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| A selection of my books |
I stood in front of a group of women not long ago and made a statement that I didn’t know I was going to make. As the words poured out of my mouth I realized they are true. I said: “My writing is not a hobby, it is not a career, it is my ministry, what God has given me to do.”
It has taken me many years to understand that, many years of not knowing what to say in the face of the opposition that has come my way. Much of it, sadly, has come from fellow believers in Christ.
There was the time my faith column was suddenly cancelled in a local newspaper. When I called the editor to ask why she said there had been complaints. I knew of one woman in the community who often wrote vitriolic letters to the editor about my stand on Christianity but that had been going on for years. “No,” the editor said, “it’s not that.” She finally gave me enough information that I discovered the complaint had come from a female pastor who had just moved to the community. I was stunned and asked my readers and friends to pray. About a week later the editor called and said, “Will you please call off your hounds?” She was getting a flood of emails and even phone calls from all across the country and beyond, challenging her decision. Again I was stunned and assured her I had not asked anyone to contact her. “Well, maybe we can come to an arrangement,” she said. The column was reinstated the next week; I would write it in rotation with writers from the other churches in town, including that new pastor.
I couldn’t help but smile.
Then there was the day I had a launch for my first devotional book, Spur of the Moment. I was excited and arrived at the library early to set up my display and wait for the hordes to descend. Only that didn’t happen. No one came. No one. It was especially hard when the librarian asked, “Didn’t your church know this was happening?” I choked back tears as I mumbled, “Yes, they knew.”
But that book is now in its third edition. I have had emails and letters from all over the world expressing appreciation for how it has made a difference. God has used it to move people’s hearts and draw them close to Himself – a teenager who had walked away from His faith; a woman who had considered making a commitment to Christ for many years but had never done it until reading Spur of the Moment; a young engineering student far from his home in India who gained the strength to continue his studies because of something written a small book that, when it was launched, looked like a failure.
The Apostle Luke wrote: "for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. (Luke 21:15 NKJ)
It’s not a hobby. It’s not a career. It’s a ministry. When it is God’s work, you don’t quit, even in the face of opposition and discouragement.
Because when it is God’s work, God always wins.
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Marcia Lee Laycock writes from central Alberta
Canada where she is a pastor's wife and mother of three adult daughters. She
was the winner of The Best New Canadian Christian Author Award for her novel,
One Smooth Stone. The sequel, A Tumbled Stone was short listed and her fantasy novel, The Ambassadors recently won a Word Award at Write Canada in Toronto, Canada. Marcia also has two devotional books in print and has contributed to
several anthologies. Her work has been endorsed by Sigmund Brouwer, Janette
Oke, Phil Callaway and Mark Buchanan.
Abundant Rain, an ebook devotional for writers can
be downloaded here.
Visit Marcia’s Website
