Five Minute Friday: Write

It’s been a little while since I’ve joined Lisa-Jo and the 5 minute Friday community but with a prompt like “write” I really couldn’t resist.

So here are the rules: Basically Lisa-Jo comes up with a weekly prompt and we all write on the same word which gets posted live at 1 minute past midnight (EST). No editing, worrying about grammar, etc.  Just write for five minutes flat. And. . . GO

When I was a kid I was a voracious reader. Like as in I would devour several books in a few hours. It was my favorite thing to do. I was a bit of a loner so reading was my escape, in books I found stories of people I could relate to, characters who were like me.

Eventually my love of reading inspired me to write my own stories and so I wrote, kept journals, created my own characters and I loved it. But then. . . I grew up and I forgot.

I forgot that I like to write. I still read but felt that my words would never be good enough to share with anyone. I forgot that I could write just for me. I forgot that I could do anything just for me. Instead I felt the eyes of the world on me and froze beneath the weight of expectations.

Until just a few years ago I started writing out of obedience, reluctantly at first. Because I just felt it was what God wanted me to do.

And then over time it came back. But first I had to give up my words. They’ve become an offering. Not so that I can write for me but so I can surrender my words to be a blessing for others. I don’t know that they always are but my prayer is that God would use my words to bless and that my writing would always be for His glory.

I write as an act of worship. I write prayers and praise. I write because God is good, always and I need to remember that.

Now, I write all the time. Lists, notes, prayer requests, drafts, blog posts, ideas. I keep multiple notebooks and journals all over the house. I even write notes on my iPhone in the middle of the night so I won’t forget.  And I’ve slowly found community with other writers and now I can say it more willingly.

I write. I am a writer.