Survival Tips for the Waiting Part of Writing Tip #4 – Divine Appointments

Conference season is upon us writers. With it comes euphoric highs, a whirlwind of preparation, and lightning storms of nerves. If you’ve never attended a writer’s conference, then you’re in the same boat I was three years ago. Prior to my first conference in 2017 I had never considered traveling across the country to purposefully immerse myself into a sea of strangers for days on end. Especially when the strangers were real writers. What would they think about a wannabe writer invading their territory? Nope. That sounded as fun as a root canal.  

But then something weird happened. To my shock and horror my dear husband gave me a writer’s conference registration as a Christmas gift. Ugh. I was stuck. The poor guy was so proud of himself for coming up with such a thoughtful surprise that I couldn’t tell him the neatly wrapped certificate felt more like a sentence than a gift. What choice did I have? I had to attend.   

A Divine Appointment Story

That first conference was unlike anything I had ever imagined. Not only did I find myself, for the first time ever, surrounded by writerly minded people, but God set up some divine appointments for me there that changed my life forever. I was so nervous walking down the conference center hallway to mealtime that first day. I felt like the new kid at school—unsure of my place in the world and even worse—no one to sit with at lunch.

Oh, how I mentally berated myself for not having found a clever way out of the trip. After all, how hard would it have been to feign the flu or a heart attack before the flight? Standing there in the cafeteria line I seriously considered retreating to my room and staying there till the conference ended, but before I could run away a lovely lady joined me in the food line and struck up a conversation. Again, I was stuck.

We enjoyed small talk until we had our dinner firmly in hand. She followed me to a small empty table where we sat and unloaded our trays. Others began to join us, and the introductions began. About halfway through the meal my new food-line friend told us where she lived.  That’s when I knew God was up to something. Something strange and big. This lovely older lady, who just happened to join me in line also just happened to reside in the same remote town where I had lived most of my childhood years. When I say this town was remote, I mean barely on the map. In fact, when I revealed to her that I had grown up there, she insisted that I must be mistaken.

But there was no mistake. That same small town, where hurt had taken root in my heart and left scars I thought had long since faded—that town, that represented my unresolved past and had become such a bur in my soul that it had kept me from finding God’s grace and healing—she lived there. But why? Why had God dragged me a thousand miles from the safety of my own clan, and drawn her to drive hundreds of miles from hers to place us together at that exact time?

Because He knew that my writing journey must begin on solid ground—free from the stumbling blocks of the past. I still get chills when I contemplate how expertly He orchestrated my time with that wonderful woman to bring healing and wholeness to my soul. God wrote an entire chapter of my life during those four precious days, and that chapter paved the way for my writing journey to begin.

Since that experience I’ve had countless divinely arranged encounters with people who have taken my hand to help me find the next foothold in my climb to publishing. Those people have become my mentors, teachers, encouragers, and friends. But the truly awe-inspiring part of it all is the realization that it’s God’s sovereign hand that has placed my palm into theirs.

Tip #4–Look for Divine Appointments

My tip for this month is to be on the lookout for God’s divine appointments. When they come recognize Who arranged the meetings and share your story with others who may be just starting out or those who have been in the trenches so long that they’re tempted to forget the hope that lies in knowing He is the ultimate appointment setter. I’m confident that most of you have benefited from divine appointments which have propelled your writing career. Take a minute to share some of those experiences in the comments below to help others remember how truly awesome our God is.

Scripture: Psalm 71:17-19, Proverbs 16:9, Psalm 37:23

Fun Fact: Famous author, JK Rowling was rejected time after time until she became clinically depressed over the rejections. Finally, the eight-year-old daughter of the chairman of Bloomsbury publishing house saw the opening chapters of her manuscript, insisted upon reading it, devoured it, and then demanded to read the rest of the book. Even after Bloomsbury decided to take a chance on Harry Potter Rowling’s editor, Barry Cunningham, warned Rowling that she needed to get a day job because it was impossible to make a living writing children’s books.

Annette Marie Griffin is a award-winning writer who speaks at local women’s group meetings and women’s retreats on the topic of biblical womanhood and finding our identity in Christ. She is the Operations and Events Coordinator at a private school for special needs students and is the editor of their quarterly newsletter. She has written custom curriculum for women’s retreats and children’s church curriculum for Gateway Church in San Antonio, Texas where she served as Children’s Ministry Director and Family Program Director for over twenty years. She and her husband John have five amazing children and two adorable grands. She’s a member of Word Weavers International, ACFW, SCBWI, and serves on the Board of Directors for The Creative Writing Institute.