Craftie Ladies of Suspense

Recently, I had the privilege of attending the She Speaks conference in Concord, NC. I had never been to this particular conference, but because I am starting to get requests to speak at various events, I thought it might be a good idea to take the speaking track. On Friday, we had a three minute presentation and on Saturday, we had a five minute one. I thought I would share with you my three minute one. It went something like this:

Hello, I’m Lynette Eason and I’m a writer. Which is why I’m taking the speaking track. Yeah. Right. Go figure.

Now, I’ll be honest. When I first started writing, I had no idea what getting published would entail. But apparently people think that if you can write and get published, you can speak. And while I’m sure that’s true for a lot of writers, for others, like me, it’s not so true.

Speaking is not where my comfort zone is. But God didn’t call me to stay in my comfort zone. And I’ve always believed Him when he said, "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” I was willing, But I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to do that. I mean, I was married now, with other responsibilities. So what was my role now in furthering the kingdom of God? At first I thought that maybe I was supposed to volunteer at church or ride on the tail of my husband’s ministry.

You see, about 14 ½ years ago, I got married to a guy whose job entailed a lot of travel. He was doing praise and worship music all over the country and I thought that I was just supposed to do whatever I could to help him in his ministry. Which was not a bad thing at all. I was willing to do that.

So, at first, I went with him as much as possible, but then we had our first child and I stayed home. A lot. Alone. The only adult in the house for days on end. Sure, I did MOPS and play dates and that kind of thing, but the nights were the worst. I was lonely. Crying myself to sleep didn’t seem like a really good way to end the day. So one day, I was trying to figure out something I could do to ease the loneliness. And something inside me – God? said, “Why don’t you write that book you keep saying you want to write?”

I thought, yeah, why don’t I do that?

So, in 1999, I pulled out an old laptop my husband had and started writing the great American novel that I just KNEW was going to be a best-seller, glorify God and make me rich, too. Ministering to others through my books and glorifying God was the most important part, of course, but if He so chose to bless me financially then by all means I would graciously accept that.

Thirteen books later, I still live in the same house, I don’t own any beach front property or have an amazing stock portfolio. Or even a mansion on a hill. But I’m so honored to get emails from readers who say that my books have touched their lives, that God became real to them through the characters and words He allowed me to create and have published. And I’m thrilled to say that I DO have a mansion waiting on me. And it’s in heaven where I’ll spend eternity praising my King. And I pray that one day, my Savior will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Happy Monday to all, hope you have a great week!