100 (start)

"Start now. Start where you are. Start with fear. Start with pain. Start with doubt. Start with hands shaking. Start with voice trembling. But Start."
I don't know who said these words, but I know they were right. This is my 100th post and those words resound in my head as I recall how this blog came into existence.

I was introduced to Blogger in July 2011 when I had to do an assignment that required a blog. I had first had exposure to blogging the previous year, in my first year, again through an assignment in Greek. Then we only had to comment on an existing blog. In my second year, I had to create my own blog where I'd conduct a survey, it was titled Marriage and Ministry and I never got any feedback from anyone who came across it, if anyone ever did. I passed my assignment and forgot all about the blog.

Two years later, after multiple rejections from publishers, I was suffering from self-doubt, I wondered if my writing was worth reading. That's when I remembered my forsaken blog...I would resuscitate it, give it a new name and look and use it as a platform to test if what I wrote was worth interest to anyone willing to read. There were times I considered quitting and shutting the whole thing down because I thought no one cared to read, but in the past year, I've been pleasantly surprised by the responses and sometimes overwhelmed.

After hinting at them through tweets, I've had Sarah Jakes Roberts and Khaya Dlanga read posts that were based on their books. They both responded, both positively. Sarah, after reading my post "Written off", said: "Beautifully written and shared ❤."  I died twice! No rejection from any publisher could convince me now!

I've had childhood friends, some not even of the same faith as me, express gratefulness for the encouragement and new perspective that my writing has challenged in them. I've had people who struggle with what I had struggled with approach me and open up about their experiences. It's then that I realized that my writing was an extension of my ministry, hence I'm reminded when people come to me, to point them to Him. It's been a humbling little journey.
A comment I'm still on a high about is from a high school mate who, just yesterday, said: "Your blog is everything. I'm so inspired...Blessings!"

In a way, I'm glad those publishers said no, I would have never started had they not. (And to think that I only presented fiction work to them because I could never believe I could write anything other than that.) I'm still looking for publishing opportunities, and get rejections and sometimes no response at all regularly, but it no longer gets me down, it fuels me instead.
It's been heartwarming and challenging being on this journey with you, you are like a family to me, sharing in all my experiences and opinions, I'm always grateful for your readership. I hope our family will continue growing, that my writing will continue empowering and inspiring many, glorifying Christ and growing me.

PS: go start! 'Right now' is always a good time to start anything!