Joy to the World

Anne Frank said, “I can shake off everything as I write; my sorrows disappear, my courage is reborn.” Such wisdom indeed for a fourteen-year old girl, and how she captured the essence of writing. This is food for thought. Stop reading now if you’re put off by Christian beliefs :). If you keep a journal, part of the joy is looking back and seeing how much growth you’ve achieved as you recorded your sorrows and found your courage. Writing fiction isn’t that different. I look back at my earliest efforts to tell a story and think, “Wow.” Of course, I also think “Thank goodness no one published that!” It gives me hope because if I have grown a bit, I know I will grow some more and I look forward to it. It will be painful and I’ll groan and moan and love every minute of it. I find that writing is very cathartic. You put people in trouble—characters you grow to love—all the while knowing you can get them out again. You know just what is going to happen, what lessons they need to learn, and what growth they’re going to experience and then voila! Happy Ending. Okay, I'm writing a trilogy, so the reader might have to wait a while for the happy ending, but still…there will come a time when I will write, “And they lived happily ever after.” Whether it’s writing in my journal, or writing a novel, the process reminds me that there is One who is doing the same for us. He knows we’re going to get in trouble down here and He lets us. He knows we’re going to suffer sorrows and disappointment as we learn by our own experience. He knows how much we can take, what lessons we need to learn, and then exactly how to get us out of trouble--because He loves us. He especially knows all about the Happy Ending, because He made sure we would have one by suffering and dying for it. At this time of year, we celebrate the beginning; the little Savior born in a humble stable. We know it sets in motion the greatest story ever told. We know, thanks to those who lived and loved Him and told the story, of all He went through, not for His growth and learning, but so that we might have our Happy Ending. Joy to the World! Let’s remember, we can shake off all the sorrows, let our courage be reborn, as we contemplate the miracle of Christmas.