I’m getting ready for a writers conference. It’s funny because two years ago I hadn’t even considered myself a writer. Sure I like to write, but that’s different. Is it? So how did I make the leap from writing to calling myself a writer?
I was having lunch with some leaders from church when the woman next to me mentioned that she was working on a children’s book. I had no idea she was a writer. I started to ask her questions because I had recently started thinking about writing a book about the Bible. (Go big or go home, right?) I wanted it to be something that would help people read the Bible. It had really been a tentative thought, one that’s not voiced for fear of the listener’s reaction. But here I was sitting next to a very kind woman who had just disclosed to me that she is a writer. She proceeded to tell me about an upcoming writers conference through an organization she belongs to. I had more questions. She graciously answered them. One day later I was registered for my first writers conference a mere two days away.
I don’t think I would have found that conference if she hadn’t shared that she was writing. That conversation and conference were turning points for me.
I recently led a group of people through the entire Bible. It started much the same way. A casual conversation after church in the entry way while eating ice cream. Four of us were gathered chatting when questions about the Bible came up. “Is it in order?” Well, technically, because it starts with Genesis and ends with Revelation. I like to think of it more like a library with books in groupings. A library doesn’t shelve its books based on first acquired. Books at a library are shelved by topic and category. The Bible is too. Sure there are some history books that are in order, but there are also groupings of books like the Prophets in the Old Testament and the letters in the New Testament.
As they asked more questions I suggested maybe we could gather and read through the Bible as a group, figure this stuff out together. They liked that idea and our journey began.
Do you know someone who is also interested in learning about the Bible? Do you know someone who is already reading it? Simply mentioning your interest to someone you know may bring you one step closer to opening your Bible. Can’t think of anyone? That’s ok, too. We’ll do this together.