An Invitation

Marcia Lee Laycock was the winner of the Best New Canadian Christian Author Award in 2006. Her devotionals have been widely published. Visit her website - http://www.vinemarc.com/

Someone once asked me if I wasn’t a writer what would I do? I immediately thought of all the wonderful creative pursuits I’d love to indulge in. I paint a little and would love to do more. My mind sometimes seems to work like a camera so I’d love to be a photographer. My daughter has made me cry when she danced and I’d give a lot to be able to move to music like she does. And music … oh my, to play the piano or guitar or … well, I could go on. I can think of a lot of things to do and I think many of them would satisfy my need to create.

Thoreau wrote: "We are continually invited to become who we are." I believe I am continually invited to become a writer. But sometimes I find that path hard. It takes determined effort and no small amount of discipline. Sometimes it seems a heavy burden. Sometimes I wish I could do anything else other than write.

It need not be so. When I trust in the God who continually invites me to be the child he created me to be, faith grows. When I draw close to Him, the effort and struggle slip away. In those moments I move into that wonderful state called grace. In those moments writing becomes a state of being rather than a state of doing.

Eugene Patterson’s paraphrase puts it like this - “Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly” (Matthew 11: 28-30, The Message).

God continually invites us to become what He created us to be, His children, designed to live a life of joy and abundance, savouring His grace and mercy. He has opened the way to achieve that by giving us all a creative process, a framework within which to work, a unique way of keeping company with Him.
No matter what you are invited to become, the invitation to do it joyfully with Him is always there.