When I was at Queens University for Teachers College in 1995 and 1996, we had to develop a project for one of our courses. I don’t recall the name of the class, but I remember creating a game for children based on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S Lewis. I had a lot of fun putting it together. I created a game with the necessary pieces and the places on the board. I think I was given a good mark – no memory of it! I kept it with me after I graduated and took it with me into one of my interviews along with various other projects.  I remember how well the interview went because I was excited about sharing my hope for engaging the students with actual tools I would use. I am a visual learner, and anything hands-on works for me. It always has. Taking this into the interview, I could show them, not just tell them, the joy I have in creating an environment and material for kids to flourish. I don’t think I’ve ever been able to get the joy of creating in my spirit. I love it. Little did I know that one day God would take this creative energy and allow me to pursue writing three books and another one on the way Spring 2025 (more on that in a few weeks! Stay tuned!)

My sister, Paula, also attended Queen’s for Teachers College. She ended up teaching in South America for a few years, and while there, she purchased a gorgeous leather bag as a gift for me that I still have. I have binders full of letters, notes and many documents I sent to publishers in this particular bag. I have journals with ideas for books, hopes and dreams. One of my original manuscripts for my first children’s book lives there! I looked it over and thought to myself what a marvel it is to have it now published! That was over 20 years ago. This leather bag became a place to keep my writing tucked away. It was a long wait before I could pull out early drafts and work away on them. I had to live while I waited. Despite many rejections from publishers (what felt like a zillion!) I couldn’t stop living!

After completing Teachers College and beginning my career, I didn’t really think about publication; I just created for the classroom and survived my first year as a grade two teacher! After a few years, I came home to raise my family; ideas began to transpire. I made prototypes to send to publishers.  A dear friend of twenty-five years, who was with me every step of the way, would look after my kids while I ventured off to the post office to submit another book to a publishing company. She was always there cheering me on, and she does this very day. Thank you, Jolanda! I carried that leather bag from my sister with me; it was beautiful and meaningful.

Every answer I received from a publisher was a polite no, and eventually, I started to get the hint that this was not working, so sheepishly, I went back to the bookshelf and put it away, asking myself, “I wonder why?”
It’s okay to let things go. It may be for months or many years. That does not stop you from living well. The journey to motherhood was an unfolding gift in my life! My calling and work were right in front of me. The leather bag was always there, ready to be opened and words to be written and rewritten. But that did not have to be what defined me: the success of a publication or the failure and rejection of another book. Who I was and who I was becoming was a woman who wanted to serve God in all I was doing, so I had to let things go and focus on what was right in front of me. I still loved to write and create; I had other ways of doing that – in my journals and a blog I began in 2007.

As I unpacked this leather bag (and the black one in the photo) the other day, I found early notes and manuscripts that made my heart burst! It was neat to see these pieces, read through them, and reflect on them all these years later. God was not done; he began work in me and is still working on me! We are always a work in progress, and when we trust that God knows our path, we can confidently walk forward.

When we read the Bible and let his word wash over us, the dreams that we hold too tightly may be what he asks us to release.

Perhaps longer than we want, but it is always worth the wait if it is his plan. A dear friend once said, “If it doesn’t glorify God, why are you doing it?” A good question that made me stop and think through my choices and motives!

God knows the plans he has for you and me. We have to lay our hopes and dreams at his feet and trust that he will do what he can only do in perfect timing! Creativity comes from our perfect Creator! Right from the first words we read in Genesis 1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” He begins with creating! It is no surprise to me how much I enjoy creating – God started it! I am grateful for my early moments of creating and writing. It was a beginning and even though I could not see what he was doing, he was paving a way.

 

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.”

Ephesians 3:20

Beautiful songs to reflect on waiting on the Lord

 

2 responses to “LIVING WHILE YOU WAIT”

1. Fun walking with you in your reflection of waiting over the years…we are impatient people and don’t like waiting but we are better off when we do. God honoured your wait. Look where you are now. The best wait is on the Lord as He tells us huh?! Love the songs. So much meaningful worship. OX

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   • Waiting is so hard but there is fruit in the waiting and you taught me that!!!!!

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