Cheering squad

About 6 months into my journey to become a real-life author, I started praying seriously for clarity. Was this just a hobby or was writing God’s post-retirement plan for me? Me, the woman who’d been writing and hiding swoony novels for the last decade or so. Or was I delusional? At my age, I didn’t want to waste my time or His.

Hoping for insider intel, I joined an intense Christian fiction writer’s cohort. Among other assignments, our savvy leader (hi, Ginny!) urged us fledgling authors to build our social media platform now, before we needed it. When the group made enthusiastic noises about Instagram, I balked. I’d pulled the plug on Twitter several years ago, doggone it. I wasn’t about to get sucked into another time-waster.

Eventually, goaded by my peers and resisting in every pore, I tiptoed onto Instagram, sure no good could come from this. I set up an author’s account and created a few on-brand posts of 70’s music and images. I scrolled around and found my favorite Christian authors, followed them, and started commenting on their posts. To my astonishment, they replied with kindness and endured my rookie blunderings (egad, the number of times I accidentally direct-messaged them. The mind reels. No pun intended.). Even though I didn’t have a published novel, they cheered me on, treating me like part of the gang. Amazing.

Where was the much-mooted cold shoulder? The cut direct from these award-winners? I’d expected a serpentine dash across no man’s land and wandered into a church picnic instead, complete with shared recipes and pretty vacation photos.  

I watched them joke with each other and their readers, respond with warmth and prayers, frolic in flowery fields, share research finds. They were always genuinely blown away by fan-made aesthetic reels depicting their novel’s setting or soul. They glowed, not gloated.

Hardly able to believe my eyes, I asked Jesus for a fresh dose of wisdom. Could this writing life, complete with social media bells and whistles, possibly be His will for me? Have you even noticed how often Jesus answers your question with a question? This was a doozy: Does this pursuit draw you closer to Me?

That’s when the dawn came up like thunder. Because of this welcoming cloud of witnesses, I could answer the Lord’s question with a resounding Yes.

Yes, Lord, I want to live out the Christ-like humility and generosity I see in the sweet authors of Instagram. To share their openhearted joy in serving the Lord they love with the gifts He’s given. To take the bushel basket off this little light of mine and let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. Rah!

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us…” Hebrews 12:1