Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Rejection, Rejection, Rejection


Guest post by Beth Ann Farley

Eight months ago I felt this strong tug to leave my cushy full time job to start writing from home. It Was December 2012 when I stepped down from full time employment to part time at a busy public library. It was no easy task.

Six months after my decision, I became ill. I went from doctor to doctor, had test after test performed and was finally diagnosed with a kidney disease. God’s calling for me to write became a huge challenge, one of which I cried many times over the keyboard. After all, didn’t He know how sick I was? Didn’t He know I had bills to pay? I was petrified.

I remember the first day sitting at my computer in ready-set-go mode with swollen ankles and cramping fingers. I didn’t feel well but I began to write. I started with learning how to put together a small blog; then a friend of mine got me in touch with someone who got me in touch with someone else and that became a domino effect. I’ve now written book reviews, interviewed authors, and have written published articles. However, I’ve received many rejections along the way. I continue to write through the stuffy noses, cramping fingers, various aches and pains and the REJECTIONS.

What do I do when another rejection shoots across my computer screen? First, I walk away and get some fresh air and think about the goodness in myself. I can easily start to reject myself and that’s not what writing is all about. The other thing I do is I get into my prayer closet, (anyplace that I can be alone with God) and I rest in the fact that He has called me to this and He will pave the way. I will tell you what I don’t do; I don’t give up or lose hope. I am a confident woman who has accepted the calling through the affliction of illness. I am, we all are, survivors of rejection. It’s part of a writer’s makeup. In my opinion, rejection makes us better writers.

Beth Ann Farley lives in Kansas City, MO with her husband and six grown children and 13 grandchildren. She writes for bookfun.org; Too’n town magazine and the Mid-Continent Public Library. She has also been published with Landline magazine & Teachers In Focus. Her poetry has been published in Sweet Freedom written by Jennifer Slattery. She also co-hosts, with four other ladies, Living by Grace, a faith-based Facebook community. Visit her online at: http://firsthalfday1.wordpress.com.

6 comments:

  1. Good on you Beth Ann! That is encouraging as I am walking a somewhat similar journey with getting into writing and living with chronic illness. Good to hear inspiring stories like that :)

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    1. Thank you. It's a journey for sure with chronic illness but I stay focused on what He's called me to do. blessings.

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  2. Ditto, Beth Ann! Just because I have a chronic illness, doesn't mean I can't write. In fact, the only place I'm truly comfortable and relatively pain-free is in my recliner -- which just happens to be where I write. Thanks for the encouragement, this morning, Beth Ann!

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  3. God will bless your faithfulness. Sometimes writing is the only way I can block arthritic pain. Thanks for an encouraging post!

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  4. I love the reminder to focus on thinking about our own goodness. We do have a choice about what "voices" we listen to, and it is so easy to get torn down by what we perceive as rejection of ourselves. Thank you for the encouragement and the reminder to pray. It is all in God's hands.

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  5. Wow, perfect timing as I was just diagnosed with a disease that finally puts a name on my pain. Your post was very inspiring. Thanks!

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