by Linda Wood Rondeau

I am forever fascinated by how God continues to affirm our calling, even within the worst discouragement and doubt.

“Lord, I can’t do this anymore. It hurts too much,” I cried. “I wasn’t meant to be a writer.” I looked up at the wall of award certificates for unpublished work and thought I heard the room laughing at me.

How many times have I wanted to quit?

Every time I view my royalty checks or realize the non-existence thereof.

My first career had been in human services, but I wanted to reach people outside the government experience. Although a hobbyist writer, I hesitated to believe I could be a professional one.

I let doubt rob me of that momentary passion. “God does not care about your dreams. Your job is to be a good wife, mother, and neighbor. That is true Christianity. Forget your foolish desires.” 

Not God’s voice but the voice of denial in my head. The more the call tugged at my heart, the more I resisted.

Until June 21, 2000…the day the dream was reborn. Though I tell people not to quit the day job,  for me, it was God’s command. Through a pull that I can never forget, God orchestrated for me to leave my employment.

So what did I expect from my Big Yes to God after my unexpected retirement? In my eagerness to do His will, I jumped at opportunities that were not the best options. I failed to let God lead me beside shady green pastures; and instead, stumbled along stony paths dotted with thorns. It took years before I learned that the command to “pray without ceasing” included my writing.

Discouragement still niggled at my commitment. My husband tried to encourage me when I tired of constant rejection, believing in the call God had placed on my life. “Maybe you aren’t meant for a bestseller’s list. Maybe when God said, ‘Write for Me,’ he meant exactly that. When a tree falls in the forest, though no one’s around, God hears it. It’s music to Him. And so what if you never publish a book? Your writing is music to God.”

Eleven years to the date I left my job to answer God’s call, I received an offer for my first novel. God’s affirmation—affirmation that He continues to give me every time I want to delete my website and go live on a tropical island.

Lessons Along the Way, Available on Amazon – https://a.co/d/6wK068L

God has started me on a different writing journey after publishing sixteen books. To quote a friend, “I am critically acclaimed and commercially ashamed.”

Though a hard pill to swallow that my author name after, even after twenty-plus years of trying and investing, hasn’t spread wide across the Internet, my husband’s words come back to me repeatedly, as does the day I gave God my “Big Yes.”

Linda Wood Rondeau

is an award-winning author and speaker who believes “With God’s Grace, Our Worst Past Becomes Our Best Future,” as evident in her diverse writing, from impactful fiction to insightful non-fiction.  Multi-published through both traditional and self-publishing, Linda is a former acquisitions and managing fiction editor with Elk Lake Publishing. She enjoys mentoring other authors as a low-cost freelance editor and writing coach, as well as offering guest spots on her four blogs. She resides in Hagerstown, Maryland, with her spouse of nearly fifty years.

Find out more on her website, lindarondeau.com, or her social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.