Elizabeth Maddrey began writing stories as soon as she could form the letters properly and has never looked back. Though her practical nature and love of math and organization steered her into computer science for college and graduate school, she has always had one or more stories in progress to occupy her free time. When she isn’t writing, Elizabeth is a voracious consumer of books and has mastered the art of reading while undertaking just about any other activity. She loves to write about Christians who struggle through their lives, dealing with sin and receiving God’s grace.
Elizabeth lives in the suburbs of Washington D.C. with her husband and their two incredibly active little boys. She invites you to interact with her at her website www.ElizabethMaddrey.com or on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ElizabethMaddrey
The Calling To Which You Have Been Called
The title of this post comes from Ephesians 4:1, where Paul exhorts the church in Ephesus to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which they have been called. There’s a lot of talk about callings in writing circles. Particularly Christian writing circles. People say God has called them to write, generally, or, more specifically, that He’s called them to write a particular story with a particular emphasis. I don’t question them. But I have a secret.
I’m not sure I’m called to write.
I love writing, don’t get me wrong. It is hands down my best creative outlet. And when I don’t write because life is busy, I miss it. I also feel that God helps me with my stories. The plots—specifically the issues surrounding Christian living in today’s world that I explore? Those are only from God. In fact, they’re often the things He’s working on in me. The things He’s helping me process and improve in my own life. Or they’re from places where I’ve served and seen God work.
But I’m still not sure that’s a specific call to write.
I’ve been spending a lot of time parked in Ephesians lately, and I keep circling back to this: the calling to which we’ve been called? More than any specific vocation, that calling is God asking us to walk in the strength and knowledge of His love (see the previous verse in Ephesians 3). And so that may well spill over into a vocation, or just into every aspect of my daily life, but rather than spending time worrying about whether or not I’m specifically called to write, I need to focus on that larger calling, and simply praise God when it’s expressed through my writing.
The question of calling is one that Zach is dealing with in A Dash of Daring, as well. He feels called to teach, and he’s made that his profession, but he doesn’t feel a specific need—or call—to be in the inner city. He simply landed there for some financial reasons. Amy, on the other hand, feels strongly that teaching in the city requires a particular call. And she’s a little hard on people who disagree with her.
Do you have a specific, vocational calling? I’d love to know how you knew it was that calling to which you were called.
God doesn’t always call us to do what’s easy.
Amy Harris is the after-school care coordinator and long-term sub at the same inner city high school she graduated from. She’s always avoided the complications of dating outside her multi-ethnic heritage. Until Zach got hired.
Zach Wilson took a teaching job in a D.C. public school as part of a student-loan forgiveness program. Nearing the end of his commitment, a possibility arises to move to a magnet school in the suburbs. But will leaving the city end things with Amy before they really have a chance to start?
As Zach and Amy work together on the school’s annual holiday program, they must each decide if they’ll dare to follow where God calls.
Where to find Elizabeth:
Website: http://www.ElizabethMaddrey.com
Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/ElizabethMaddrey
Twitter: @elizabethmaddre
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/emaddrey/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+ElizabethMaddrey/posts
Thanks for stopping by, Elizabeth. Btw, I’ve read a lot of Elizabeth’s books and they are awesome. You’ll definitely want to go pick this one up.
Elizabeth asked a tough question. I write because, like her, I miss it when I don’t. However, homeschooling is my calling. I say it is my full-time job, and writing is my part-time job. I think people can write and not have a calling, but I don’t think homeschooling is something you can do without a calling because of the struggles it involves.
Readers, how about you? What are you called to do?
Blessings,