tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post2184485440349805555..comments2024-02-17T17:59:25.010+10:00Comments on Christian Writers Downunder: Would you?Jeanette O'Haganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11057798704247611224noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-55657961180234113682016-01-14T20:22:31.095+10:002016-01-14T20:22:31.095+10:00Thank you Susan. I just did. I wrote a book just i...Thank you Susan. I just did. I wrote a book just in case one person would benefit. And this happened. Mission accomplished. <br /><br />Very encouraging story. Thank you so much for sharing.Mimi https://www.blogger.com/profile/14537405836915800211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-73207306392142984982016-01-13T17:30:36.640+10:002016-01-13T17:30:36.640+10:00That is such a statement about obedience - I value...That is such a statement about obedience - I value that! But how special that your dad and friend got to read your book_ such a blessing for you and them.<br />WowPamela Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05720146129770770985noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-76531021223930201422016-01-12T03:51:32.445+10:002016-01-12T03:51:32.445+10:00Fabulous post, Susan. That question gave me pause ...Fabulous post, Susan. That question gave me pause and I had to think about it before I read the rest of your words. Very thought-provoking words. I love Anne Lamont. Thank you so much. Robyn Campbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17356555082768185840noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-56155042794409041642016-01-11T21:00:43.908+10:002016-01-11T21:00:43.908+10:00Thanks everyone for your comments. It's been s...Thanks everyone for your comments. It's been so encouraging to read your responses and to hear your heart for God's work. I've loved hearing how God has worked through your writing efforts. Thanks for sharing. Susan Barneshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07673626395112361592noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-22124372840213542622016-01-11T20:20:46.940+10:002016-01-11T20:20:46.940+10:00Terrific post Susan!
I have also enjoyed reading e...Terrific post Susan!<br />I have also enjoyed reading everyone's comments, thanks for sharing!<br /><br />Sometimes I wonder if my writing is only for me - does God intend for me to inspire and encourage myself?<br />From my self-published book I have found people have been touched, encouraged, inspired and there is absolutely no price-tag one can attach to that! (and it sure doesn't matter I am not on the NY best sellers list with my 'first' book)Di Rileyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01288915294738813579noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-89708572893284471802016-01-11T20:09:40.880+10:002016-01-11T20:09:40.880+10:00Thanks Susan for posing this challenging question....Thanks Susan for posing this challenging question. It's probably not quite what you had in mind, but I'm certainly open to writing a book on behalf of another. I gave my 81 year old father a journal for Christmas and told him to write his story. His family torn apart by the Liverpool Blitz and the evacuation of children during World War II, he has a story worth telling. I am happy to type up his scribbling and even if he never reads it himself, my prayer is that by writing, he will find healing.Susanne Timpanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162067477435010962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-74128682836038608792016-01-11T20:09:07.329+10:002016-01-11T20:09:07.329+10:00Thanks Susan for posing this challenging question....Thanks Susan for posing this challenging question. It's probably not quite what you had in mind, but I'm certainly open to writing a book on behalf of another. I gave my 81 year old father a journal for Christmas and told him to write his story. His family torn apart by the Liverpool Blitz and the evacuation of children during World War II, he has a story worth telling. I am happy to type up his scribbling and even if he never reads it himself, my prayer is that by writing, he will find healing.Susanne Timpanihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162067477435010962noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-41179235120253448422016-01-11T17:26:30.144+10:002016-01-11T17:26:30.144+10:00Great question Susan and some wonderful responses....Great question Susan and some wonderful responses. <br /><br />I had a direct message today about some links I'd put up on my FB page & my other pages, Jenny's Thread and possibly my author page that said 'Are you specifically sharing stuff for me today?' and then went on to talk about a difficult situation she was facing. Maybe no one else was touched today, but knowing that God was guiding and using those choices makes it more than worthwhile. <br /><br />As for writing a book - or books - I've gone so far with them that I would write them even if no one else read them, because I would still have read them. Knowing that God could use them to change one persons life would be exhilarating. Besides if God said to do it, then who am I to question. Actually, I think I'd find it harder not to write those books - if God told me to stop - but then, as hard and as heartbreaking that would be, I guess I would have to obey that direction too. I'm hoping He doesn't do that :)Jeanette O'Haganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11057798704247611224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-82350179394501993572016-01-11T16:30:01.397+10:002016-01-11T16:30:01.397+10:00Thought-provoking post Susan. It would be hard to...Thought-provoking post Susan. It would be hard to put all that effort in for just one person, but you never know what ripple effects it will have for the Kingdom. I was inspired by a biography of Henrietta Mears, a woman who wrote Sunday School curricula for different age levels back in the mid 1900s when such a thing was unheard of. She also taught college students in her home and had a significant impact on Billy Graham and Bill Bright (Founder of Campus Crusade). When she helped guide them as young men, she couldn't have known how many millions they would reach for the Gospel. It may sometimes seem that our writing isn't having a lot of impact in worldly terms, but you never know how it fits into God's economy.Nola Passmorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08425394685430146759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-80315974064427122792016-01-11T13:26:27.067+10:002016-01-11T13:26:27.067+10:00That's a very good question, Susan. I've s...That's a very good question, Susan. I've started writing projects with a particular person in mind, and it's great whenever I hear feedback from others saying that it spoke to them too. I guess a book may help bring people together, showing that we are not as separate and alone as we may think.<br />Also, I think of scruffy old covered books which were written decades before I was born, which spoke to me. I obviously wasn't the person they were written for, but like to think I joined on down the track.Paula Vincehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02079952414990463270noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-8588508465411114172016-01-11T10:55:45.324+10:002016-01-11T10:55:45.324+10:00Thanks for your thought-provoking post, Susan. How...Thanks for your thought-provoking post, Susan. How wonderful too to read each of the testimonies in the comments above! I remember receiving an email not long after my first novel was published from a lady I didn't know in WA who wrote how, in the difficult times in her life, she had found God HADN'T been there for her--unlike the heroine in my novel. But then she wrote 'But maybe I should try Him again.' I don't know if she did--but at that point, I decided writing a book for just one person was worth it all in the end.Jo-Anne Berthelsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09775045057529728396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-80861920624115885552016-01-11T09:36:24.906+10:002016-01-11T09:36:24.906+10:00I have an unpublished book, the sequel to my first...I have an unpublished book, the sequel to my first children's fantasy, which was written for just one person. I certainly didn't know it at the time - I thought I was writing for a much larger audience. When the publisher of Merlin's Wood went bankrupt, I wondered why I had put so much effort into a sequel no publisher would want. But years later, in a very complex prayer ministry session for a person affected by ritual abuse, I suddenly realised all the answers were in that book I'd written. And I realised I'd written that book just for her. A stranger. But her healing led to her family's healing. Would I do it again? Absolutely. I am in the middle of another fantasy; again it's for one person. But this time, I've already met her and we're discovering together what clues God has given us to put the jigsaw of her life together.<br /><br />Annehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02264631051671432037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-13034929005690854182016-01-11T09:21:05.507+10:002016-01-11T09:21:05.507+10:00I think I would, Susan. I'd have to be very su...I think I would, Susan. I'd have to be very sure I had understood what God was saying and was not being sentimental or something, though. All that work! Great post.Jeanette Grant-Thomsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07691677119939194892noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-79370428442215605562016-01-11T08:53:39.658+10:002016-01-11T08:53:39.658+10:00I wrote a book for my father's 60th birthday. ...I wrote a book for my father's 60th birthday. He and my mother read it. I'd like to dig it out and edit it again, given that was 21 years ago. But it was worth doing.Meredith Rescehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13119649437940781847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-35745992293937755512016-01-11T08:27:15.224+10:002016-01-11T08:27:15.224+10:00A great post Susan.
I would have said no I wouldn...A great post Susan.<br /><br />I would have said no I wouldn't. Until I did.<br /><br />I wrote a non-fiction book for couples having trouble conceiving and was getting a bit disappointed with how slowly it was selling.<br /><br />Then I got an email: "I just wanted to let you know that my husband and I have read your book, and it's the reason we're still together. We've been through the stresses of IVF for ten years and your book gave us a way to talk to each other when we thought we were over. So thanks."<br /><br />The feeling of purpose after that one email was tangible ... and the sales really didn't matter any more.David Rawlingshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07809006358848831141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2208627029605402728.post-14723146529279693012016-01-11T07:57:45.823+10:002016-01-11T07:57:45.823+10:00Great post Susan. Thank you for sharing. A difficu...Great post Susan. Thank you for sharing. A difficult one to answer of course. I have to say that this thought has underpinned a lot of what I have done as a Christian. When I began a support group many years ago, I told myself that if we helped one person through it, it would be worthwhile. 9 years later I believe we helped lots more than just the one. But it was a good kind of motivation because I believe firmly in the individual. I know Jesus treated every individual as important and I know we need to follow His lead.<br /><br />A few years back, I wrote a book meant to encourage Christians going through tough times. I told myself then that if it helped one person it would be worth it. I haven't had it published yet, but I have shared parts of it with different friends at different times. The first person I shared with said it made a huge difference in her life. And so - I felt then (and still do) that writing that book was worth it - even if it was only this lady who was helped.<br /><br />I still hope it would be published. But if not. No matter. God has used it in a few lives already and I am very grateful. So thank you. Your post resontated with me.Anusha Atukoralahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00859837228901127984noreply@blogger.com