Writer To
Writer #2
by Karen O'Connor
Give Thanks for
ALL Of It!
I remember a time during the early 80s when my writing world shut
down. An editor I had worked with for
years quit and the new editor and didn't have the same vision. A magazine I had written for regularly
folded. The queries I sent out to garner some curriculum writing assignments
seemed to disappear into space!
I was angry and confused. Nothing like this had happened in the ten
years before. I had published fifteen
books, fifty magazine articles and was a regular writer for an educational
publisher. Then suddenly, nothing
worked. Even my relationship with my
husband and grown children became strained.
I was losing hope that God would restore me.
One Saturday, unexpectedly, I met a woman at a seminar
who shared with me an idea that has changed my life. "If you want to find contentment and
peace," she said, after listening to my litany of woes, "stop trying
to control everyone and everything.
Instead, give thanks for what you have.
Focus on gratitude. Write down
your blessings on slips of paper and put them in a box or a bag. I call it My Blessing Box," she
added. "Soon it will be full to
overflowing. From time to time look at
what you wrote. No one can be
discontent for long with so much to be thankful for. And you just might be surprised at how the
things that plague you now will begin to
clear up..."
I
knew immediately this was something I
wanted to do. My husband agreed to
participate with me. At first it was
hard to imagine finding things to be grateful for in the midst of so much
stress. But we were willing. We started
with a small silver foil gift bag we found in one of our closets, placed a
label on the front that said: "Our Blessing Bag," and set it on a
table in our bedroom where it would be accessible night or day. We made it easy to use by putting a small pad
of paper and a pen beside it.
By November of that year, several months after we
started giving thanks and keeping track of our blessings, our bag, just as the
woman had promised, was "full to overflowing." On Thanksgiving morning we propped ourselves
up in bed and dumped the bag upside down on the quilt. It seemed a fitting day to review and give
thanks for our many blessings--so many more than we ever would have noticed if
we had not committed ourselves to writing them down and saving them in Our
Blessing Bag.
"You
go first," my husband said. So I
grabbed one slip and read it aloud, then another and another. What a joy it was to read and experience
these gifts all over again.
• a three-month contract for curriculum writing
through a friend at a publishing house
• the safe arrival of our first grandchild
• a book proposal accepted at last--after a
season of rejections
• an invitation to speak at the San Diego
Author’s Fair
• a surprise check from an anonymous donor when
we needed it most
On and on I read.
Then my husband grabbed a
handful and continued. By the time we
got to the last scrap of paper we were in tears. How could we ever again doubt that God
provides for our every need.
In the years since I have found the Blessing Bag to be
an inspiring and practical tool in my professional and personal life. Free-lance writing is filled with surprises,
as we all know--unexpected assignments as well as unpredictable rejections and
cancellations. But when we focus on what God is doing right now (we have enough
light for today, enough strength for today, enough creativity for today) and in
everything give thanks, as Paul reminds us to do in Eph. 5:20, then we will be
able to write with joy and freedom--regardless of the outcome.
If we build our writing on a platform of gratitude
then we will be content in plenty (when we have more work than we can handle!)
and in want (while waiting for an editor to make a decision).
A
simple tool--the blessing bag. A
powerful concept--giving thanks. What a different world this would be if each
of us turned our hearts toward gratitude--and gave thanks for ALL of it.
Copyright
2002 Karen O'Connor
Copyright 2002 Karen O’Connor
Karen O'Connor from
http://www.longridgewritersgroup.com
Her latest book, Help,
Lord! I'm Having a Senior Moment… was released in June from Servant
Publications. Visit Karen on the web at:
http://www.karenoconnor.com or contact her by e-mail at:
karen@karenoconnor.com