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- Chris Fabry
- Married to Andrea since 1982. We have 9 children together and none apart. Our dog's name is Tebow.
Friday, January 18, 2019
Early in 2018 I reached out for advice from a number of people. One was John Eldredge, author of Wild at Heart and other books. He was kind enough to respond with some personal words. Here's an excerpt of his response.
You have a gifting. You have a role in the Kingdom of God. The critical question is, Where are you deploying me now, Lord? I think only by taking the time to hear that clearly from Jesus will you know what next to do.
Does that excerpt apply to you? I believe it does because God gives gifts to everyone and it's up to us to use them well.
Dream
I followed his advice and remembered a dream I had in the 1980s. It was a burning desire to write and stir others with my stories. There was such a strong tug on my soul to write and publish.
I only had one problem. I had no idea how to accomplish my dream.
Then I met Jerry Jenkins. He said the magic words, "I can help if you want to write, but it'll hurt."
Fast-forward 25 years or so. This summer, my 81st book will be published. That's hard to believe, but it's true.
Deployed
For the past few years a desire has percolated to help others the way Jerry helped me. I didn't know what that meant. A school? Workshops?
With encouragement from my wife and children, I've embarked on an online venture where I can continue to write, host radio programs, and help others pursue their writing dream. My family helps run the site and I get to look into the camera and be myself.
Hey, you can write!
The title for the website came from an experience 40 years ago. Four words were written on an evaluation sheet I'll never forget.
There's more to that story than I can share here, but the words mean so much I'm calling the site HeyYouCanWrite.com.
You can hear more of the story by watching the preview video below. You'll see me in my natural habitat and get a feel of what I'm trying to accomplish.
I'm not slowing down with my writing or on-air work. In fact, I think the site will enhance what I do on radio and the page. So, if you're interested, sign up here.
Challenge
Let me leave you with a challenge. Perhaps you're going through a time of questions in your life. Consider John Eldredge's words for your own life.
Where are you deploying me now, Lord?
May He give you courage, strength, and clarity as you seek to answer that important question.
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4 comments:
Chris, I so enjoyed this blog post. I just this week said to my wife, Jessica, “I want to call call Chris Fabry.” I am here at Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville this weekend to have a spiritual/soulcare retreat, to do some significant planning, and to begin in earnest writing my book. The book will address the. pandemic in the church of
men struggling with pornography and infidelity. Part of the book will include the story of my own struggle in the past, and how God continues to redeem my story. I have avoided entering the arena of writing this book for too long. Grateful for you, and congrats on launching this new mission!
So encouraging. It seems that many want to write books but I am in a different place in my life. For the past 7 yrs I have been posting daily devotionals for our ministry's FB page but I must admit that these are now draining me. What would you propose to someone like me who wants to stick to the scriptures and not embellish them with my thoughts or other stories?
Any thoughts you might have would be welcome
I wonder if the drain you feel is because of lack of response? If you knew there were dozens or hundreds who were encouraged by your posting, would it make a difference in your fatigue? Ultimately, you can't write only because of an audience and their reaction. It has to feed you internally. One idea is to simply take a break. Let people know you won't be posting for a week or a month. See how that feels. 7 years is a long time. Perhaps you've reached your limit. My guess is, you will come back to this in perhaps a different way. Maybe, as you say, you will post scriptures without comment. Or, you might post scriptures and a though-starter question that relates to the verses. So many ways you can make this come from your heart instead of just something you check off each day. I hope that helps.
Thank you Mr. Fabry, good questions and thoughts and advice