You might have guessed that there are lots of things I love about being a writer, or I wouldn’t spend so much of my time writing! One friend of mine said, “If I knew I had to get up in the morning and go to an office to write, it would be worse than having a dentist appointment!” Obviously, I don’t feel that way!

So let me tell you about some of the things I love about writing before I tell you what I love most…

—I love retreating to my office when I’m scheduled to write–Tuesdays, Thursdays and at least half a day on Wednesdays. It adds structure to my days.

 Someone asked me once, “What if you don’t feel like writing on one of those days?” I replied, “I go up to my office anyway, by faith that the Holy Spirit will enable me to do what God has called me to do. I don’t depend on my feelings.”

When people ask me to do things on one of those days, I usually say I’m not available, just as I would if I worked for someone else–unless the Holy Spirit prompts me to do what they’re asking. If someone comes to our door (especially our little neighbor girls), I usually go downstairs and spend a little time with them.

—I love discovering someone else who wants to write. “Beth,” the almost fourteen-year-old who visits me, usually comes to visit after my writing day is over, but last week she came earlier on a Thursday. Donn answered the door and came upstairs to tell me Beth and a friend were here. I “saved” my work and ran downstairs to invite them in.

We visited for a while and then to Beth’s surprise, I said, “And now I need to get back to work.”

“But we came to visit you,” Beth complained.

“I know and I’ve given you quite a bit of my writing time, but you know I’m a writer and just because I’m at home doesn’t mean I’m not working.”

Beth’s friend, “Anna,” asked her in an excited tone, “Is she a writer?” Beth nodded. “I want to be a writer!” Anna said.

Now I was excited! I always try to encourage writers—especially young ones. I asked Anna what she likes to write, and we talked about that for a bit.  I told her I’d helped do a writer’s workshop for students her age at a nearby high school a couple of times. Then I added, “Let me get my writer’s scrapbook*, and I’ll show you the first story I ever wrote.”

I ran upstairs to get my scrapbook from my office and showed Beth and Anna my first story. I don’t know my exact age but the story was printed, not written, in a clumsy hand that showed I was quite young. Then I flipped through the rest of my published work, saying, “I want you to realize that it is possible to do something with what you write,” and I talked to them about the freelance writer’s process.

Then Anna told me she had started writing a book, and Beth said, “Me too,” so I invited them upstairs to see my office and my published books. You may think I was giving away a lot of my writing time, but I didn’t feel that way since it was related to writing. As I walked with them to the door, I invited them to bring me something they’d written sometime, and I’d be happy to take a look at it.

—I love how the Holy Spirit drops ideas into my spirit for my blogs. Donn has even gotten pretty good at saying, “Maybe there’s a devotional in that,” when I tell him about something that happened to me.

––I love doing research when I’m writing historical fiction. In fact, I love doing research almost as much as I love writing! I feel like a detective as I follow the clues.

—I love my book events that satisfy my love of people and speaking. Writing is quite a solitary occupation which the melancholy part of my temperament enjoys, but the sanguine part of me loves being with people and preparing and giving talks. My book events are like a drink of fresh water to my “people-thirsty” soul.

Now here at last, the thing I love most about writing…

—I love hearing from my readers that the Holy Spirit has used something I’ve written to speak to them, encourage them, comfort them, help them grow, or bless them in any way. This is what I love most about writing. It encourages me, let’s me know someone is reading what I’m writing, and reminds me that what I’m doing is worthwhile.

Not too long ago, a friend told me that someone asked her, “Do you think Daisy makes anything selling her books?”

My friend’s response was completely on target. She said, “I think Daisy’s writing and her books are a ministry.”

(Everything I make selling books goes back into my book ministry, except when people insist on paying me more than I’m charging. That “extra” money goes into an account to do something I want to do, usually with Donn.)

My writing is a ministry and sometimes God knows I need the encouragement of knowing that people are reading and being ministered to by what I write. The past few weeks has been one of those times, and I heard from three different readers in about a week and a half. I’d like to share their messages with you:

From a woman who came to my book launches and became a reader and my friend. Tears came again as I read this just now:

  Hi….thankfully took time to read more of [Homespun Faith, The Rest of the Story] Volume 2.  As I am waiting for a PET scan…several tests discovered I have a renal tumor… Chapters..Jesus is the Rock, God’s Waiting Room and Facing the Giants , huge impact….I have been learning patience (again..haha) and struggling to trust God fully. Worrying Wondering Figuring. Your words helped me! When I left…I was singing… One Day at a Time. Thank you!!

From a dear friend who buys and gives away my books to friends and neighbors. She says: This message came from my neighbor. I read p. 63 of Homespun Faith [Reflections From the Seasons of Life] last night and need to read it for the next month to get it in my brain. Tell Daisy. I am so thankful for her. I am so thankful for you giving it to me and for LOTS of other reasons. God bless you all and Daisy and her family too.

From another dear friend: Your book – Homespun Faith {The Rest of the Story, Volume 2] – is helping me cope with this awful political turmoil. Thank you, Dear friend, for daily encouragement to rest in TRUTH.

Almost always, the things I write that help others most are lessons I’ve learned through difficult times I’ve gone through—or may still be going through. But as I often tell others when talking about the hard things I’ve gone through, Nothing is ever wasted.

First of all, God works these difficult things together for good, if we love Him and are called according to His purpose, and uses them to conform us to the image of His Son if we cooperate with Him (Romans 8:28-29).

God also uses the trials we go through to prepare us for the work He has for us to do in His Kingdom, whatever it might be. My mother went through many trials in her life, and it made her into the person that people in the community knew they could turn to for counsel and prayer. She was fond of saying, “I don’t have any letters after my name except B.A.” (Born Again)

She was prepared for her ministry by what she’d gone through and her close walk with the Lord. Her funeral on a weekday morning at the large church where it was held was full of people who loved her, many of whom had been at her house in their times of need—one of them even coming to the nursing home for prayer and counsel.

So what I love most about writing is knowing that people are being helped by reading about my life experiences, whether in fiction or nonfiction form. When a friend told me she had finished reading Homespun Faith, The Rest of the Story, Volume Two, I said, “It’s kind of sad isn’t it?”

 She shook her head and said, “No, it makes me realize that if you could go through all that you’ve been through and survive, we should be able to go through almost anything.” 

All glory to Jesus because without Him, I wouldn’t have survived! His grace is sufficient for me.

*If you’d like to see the published work in my writer’s scrapbook, it’s in the menu on my website under Through the Years Scrapbook.