The
Writer’s Calling
By
Sherri Stewart
When I read the biographies of other writers, it
always amazes me how early the writing bug caught them. Some say they started
writing stories as soon as they learned to form letters. Others say they filled
journals with short stories when they were in high school.
That wasn’t my experience.
If we can judge calling by what we were drawn to as
children, my calling would have been teaching. I was cleaning out my mother’s
attic in preparation for putting her house up for sale, and I unearthed my
early report cards at the bottom of a container holding plastic plant
arrangements and old Christmas cards. Apparently, my kindergarten teacher was
“concerned.” She wrote that I had a proclivity for helping other students do
their work instead of my own. She even suggested that my mother should consider
seeking professional help for me.
Yes, Mrs. McDonald might have been right about me seeking
professional help. Yet she should have recognized a budding teacher. And I did
end up teaching for most of my adult life, yet I always wanted something more,
and God permitted me short times to realize my dreams. In my twenties, I was a
flight attendant, a very cool job. In my thirties, I taught in Christian
schools and studied zoology. In my forties, I was a principal. In my fifties, I
passed the California bar and worked for an immigration law firm. And in my
sixties, I became a writer.
Eleven books later, I’ve come to realize two things: Callings
change many times, and vocation doesn’t matter. God is at work around us. If we
listen with a heart to obey even if it means making major or minor adjustments
in our lives, He calls us to join him in His work. That’s what I want more than
anything. To be sensitive to His slightest prompt. To be open to move at a
moment’s notice. To have enough faith to put logic and comfort aside and step
out. Abraham did it. Moses did it. The disciples did it. Paul did it. Corrie
Ten Boom did it. I want my name to be on the list.
About the book:
Ramona Hathaway dreams
of becoming a fashion designer, which will give her a chance to escape her
daily struggles with a drunk stepfather and cross the railroad tracks for the
last time. But she’s also a realist—with one ragged dress to her name, no one gives
her a second glance. Until she meets Ben Farris, the son of the wealthiest man
in town. Their love deepens with every tryst on Hidden Ledge.
But when Ben’s
father finds out, he issues an ultimatum—promise never to see Ben again and
he’ll help her realize her dream, but if she refuses, he’ll make sure she
spends the next ten years in prison for what she did to her stepfather.
Ramona
makes her choice, but how will she forgive the men that forced her choice, and
how will she forgive herself?
Sherri Stewart loves a
good suspense novel. When life threw a curve at her family, she picked up pen
and paper (well, she opened her laptop) and started writing. Was it therapy or
an obsession? Probably both. Her careers as teacher, principal, flight attendant
and lawyer have provided fodder for her books. She's a member of Word Weavers, ACFW, (American Christian Fiction Writers) and
the California Bar. She lives in the Orlando area with her husband Bobby, son
Joshua, and Lilith the dog. When she's not writing or teaching, you'll find her
walking the Disney parks for exercise and thinking through plot lines.
Social
Media Contacts
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/author/sherristewart/
Email: sherristewart2@yahoo.com
Website: www.stewartwriting.com/blog
Twitter: https://twitter.com/machere
Books
by Sherri Stewart
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