Who are you, sir?” Saul asked. And the voice replied. “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting, Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you are to do. Acts 9: 5,6, NLT
I have been working on updating my LinkedIn profile page. I thought the content I had on this page was good, but after working with a branding specialist, she suggested I make some improvements to make myself more marketable to my target audience. One of her suggestions was to enhance the “Experience” section of my profile page by adding more information about my background of skills and experiences. Although I told her I thought my previous skills and experiences did not relate to my current career as a professional writer, she thought otherwise and suggested I add them.
As I begin thinking about my background of skills and experiences, I realized the branding specialist was right – I did have a lot I could offer in my new career. I had served as an academic advisor for a number of years, advising, coaching and counseling students to help them transition and succeed in college, and I could use these same skills coaching, advising and counseling aspiring writers. I had helped students write and edit resumes to prepare them for job interviews, and I could use these same skills critiquing and editing the writings of aspiring writers. I had created college programs and college curriculum and could use these same skills helping writers create stories for publication. I had taught classes for college students to help them succeed in college, and I could use these same skills teaching classes to help aspiring writers train and prepare to write for publication.
As a member of a devout Jewish sect, the apostle Paul had a fierce intensity and zealousness to hunt down, arrest and kill Christians. Yet, when God called Paul to become a missionary to the Gentiles, God did not discard the intensity and zealousness Paul had used to kill Christians. Instead, he rechanneled Paul’s skills to spread the gospel to the Gentiles.
Aspiring writer, if God is calling you to write for publication for the Christian market and you’re wondering if you’ll have to discard your background of skills and experiences to do so, don’t despair. God never leaves anything behind when he calls you to write for Him. Instead, he will take your past skills and experiences and use them for the business of writing for the kingdom!
Sharing the journey,
Jeaninne
Writer’s prayer: Father, thank you for how you take my past skills and experiences and use them for your kingdom work. Amen.
Writer to writer: Take a moment and write down all of your past work experiences and skills; then write down how you believe you can use them in your new role as a professional Christian writer. What did you learn from this journaling exercise? Post your comments on my blog. I enjoy hearing from you!