Heed the Call
I doodled on the edges of the blank page. My eyes, blurry from peering at its white vastness, strained to stare a story into place. They said I should write a book. But that was years ago. Its November 2023. Fidel thinks you should write a book. He’s only read a few of my stories; does he know what I am capable of?
Self-doubt seized my hand so that it could only turn in circles and curlicues on the edge of my notebook. My other hand rubbed the edges of my chair, willing the words like Aladin rubbing the genie’s lamp.
It’s not that I don’t have stories; it’s that I have too many. How do you ever start something so daunting as writing a book, especially a memoir? Something that makes you vulnerable, exposed, pregnable.
I looked out the window as the breeze bowed the linden trees. Lord, are you calling me to this? If this were His calling, I must heed his voice. This current mission is no different from the one that called us to Cambodia two decades ago. Give something of yourself back to the world—He will provide and protect. I believed this. I saw it firsthand. I knew He was trustworthy. What I did not know at the time was the cost, which was exorbitant. And the reward, which was incalculable. A new mission, a new opportunity to trust, a faithful God who will guide.
Tentatively, my hand scribbled loops and arcs across the paper—words from memories to ink on the page. And so it began. Now, two years later, that book, written and published, sits on my shelf, smiling at me, singing of what we can do when we go beyond our comfort zone and heed the call.
What is God calling you to do in this season of your life? Is it big or small? Exciting or daunting? Are you going to play it safe and put down the pen? Or will you sit there and wrestle with God until there is no other way around it? Share with someone this week that faint voice of a call. Put pen to paper to write it down, tuck it away, pray with it, then let someone know what you heard.
