Earlier this week, I woke around 3:30 am and no matter what I tried, I simply couldn’t go back to sleep. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon. I often have trouble either falling asleep or waking too early. The burden of being a light sleeper has plagued me since my nights on call as a family physician and delivering babies at any hour. Even with the CPAP I now use, my time of rest is short. But at least I don’t snore anymore! Where is hope in this weary world?
Typically, the cause of my poor sleeping habits isn’t due to problems breathing but the fact that I can’t turn off my mind. At times, it’s worries that consume my thoughts. But anymore, it’s often stories in my head, twists in a plot line, or details I need to add to my present work in progress that keep me awake.
This writing thing is an obsession. I know I’m not the only one who goes through this. It’s the force that keeps authors writing the next chapter of their next book. Like a consuming torrent, it can’t be contained until all the words are spilled out upon the page.
Last night, my thoughts ruminated over what “felt need” my writings address for my readers. Defining this is important since it reveals “why” I’m driven to write and why my work should be published. I came to the conclusion that within almost every piece I pen, there is a thread of hope.
People need hope like they need water. Hope is the motivation that keeps life worth living and society as a whole is greatly lacking in this crucial commodity. Even Jesus followers feel tired and worried about the future. Through the art of story, I’m offering hope in this weary world.
All in all, I’ve completed two novels and have a third in progress. The Last Guardian extends hope that a marriage on the rocks can be saved and the darkest of souls brought back from the pit. The Dream Chaser offers hope within a desperate situation—survival and the fulfillment of dreams in spite of a civil war lasting fourteen grueling years. And my latest work, Grady’s Gift, reveals hope that God will forgive our greatest mistakes and redeem them for good. Even my children’s picture book, Shadow and Bubba’s Great Adventure gives hope that when we wander far from home, God pursues us in order to bring us back to Himself.
HOPE
This is what I must talk about when I pitch my work to agents and editors at upcoming conferences. If I can draw them in with my “why” then I hope my story will keep them reading. Offering hope in this weary world is my goal. Publishing has the potential to extend this message to all those who desperately need a word of encouragement today. Jesus is my ultimate hope. The art of story is one conduit through which He reveals His hope to every corner of the globe.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 15:13 NIV
*Photos courtesy of Canva
