The many faces of writing.

I had the privilege of being the guest speaker at a Reformed Church Womens conference on Saturday. It was wonderful.
These are my reflections of gratitude at day's end.


I was so excited. The conference had gone very well. " they liked me, they really liked me" came to mind and I was riding that wave. I had stayed up all night to prepare, and as usual, once I got out of my own way, The Lord sent the words. The topic was "Getting to the Therefore", about all the therefores in the Bible. About reading all the way to the therefores. As I prepared it occurred to me, this time it wasn't a sermon, I was a guest speaker, and so I would tell the story of my own faith journey. And I did.

I started with my late husband's eulogy, moved quickly into my first article published in the Church Herald neither of which led me to claim writer as a part of who I am. Then I shared the story of my " bulletin board nervous breakdown." a collage of pieces stuck up with push pins that let me know that I needed help healing and determining who I would be as a widow - black and heavy, or bright and joy filled. Next I shared my mountain top experience when mary anne, my writing coach, very gently yet so boldly made me see that there was no battle in my life. God had sent me a gift and I could use it or not. And so the declaration I had made in my bio had become a prayer of gratitude.
"I am a writer.. " I whispered into the microphone, "I am a writer". God sent the gift not to glorify me, but, so that I might glorify HIM. THEREFORE, I must write. Ah, a personal therefore.

The applause when I finished was quick and genuine.

There is more written, more to say, but for now, I will leave it there.
Today I declared my God given gift as a writer in a different way.
Today I went to Poughkeepsie, NY to the County Seat and filed a DBA.

Today my dream to have a retreat house has taken a giant step forward.
The DBA proclaims that I have registered the name

The Quest House a place for Inspiration and Healing

as my own.

Tonight I had Ice Cream for dinner. It seemed a great way to celebrate.
Thank you to all of you who have shed light on the path along the way.

With a joy filled heart,
beverly a kipp