Writer Endurance and Encouragement
by Jan Powell
(Romans 15:4-5, ESV).
“The journey is not simply the destination—no, the journey is also the wilderness.” Lou Kaloger
My college physical education teacher told me I ran funny—not words offering encouragement. In my thirties, I had recovered from his criticism and chose to jog my first Gasparilla 5K.
Alone in the middle of thousands of runners, I heaved and sweated like a real runner. Since I wasn’t a true athlete, I slowed. A kid approached and kept pace with me. Through my huffing and puffing, I asked her age. She was twelve.
“I’ll run with you,” the tween said. She added, “You’re doing pretty good.”
Aren’t kids taught not to lie?
“You’ll make it,” she promised.
Back then, I was thirty-five pounds lighter and thirty-five years younger. I still felt awkward beside her effortless strides, but I pressed on with my funny gait alongside this girl who chose to stay and encourage me.
I gasped and waved her on. “I’m fine. You can go.”
But she didn’t.
Several times, she said, “We’ll cross the finish line together.”
And we did.
Her presence strengthened my performance. Her words and actions enabled me to do better than I would have done alone.
Endurance and encouragement. These gifts from God connect in an ongoing circle of cause and effect which enables us to live in harmony with one another. In the writing journey, few things prove more essential than these community-based blessings.
Rough times at home and work can leave us gasping for words to write. We struggle to persevere in these wilderness marathons, marked by isolation, a sense of failure, and often opposition. Our goal is not to set up camp there and wallow in discouragement. We must move on. The writers who run this race alongside us can provide the strength we need to continue pursuing our call.
Once we receive hope, we can come alongside our writing companions and help them keep going and complete their races. God’s words infuse us with gifts of endurance and encouragement to share with others. Let’s lift up the fainthearted, share wisdom in the face of obstacles, and move through the wilderness together for the prize at the end.
Father, show us how to share our stamina and hope with others. Amen.
Jan Powell, a graduate of the University of South Florida, helps writers through Writing with You, offering editing, rewriting, and coaching for fiction and non-fiction. Published in The Wordsmith Journal and Splickety, she has written for Inkspirations since the beginning. Her in-depth editing includes poetry, devotionals, memoirs, fantasy, murder mysteries, thrillers, romantic suspense, and flash fiction. She has hosted Tampa Word Weavers for almost two decades and has served in its leadership.
* A previous version of this devotion appeared on Inkspirations Online in August 2018.
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