September 13, 2018

Faith Writing Mentor by Wendy L. Macdonald



One of my high school English teachers introduced me to my favourite faith writing mentor. She doesn’t know she did because it was an inadvertent introduction. You see, my English teacher awarded me with a bookstore gift certificate because I was a studious student who loved words. Reading them. Writing them.
    
So I was delighted to cash in my certificate as I walked across the wood floors of the local bookshop that was located in an old brick building downtown.

Although the first book I read of this beloved author was a novel, I later went on to read her books about faith. Her writing gave me glimpses of her journals as she shared from the heart. This author’s words helped me become more intimate in my conversations with the Lord. She introduced me to the blessing of praying about big and small details in my life and in the lives of those I love.

Faith permeated her heart, her journals, her books, and her life.

This author became my mentor as I wrote at my desk under an ocean view window in the beach house we rented. For my newlywed husband and I had said yes to an adventure that pulled us away from our hometown and planted us in the middle of a northern coastal village.

While missing my friends back home, faith writing became the passion that comforted and filled me as I read books and wrote in my journal. Because I was a new writer and a new Christian, much of what I wrote wasn’t worth quoting. But even faith writers have to write a bunch of rubbish before anything worth sharing glitters.

And I can’t help but believe my decades of filling up journals will one day birth a gift in me that can be shared with other believers.

In case you haven’t guessed which author I’m referring to, here’s a giveaway hint: she wrote Christy.

Have you read any of Catherine Marshall’s nonfiction books? I’m nosey-to-know. Which writer has been a mentor to you?

P.S. I wonder if my high school teacher prayed for me to choose an inspirational book; because, years later, I discovered she was a Christian. Maybe it wasn’t an inadvertent introduction after all.  

Faith Blessings ~ Wendy Mac 

Wendy L. Macdonald is an inspirational blogger and podcaster who loves to photograph nature on Vancouver Island. Her byline is: “My faith is not shallow because I’ve been rescued from the deep.” Her main website is wendylmacdonald.com where she enjoys interacting with readers.  

14 comments:

  1. Oh! I loved CHRISTY by Catherine Marshall! It's one of those books that inspired me, too and it should be on every must read list! (I wonder how many young Christians have never heard of it?)

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    1. Hi Tracy, there was a television series based on Christy, so maybe more people are aware of it than there otherwise would have been. It's too bad she didn't live long enough to see it on television. I think she died in 1983.
      Blessings ~ Wendy

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  2. Dear Wendy,
    Oh I read every book by Catherine Marshall that I could find in my library, and later in my church's library too. I was so thrilled when she wrote one last novel, "Julia," before she passed away. "Beyond Ourselves," was one of her nonfiction books that I read while I was still in highschool. It was such a help to me also. Thank you for these precious memories tonight. What an encouragement! Blessings to you!

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    1. Thank you for stopping by, dear Bettie. I still have eight of her books in my secretary desk. They are like friends to me. So nice to know we have a fondness for her writing in common.
      Blessings on your weekend ~ Wendy

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  3. What a lovely story! Can just see God’s hand all over it. I remember my grandma had a paperback Christy when I was a little girl. I didn’t know what it was about back then but I knew it was special. Thank you for reminding me!

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    1. Thank you, dear Kim. It's fun to look back over life and see how God's hand of Providence brushed strokes of gold throughout. It sounds like you had a praying Grandmother.
      Blessings ~ Wendy

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  4. I was introduced to Grace Livingston Hill books when I was a teenager. Fiction stories with inspiration. I still enjoy those stories.

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    1. Thank you, dear Melissa, for reminding me. I still have eight of Grace's novels in my desk. Her books never failed to hold my attention and I appreciate how squeaky clean they are.
      Blessings ~ Wendy

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  5. I've read most of Catherine Marshall's books too. Was it A Man Called Peter or Christy that I read first? (We have a daughter named Christie, by the way.) I loved Julie, A Man Called Peter, Beyond Ourselves. I look up Ms. Marshall's list of books and I see I still have a couple to read. It's interesting to share with others who were impressed by her writing. I believe there were tears while I read her stories.

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    1. Tears are a terrific compliment to an author--aren't they, dear Sharon? I enjoyed reading the story behind how she got A Man Called Peter published; it's a faith booster of its own.
      Blessings ~ Wendy

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  6. Such an encouraging message, Wendy! In thinking one day someone might write something similar about one of my books :) I pray my story gives God glory!

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    1. Dear Caryl, I'm sure there are already readers who feel that way about your novels. I read a lot of Janette Oke books, and yours have the same wonderful homey inspiration as hers do. Well done, Caryl. Your books glorify God and satisfy the readers.
      Blessings ~ Wendy

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  7. Beautiful testimony, Wendy Mac. The person who has had the greatest impact in me thru her writing and speaking is Beth Moore. Hands down. ❤

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    1. Thank you, dear Shelli. Beth Moore helps us all love our Bibles better because of the passion she puts into her studies. I could listen to her every day.
      Blessings ~ Wendy Mac <3

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