March 14, 2015

God Grows a Writer by Bobbi Junior

“Is it a sin to hate yourself?”

At thirteen years of age, these words began my first journal. I couldn’t know this statement would lead me on the path to become a writer. As a young girl, all I knew, or thought I knew, was that I had no worth. I came to the page profoundly alone, yet crying out to the one I instinctively knew was listening.


For me, journalling deflated an agony of heart that often threatened to push me over the edge. I would never have called myself a writer. Journalling was simply a way to cope. The act of putting pen to paper diminished the power of my misery enough to keep me alive one day longer.

I hid my journal carefully, although no one sought to read it. My pain wasn’t as invisible as I believed, though. God saw it. God read it. God cared.

I couldn’t know back then that the Lord was honing my craft. Such private, uncensored, expression gave me freedom to write my story unhampered by literary constraints. Day by day, tear by tear, pain designed my words, my style. 


With God my only audience, I became a writer.

In my twenties I wrote a series of children’s stories that were published in the Edmonton Journal. Confidence began to grow until they hired a new editor who critiqued my next submission. I didn’t know that critique meant I should now revise. With no writer to turn to for advice, I simply stopped.

In my forties, my stable life tipped. This time I knew Jesus was my willing audience. Once again I journalled voraciously as I dragged and fought my way through the ensuing tumultuous decade.

Eventually life settled, but with a significant change. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart.” The desire Jesus gave me was to write, but with a new purpose. I attended a Women’s Words writers week which showed me I was on the right track. Then, and to this day I don’t remember how, I came to attend the 2012 InScribe Fall Conference.

The rest, to use a timeworn cliche, is history.

Writing saved my life as a teen, and again as an adult. 

Writing about what I was saved from, saved for, is now my calling. 


God is good.

Bobbi’s book,The Reluctant Caregiver, was published in 2014. Since then, Bobbi has been invited to speak on caregiving, dementia, and the needs of seniors in a number of venues. She’s excited to see where God will take her in the coming years. Download a chapter at bobbijunior.com.

12 comments:

  1. Wow, what a beautiful account of your painful and victorious journey.

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  2. I'm almost speechless. This is so exquisite I don't know how to respond. The line "pain designed my words..." is genius. You're the real deal when it comes to being a writer, Bobbi. (I'm also so glad to call you friend!)

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  3. Bobbi, I look forward to every word you write. You are a true example of how God can use everything for good. I am among the many who thank you for allowing God to take your pain and mold it into words that offer hope and healing. Bless you.

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  4. Bobbi,
    Thanks for sharing your journey with us. Thank you for being willing to be so vulnerable and for allowing God to use your pain to minister to others. You are truly a gem, my friend!

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  5. My goodness. You all make me feel incredibly affirmed. Thank you so much for your encouragement!

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  6. Me too--I'm so glad to call you my friend and you never disappoint in your writing. And yes, God is so good.

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  7. Well crafted, and thank you for your willingness to be vulnerable.
    The opening line, "Is it a sin to hate yourself?" kept me reading. God is blessing your words.
    thank-you!

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  8. When the Lord start a good work in us He will carry us through. Thank you for sharing your writer's testimony.

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  9. God has so many ways of taking us through the traumatic stages of life. the gift He gave you, not only saved your life, but ministered deeply to others too.
    Thankyou

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  10. How wonderful that you discovered journalling to help you cope. How wonderful that God came to you somewhere in the pages of your journal as you poured out your heart, he met you more than half way. Maybe you were writing psalms like David all those years. God has certainly lifted you up--into his loving arms. How wonderful is that.

    As an aside, Bobbi, could we have met one of those summers when lilacs bloomed and Women's Words was in full swing? Could we have met in the pages of the Edmonton Journal? I wrote for them a fair bit too in Voices, Offerings, book reviews of children's lit, and opinion pieces.

    Life led by God can take us through some interesting journeys. May God continue to bless you, your family, and your writing.

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    1. Sharon, I'm sure I remember seeing you at Women's Words. We certainly could have overlapped with our Edm Journal submissions, too. God weaves our lives through time, individually and together in beautiful ways!

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  11. "With God my only audience, I became a writer." Profound! Thanks for the reminder, Bobbi, that God IS our only audience.

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