by K L Arena

Created on: April 25, 2008

"But if I say, 'I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,' His word is like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in. Indeed I cannot." Jeremiah 20:9 NIV

What it means to be a Christian writer probably has as many unique interpretations as what it means to be a Christian parent, teacher, or politician. What does it mean to me?

I started writing in early elementary school. I was raised in a Christian home, so faith was part of my education every bit as much as writing.

During my later teen years, I gave up writing after witnessing a friend wrestling with intense difficulty. I felt small and callous to be writing of the struggles of life as if they were casual things when someone so dear to me struggled so desperately.

Even though I stopped putting my thoughts on paper, the characters I'd once created stuck with me. I'd find myself visiting them in the dark when I couldn't sleep. I sought refuge with them in my own times of trouble.

I started to realize that maybe this was more than just a fun hobby and dream I'd grown up with. I started to wonder, even in days when I questioned the faith I'd been raised with, if I was called in some way to be a writer. To tell the stories that were in my heart. If maybe it was the purpose of God for me to do so.

I began exploring the stories and characters I'd left behind so long ago. They came to life for me again. Their struggles with faith and understanding echoed my own in a way so much more genuinely than I'd been able to express them before.

And yet something further began to come clear to me. Since I started writing at such a young age, it seemed only natural to me that I chose to write what would be considered Young Adult stories. And in picking up my writing again, those were the stories I returned to, even now, with six years of marriage under my belt, and three of motherhood. Those were the ones I couldn't let go of.

For me personally, the commitment and decision to be a Christian writer means to write stories with a strong moral base, but that don't preach. The stories should tell themselves, their spiritual values present but not outspoken. Not that I am against stories with outspoken spiritual values. It's just not the way that I want to convey my faith.

So as my present manuscript nears completion, and I await the results of a novel contest I entered, I continue to pursue what I perceive as my calling as a Christian writer. Where it will ultimately take me, I'm not certain. One step at a time, as the saying goes.

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