I wouldn’t trade it for the world. I’ve heard those words a million times, but not until last week did I let them roll around inside my head.
During my twenty minute commute to work, while listening to music and letting my mind sway along with the corn bordering the black-topped road, I pondered that saying for the first time. And I got to thinking. Are there things I’d trade if I could?
Like, if I could trade the past six months of waiting, would I? Or, if I could trade this passion for something less emotionally taxing, would I? Or, if I could trade the rejections I’ve received on my writing journey, would I?
I thought about all these things. How my book was supposed to go to pub board in April and how much less stressful it would’ve been if my agent had called six months ago with great news. I thought about all the rejections I’ve received since I started and how much less painful it would’ve been not to get any of those. I thought about the passion God’s given me for telling stories, and how much easier life would be if He’d given me a different calling – like basket weaving. I bet basket weavers don’t deal with the same level of stress and heart ache that writers do.
I imagined a scenario where God came down from heaven, planted Himself in my passenger seat, and offered me another life. An easier life. A life with no waiting and no rejections. A life without this passion that burns so hot that sometimes – okay, often time – it hurts. It scalds. It makes me jerk back with a blistered heart. If God offered me this easier life, would I take it?
I turned off my radio and looked at my son in the rear view mirror, bouncing his feet, waving his pudgy hand at an abandoned tractor. Seeing him back there made me think about parenting. One of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. But also one of the hardest. And I got to thinking. Sometimes it’s the hard things that make life worth living. Those are the things that keep us on our toes. Or maybe on our knees.
I thought about how an easier life doesn’t necessarily make for a better one.
Because of writing, I’ve spent the last two years kneeling in prayer. Because of waiting, I’ve learned to trust God with the unknown. Because of the rejections, I’ve gotten better at putting my hope in the God of the universe, instead of the changing winds of the publishing industry. Because of this passion, I know what it’s like to feel alive, to feel energized with a sense of purpose, to feel in awe of God’s grace. That He would give someone like me this amazing, challenging gift.
Nothing about writing is easy. Not one single part. But you know what? I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
Question to Ponder: What about you? Are there things you’d trade? What have the hard things in life taught you?
Katie thank you for directing me to this post from the WaterCooler site. It fits so perfectly with where I am right at this moment.I've had to wait on God for many other things in my life, so you'd think I would be better at it by now!I think maybe because it is such a dream and so important to me I feel like I need to fret about it more. I loved the line about trusting more in God than the publishing industry. I know that I need to learn and comply with expectations, but instead of worrying about that I need to remember that if this is a God thing he'll make it happen, even if I mess up. I have given this whole thing back to him to use it as he sees fit. Now I just have to remember that I really do want to be in the center of God's will more than I want anything else – even a book deal! 🙂 I'm looking forward to more WaterCooler posts. That was such a great idea! Thanks again.
Thank you for this post. I submitted to an editor 11 months ago (after the LAST ACFW Conference!) and am still waiting.
Every now and then I get this panic that I need to email her and remind me that I exist and my book exists and could she just give me a yes or a no NOW and out me out of my misery?
But then I take a deep breath and remind myself that God opened the doors for me to submit this proposal and that I'll get my answer in his timing, and that whatever that answer is, that will also be the right one for where I am in this journey.
But the waiting definitely isn't easy!
I love this post! 🙂
I think it takes a great deal of wisdom to appreciate where we're at in life and to fully accept what we have been given.
Katie, this is a fabulous post. I need to print it out and give it to a friend who's struggling.
You are so real and thoughtful and faithful.
I consider you a friend and appreciate your encouragement.
SOMEHOW your blog DISappearred from my reader. SERIOUSLY! I hate to hunt you down.
Sigh. Back to the writing cave.
Not
Much
Longer
P
Well said Katie. Thoroughly enjoyed reading this and it prompted me to spend some time thanking God for the gift of trials that he has given me in order to increase my faith in him. Thank You.
I love this post, Katie. This has been a recurring theme in my life lately. God give us challenges and hardship, rejection and times of waiting so that we'll lean on him more, I think. He wants us to rely on His strength and knowledge of perfect timing.
You have the single-mindedness necessary to be successful. Good post; very encouraging to those of us who have goals that haven't been realized yet.
Well said, and yes, I feel the same way. I need everything God gives me, and I'm learning from the hard stuff.
But you know the good stuff is on its way, and hopefully, the wait will end soon.
I feel you girl! I think we have been leading parallel lives. I wouldn't trade my experiences in writing for much but it is costly!
I've given a good deal of thought to this question over the years and each time I find myself scaring myself with the realization that, if a particular thing didn't happen on my journey, then I wouldn't be here now.
Like, if I'd never had the cancer I fought when I was a teen, so many things that happened as a result of that – the decision to become a nurse, to go to university and study, to travel in pursuit of that career, and to connect with writing – I wouldn't be where I am now. A beautiful home, two beautiful children, a fulfilling writing career…
There are days when the pain I experience from the damaged part of my spine gets me down, the frustration at having to be tied to medication innorder to function overwhelms and the trials of living with a faulty leg grates…but I am at a point where the people I have around mean too much to me to want it any other way.
I've lived a life, it's mine and I treasure it.
You summed it up well! Surely each calling has unique struggles and pain with it. We just happen to know the ones that go with writing.
You summed it up well! Surely each calling has unique struggles and pain with it. We just happen to know the ones that go with writing.
Well, I'd like to say I wouldn't trade it, but there are certain parts of life that would be awfully tempting to replace… I know that every step in life is a learning experience and a chance to trust God more, but what about those times when I haven't really trusted him? I'd like a do-over on those… but ultimately, you're right. Trading this life for an easier one wouldn't really be worth it in the end. No matter how tempting.
That's a toughie. I think all of us would say yes, we'd gladly trade the tough times, but I think when we look back after the fact, we know that those were the times we did draw close to God and let Him lead us through them. I think it's all a matter of perspective. Some days I'm like you, so sick of the waiting and just want to know which direction I'm supposed to go here, but then I remember other, bigger and much more terrifying storms of life that I have weathered, and somehow this time of waiting doesn't seem so bad after all. So no, I don't think I would trade the hard times. God uses them to make me stronger, whether I like it or not!!
My mom likes to tell me a story. A group of women gather and are asked to pile their burdens, struggles, challenges, trials in the middle of the circle. Afterward, each woman can pick up whichever pile she wants. Without exception, each picks up the one she laid down. Why? Because it's what she was given, what she's comfortable with in an old shoe kind of way, and what God has equipped her to deal with.
When I feel tempted to wish away certain parts of my life, I reflect on this story and realize my mom is right. I wouldn't want to change a thing.
Because I loved my mother-in-law deeply, I ached when she lost her battle with cancer, but she taught me so much in her last months as she infused me with her love. Had we not had that time together, I wouldn't have the compassion and empathy I do today.
Because I suffered a miscarriage and got pregnant three months later, I ended up delivering our daughter a year after the loss. As much as I loved that first baby, I can't imagine life without the daughter we have now, who wouldn't be here had I delivered the first baby.
Because I've been working on my writing for five years and didn't receive my offer of representation until last year, I have Rachelle on my Dream Team. Had things happened quickly for me, she wouldn't have become an agent yet, and I can't imagine anyone better suited for me.
Wow, Katie, you really touched a chord with me today. Sorry about the novella. =)
Hi Katie –
You nailed it.
The last seven years have been the most wonderful, most difficult, most rewarding, and most heart wrenching of my life. To meet the love of my life and then watch him go through leukemia and die…I don't think I need to elaborate further. Would I trade those years to avoid that pain? No, because I had something many never experience.
The same holds true for writing. Thank you for this inspiring post.
Blessings,
Susan 🙂
That final paragraph was a direct hit to my heart – in a good way. You have no idea how badly I needed to read this post today, Katie. Thank you.
I hope you hear soon, Katie. The waiting is sooo hard. I'm not patient, but learning I have to be in this business.
I love your post. I guess I wouldn't trade any of it, because I've learned so very much. If I traded even a part of it, I would have to give up something I learned. Then I'd be a dummy again. Who wants that, heh?
The hard things in life have taught me to walk in God's will. Never step out. (Even though, there have been times when I definitely have stepped out.) But I love the Lord so very much. And I am SO happy to be a child of THE KING. I love you, Katie. 🙂
I'm thinking of one time when I was seriously ill, that I would happily trade. I don't think anything was learned by the experience, as some people might claim… no patience, or greater trust in God, because I think I already possessed those things. It was just a nasty interlude in life. But I wouldn't choose to trade anything else. There have been difficulties and trials and waiting and lessons learned… all part of life in general… the glints and shadows that make life's tapestry richer.
Love this!
The hard stuff is so much a part of who we are – our stories.
I love this! I wouldn't trade it either, but I am finding peace in this storm. I really believe that there is a higher purpose to this waiting because nothing is too hard for our God. It doesn't stop me from pleading though! 😉
I loved your line: An easier life doesn't necessarily make for a better one.
Trials make us stronger and God doesn't give us anything we can't handle.
I wouldn't trade either. It isn't all a bed of roses, but then again, that many roses would be cloying anyway. 🙂
Oh, Katie–you know how many times in the past few years I've asked myself, "Why is this happening to me?" And at those moments, I might have been weak enough to actually consider trading heartache for something–anything–less painful. Okay, this isn't specifically about writing, but I guess it can apply to that to.
I think one of the biggest things that kept me going was to know that despite the hurt, I'd come out a better person because of it. I'd grow and learn and somehow, God would turn the outcome into something bigger than me. Something worth it–something that could glorify Him in a way I could never imagine.
And as far as writing, no, I wouldn't change anything. Even all those rejections. If I had published the very first novel I wrote–or even the fifth–I might not be writing what I am today and the idea of that makes me sad.
Katie, thanks for this reminder today. Aren't we supposed to continue thanking and praising God in the midst of our troubles? I think even as we deal with them, He's working out the good in the situation and even if it's hard to see at that point, we can still try to feel thankful for it–or at the very least, blessed.
Wouldn't trade it for the world…That is a big statement, isn't it? I'm just starting the waiting game. Thanks for the reminder to be thankful for the agony. 🙂
Oh, my. Such wisdom from your pen, my dear.
Although parenting, writing, and pastoring sheep who don't want to be herded or taught are all tough jobs, I wouldn't trade one for an easier life.
Parenting has taught me what God must feel like; writing develops patience and a thick skin; and pastoring ornery but endearing sheep gives me writing material.
Excellent post! I hope we both get a contract soon.
I get this about my hardships. There are some I've been through–loss and family illness that I'm on the fence about.
But things like you mention, waiting and such. It has burned the passion more in me. It has led my closer to my Savior and caused me to be tested in trust.
Neh, wouldn't trade those things, but would continue to ask God to come near to me. Because for me that makes all the difference.
~ Wendy
Katie,
This is such a beautiful post, and a great reminder for me as I begin to take this writing passion seriously. I'm tempted to bury it sometimes, but I know that I would be missing out on so much the Lord wants to teach me.
Blessings as you continue the journey.
Beautiful post!
I totally agree with you, but the hard parts always bring me closer to God.
They also make me appreciate the good parts more…
🙂
I think the hard things teach me to trust God more and not to trust myself.
I hope you hear something soon. Parenting is hard too.
Oh what a great post, Katie. Why is it that we get to expecting life to be a bed of roses. We are Christians, right? Life should be grand! Well, it's not. It's in the desert, the hard road, the bumpy path that we really come to know God and rely on Him. We find the joy in the passion He's given us and keep on doing it while trusting in His timing for everything. All in good time….
God has big things for you, Katie!