ after all was rejected.
Some of my favorite writers have suffered abuse to some degree. All of them have endured trying times. Writers that readers really connect with are the ones who get real and emotionally naked--bear their souls to convey the truth of their stories.
One of the things as writers we need to constantly strive for is removing our masks. The mask that doesn't want to write about that because then we have to relive those feelings. The mask that shows a superglued smile while inside we are coming undone. The mask that tells others that they're the only ones who sin or suffer.
As Eunice said, when we do get real and write from our gut, from our pain, we will bring healing and hope to others, and not so surprisingly, to ourselves also.
"They that sow in tears will reap in joy." Psalm 126:5
Powerful, hopeful, truth. Thanks for sharing Eunice. And for your comments, Gina.
ReplyDeleteI love Isaiah 41:10's proximity, to your post. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. - Amen!
Eunice,
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing this article. I get so caught up in the process of writing, in the dream of publication, that sometimes I forget the wonder of it all-- that God gave me a gift and He will use it-and the experiences I have had-to touch others. I've heard it said that God gives US gifts FOR others. I've had one particularly painful experience that I would love to write about someday and minister to others. In His time...
Janet
Maybe there's truth to the old adage, "Write what you know." If our knowledge and experiences are the treasury for storytelling, it stands to reason that the deeper our experiences, the more potential for connecting with people. Isn't that what II Cor. 1:4 implies: "[God] comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received..." If God's called us to write, it only stands to reason that He will deepen our experience -- allow us to endure great hardship -- as part of the process. As Tozer said,"Before God can use a man greatly, He must hurt him deeply." Thanks for sharing, Eunice. Love the pictures on your blog too.
ReplyDeleteI pray God uses your pain to reach others, showing them His healing power. Thank you for sharing, Eunice. You're right - God can turn our pain into blessings as we share what He taught us.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing, Eunice. Great article.
ReplyDeleteEunice, you are such a lovely lady inside and out. The two things I like best about your writing is the way you capture nature, you've got a real gift for that, and also the deep emotions they evoke in me.
ReplyDeleteGod's got huge plans for you!
I once read that being a writer means opening a vein and letting it spill out onto paper. We can't hold anything back, no matter how dark the memories. If life were all good, there would be nothing to write about. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteMany institutions limit access to their online information. Making this information available will be an asset to all.
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