From Edie: Martin Wiles shares how Christian writers can find the strength and courage to keep writing through life's interruptions, difficult seasons, and unexpected challenges.
When Life Interrupts Your Writing: Finding the Courage to Continue
by Martin Wiles @LinesFromGod
Life’s twists and turns came, and I wrote through them.
My writing began in earnest forty years ago when I began supply preaching. Like dear ole’ dad, a lifelong preacher, I wrote my sermons out in longhand.
When I decided to further my education by going to college, I added journaling. One of my professors required us to keep one, but I maintained it long after I finished that course, even after I graduated. Later, my middle brother, daughter, and I hiked and backpacked monthly in the mountains for several years. I added another set of journals to document our adventures.
In 2009, for reasons unknown to me, I began writing devotions and started a blog (www.lovelinesfromgod.com), which I still maintain. Along the way, I’ve added articles, church and Sunday school curriculum for publishing houses, twelve books—some traditionally published and some self-published—and contributed to two anthologies.
By God’s grace, I still write, despite life’s twists and turns—and there have been many. Divorce, deaths, COVID, a hurricane, family crises, caregiving, and most recently, my wife’s cranial surgery.
Six years ago, her headaches sent her to the doctor who eventually arranged an MRI. The test showed a meningioma—a skull tumor that can press on the brain. Her neurosurgeon at the time suggested watching it annually to ensure it didn’t grow. Surgery posed stroke risks. So we did. Until it changed.
By this time, my wife had no regular neurologist, and her family doctor watched the tumor. She suggested a trip to a specialist at MUSC in Charleston. After looking at her MRI, he said, “Unfortunately, you were given bad advice. The tumor should have been removed when first discovered.”
Two weeks later, he operated . . . successfully. Although my sweet wife had a few rough days and some initial stroke-like symptoms, she has now fully recovered.
Far be it from me to judge anyone’s response to trials and suffering. We all respond differently; our situations are unique. This, however, I know: we can keep writing through life’s twists and turns.
I’ve known quite a few writers who have stepped away temporarily and some who walked away permanently. If God leads us that way, then, by all means, we should lay down the pen. But more often, I think he wants us to keep writing through it (whatever the “it” is). And I’ve known many writers who have done that.
Paul says it well: We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation (Romans 5:3-4 NLT). And we can write, too.
I’ve discovered that the twists and turns provide ample writing material for fiction and non-fiction alike. The twists and turns try to steal our time and focus, but with God’s help, we can find a little time—even if it’s only one hundred words—and focus on putting one finger in front of the other.
Don’t give up, writer. God will give you the endurance to keep writing through life’s uncertain seasons.
TWEETABLE
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