Thursday, April 2, 2015

Shine by Susan Tuttle

Diamond
Diamonds are beautiful, aren’t they? What makes them that way? Because they sure aren’t too pretty when they’re mined from the earth. Yet when someone takes them, polishes them, and cuts facets into them they suddenly burst with light. It’s the facets. They catch the light and reflect it in a rainbow of colors back out from the diamond. Gorgeous.

Our writing—our lives—need to be the same in regards to Christ. Many of us write for the CBA market, and there’s a lot of different genres within that market. Even within the same genre the stories vary. For some, the spiritual thread is obvious and unmistakable, for others it plays more quietly in the background. And just like diamonds can be cut in many different styles yet still catch the light, so can our stories.

See, not all women are drawn to the same diamond. As such, all of us will reach separate audiences—and that’s exactly how God intended it! We can’t fault people for having too much God or too little God in their stories as long as ultimately they point to him! As a writer we must write what we’re called to. We must make sure that within each facet of our story, Christ can be seen. The style in which we do it might be different, but the result is the same either way—our story reflects Christ in a brilliant burst of color coming off the page.

So when you sit to write today, make sure you’re carving him into those words. Pray over the audience he has you writing for and how he can best have you reach them. When you do, when you begin faceting that story with him guiding your hand, you’ll find it shines for him on every page.

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Susan Tuttle
Susan Tuttle is a homeschooling mom of three who is crazy about coffee, dark chocolate, and words—both reading and writing them. Combine that love of words with her passion for leading women to a life-changing encounter with Christ, and you’ll find her crafting Inspirational Contemporary Romance stories laced with humor, love, and healing transformations. When not cheering on her Ironman hubby, chasing the family dog, or tackling complex math problems to teach her kids (yes, even the third grader), you can catch Susan at her blog, Steps.