January 31, 2007 4:46 PM
Godspeed to my friend Spunky
I have made some dear friends since I've been blogging - women I've never seen but who mean a great deal to me.
One of them is Spunky, a woman so much like me in temperament that in her words it's "almost scary."
Maybe that's why when she suddenly said good-bye to blogging and I wrote to ask her why, I almost knew her answer in advance. But the way she put it was so beautiful I wanted to share it with you.
So here, with permission, is Spunky:
My decision to quit blogging was done in obedience to the Lord. Here's the best explanation I can give at the moment.
In life I have learned that sometimes we have to give up something for the greater good to come. Often we don't know what that is. I love blogging and the people like you that I have met. But as much as I love blogging, I love to live a life of faithfulness and obedience even more. I must be obedient to Him.
Think of it this way. I have taught my children that no matter what they are doing, if I call them to me, they are to come. (It works most of the time) No matter how much they are enjoying their activity and how productive they are at the moment. They trust that my call is worth leaving their interest in the activity left behind.
My Lord is calling me to come to Him, to a higher place. As much as I enjoy this and see the need, it is time to set it down. I'm not leaving something, I’m walking toward something. I know that my Redeemer lives and He loves me more than I can imagine. I know that He has my best interest at heart. And if He is calling me away from something, it is because it is the best thing for me in the long run. My children don't always know why I call, but they are learning to obey the call and deny their own interest. They do that now, so that when the "bigger" decisions come in the future, they will have the strength of character and discipline to lay down their lives for Christ. I must do the same when my Lord calls me to come closer to Him.
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. I all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct my path."
Rather than be at the "keys" it is time to be on my "knees" asking the Lord to show me what the next step in my path is going to be. And when I have walked in His ways and obey He has always been faithful. I never imagined when He led me to blog, it would become what it has even coming close to winning a Wizbang was quite an honor. But I cannot say that even all the attention that my blog has gotten could draw me away from obeying God's call.
"No eye has seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love Him. For those who are called according to His purpose."
My purpose is to glorify Him -- always, leaving this behind was another step in that direction.
It's incredible to me how the internet has provided such wonderful support and friendship. I plan to keep in touch and you can bet that if I'm ever in Virginia we'll give you a call. My daughter wants us to do a road trip this summer, so who knows.
This so resonated with me. In 2003 when our family moved from California to Virginia, I'd been publishing 75-100 articles per year. Suddenly, I no longer felt called to write. The few book proposals I already had circulating came back rejected. I could not get a column in my new local paper.
I wasn't upset. I felt a peace, like maybe that was a part of my life where I had done all that God wanted and that was it. I gave my writing back to God, prepared to never write again.
That spring, I went to teach at Mount Hermon as usual, but for the first time I didn't take any of my own work to show to editors. I had no ideas to promote. I went only to help others.
Three months later I had three book contracts with two different publishers. Six months later I had a column in my local paper and magazines I'd written for were calling with assignments.
The fact is that I write at God's pleasure. I knew immediately that this must be the case for Spunky too.
I have always had the greatest respect for Spunky. Although she is passionate about homeschooling, she always respected the fact that our family was called to have our kids in public school right now. We saw eye-to-eye on every issue.
I have even more respect for her now. It's such a leap of faith to give up something that's been important in your life. But I love the image Spunky chose:
My children don't always know why I call, but they are learning to obey the call and deny their own interest. They do that now, so that when the "bigger" decisions come in the future, they will have the strength of character and discipline to lay down their lives for Christ. I must do the same when my Lord calls me to come closer to Him.
I'm going to be reminding myself every day that I blog at God's pleasure, not just because I want to. Thank you so much Spunky, for your service to the homeschool community and for being a lesson to us all through your obedience!
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