Taking A Step of Faith
From dreamer to writer? For those few people who know the dreamer inside me, they know that I have always wanted to try to write a book and be a successful writer. This isn’t just a silly little idea that I thought up recently. I have dreamed about writing and publishing a book for very many years now, but I never seemed to have the time to stop my busy life long enough to take that leap of faith! I have told only those closest to me about the desire of my heart to write, and maybe, just maybe, one day publish a book.
You see, I was once just Teresa, the young girl who loved to write stories full of imagination and wonder, with make believe characters I created using all my spelling words, as I completed school assignments in the seventh grade. My teacher was Mrs. England and it was in my middle school years that she told me that she thought I would be a writer one day. Week after week that seed was planted in my heart. She may never have known what an impression she made on me, but my dream actually began way back then. I dreamed of being a writer.
Many years have now passed and with those years many changes have come my way. However, my love for reading and writing have always been a big part of who I am. An ongoing family joke is that I write a book in most of the cards I give to people on special occasions! I love to put into words, the feelings in my heart.
In past years, some of my most enjoyable times have been when I have taken time out to read my Bible and journal about things God showed me in His word. I would then also write about my daily life, with all the good and the bad, the happy and the sad. I know my children have watched me year after year, find time to read my Bible, and devotions and write in my journals. There have been many times that I was able to share things with them, and post things to emails or Facebook to share things the Lord laid upon my heart. I hope that I might have set an example that they too might one day enjoy. I have written notes to loved ones, and prayers by the hundreds in my journals.
My writing keeps me focused and I pour out my heart to God. I have always believed that some day there would come a time for me to use those journals to share my faith in Jesus Christ, and to share some of my life’s experiences in hopes of encouraging others somehow.
Now please, don’t get me wrong! I absolutely do not have the answers for this journey called life. In fact, sometimes, I think I am more confused than ever. That is indeed why I am now so determined to move forward into this journey to find myself again. Somewhere along life’s path, I feel like I have lost touch with Teresa, the girl I am deep inside my soul. The girl I was before I was a wife, a mother, a owner of multiple businesses, a real estate agent and all the many other identities that I can assign to myself. I have been very blessed to experience many titles and identities throughout the years, and even with that knowledge, I still feel that I have lost touch with my true self.
The past few years have been full of new challenges, trials, and adversity. There is just something about getting over the age of fifty that truly makes you start evaluating your life and asking yourself questions. Questions like, “Am I being who God created me to be, and doing what He created me to do?” I feel like something is missing, like I am meant to do more. I truly believe God wants me to remember my dream to write and make the time to actually do it, and stop just dreaming about it. So, it’s four a.m. and I’m still writing! One thing I know without a doubt, is that God created me to be a mother, and there has truly been no better gift in my life than that of my children! I love them with all my heart and I have told each of them repeatedly over the years that “Words just can not express how much I love them.”
So, you see, this blog is also not about looking back and hating my life, not at all. There are many things I would have done differently but all of those things have made me into the person I am now, and I have realized that God was preparing me for such a time as this. Through all that life has thrown my way, God was not surprised! He knew exactly the challenges I would face, and not one moment was hidden from Him, and He does have great plans to prosper me and to give me a hope and a future, Jeremiah 29:11. I claim that verse for myself and have done so over and over throughout the years over my children’s lives. I do not know what the future holds but I do know who holds all control of my future in His hands.
This last year has truly set me on a path that has repeatedly had me praying for God to help me step out in faith to find the freedom to be me, the me, that He created me to be. I do not want to miss one tiny bit of what God has in store for me and I pray daily for His leadership, and guidance, and for Him to reveal His plans and His will in every area of my life.
In Psalms 139:13-16, I am reminded that God knit me together in my mother’s womb, and it says I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Admittedly, I do not always feel this way. God knows I mess up, He knows I am far from perfect, but He also knows my heart, my true heart, and He says I am his daughter, a daughter of the King of Kings! How amazing is that? I am so humbled at the very thought that He could love me so unconditionally! Thank you Father! Those same verses also speak about God seeing all the days He ordained for me and that they were written in His book before even one of them came to be. He constructed my life with purpose, and with meaning. This blog is going to be part of my journey, a way to dream again, a way to share my faith, a way to find out new things about myself through my writing. A blog to find my identity, live life to the fullest, and seek answers that I so desperately need to find. God knows all about it!
I am so excited to have finally taken this step of faith to write and share it with others. Thank you to the ladies in my church book club at Tri-County Worship Center for planting the idea for me to start a blog to share my faith, and fulfill my dreams to write. God used you ladies to water the seed that was hidden in my heart so very long ago, and I pray he blesses you in return!
I had chosen the name Uniquely Me, but it was not available, so my daughter, Kaitlyn, helped me bounce other names back and forth between us, and she came up with the name for my blog, Uniquely Constructed. As you, my readers, get to know me, you will see that this seems a perfect fit because my main occupation has been owning a construction company along with my husband for many years. We construct and design custom and spec homes in our business, D & T Custom Homes. That business, and being his partner, has dominated a lot of my time, and now, with God’s help I want to free my time to find my identity, and who God Uniquely Constructed me to be.
As I reflect back to the past and go through journals I have written, I hope to share devotions, and stories, and testimonies of many answered prayers along the way. And as I also look to the future, I plan to share new revelations as I continue to learn and grow, both in my faith and in learning to blog and write and share things from my creator. I pray that God will use me to further His Kingdom, and let my light shine for all to see. In Jesus name I pray! Amen!
I hope you will join me and follow my blog. I know this has been a very lengthy post and I do not plan on future ones being anything nearly this long. This is the reason behind my decision to start a blog and the vision I have for it’s purpose, which I still hope leads me to publishing my own book in the future. I hope I can learn how to receive emails and comments and be able to respond to my readers soon. I must admit, it’s all seeming a bit overwhelming as I try to figure this out without a lot of computer training, so I am depending on God to show me the way! Teach me Lord! I am willing. You are the potter and I am the clay, Isaiah 64:8.
