The retreat team had just concluded the last meeting of the first day of our church retreat at Mt Gilead and had gone back to the cabins to go to bed.

I wiggled down into my sleeping bag, fluffed the pillow, pulled it behind my head, laid  down exhausted and closed my eyes for some welcome rest only to hear the Lord say “Grab your notebook.”

The always obedient me said, “What Lord? What did you say? I gave Him my laundry list. It’s late and I’m one of the last ones to get in bed after a whirlwind opening retreat day!! I thought that I was quietly going to bed to get some much needed sleep.”

“Go get your lined notebook.”

“The lights are out. It’s dark and everyone in the cabin is tucked in bed and most are already asleep! I am going to wake them up and it’s not going to be pretty!!”

“You can find your notebook without turning on any lights. It’s in your backpack which is right on top of your suitcase by the head of your bed.”

Okay then, far be it for me to argue with you Lord.

In the dark, on my stomach, in a sleeping bag, on a bunk, in a dark cabin full of women on a retreat, about midnight, I wrote my first poem, Woman of  God. Looking back, that interaction with God launched my writing career.

At home, I wondered about this new gift. Who writes poetry? Let alone in this busy day and age, who reads poetry? You can tell I was excited about this new gift from God. As I was entertaining the thought of writing poetry, my husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease. He was already on disability due to a heart issue and years earlier, I had taken a job in order to have health insurance.

God’s timing is always excellent. I was no longer working when my husband received his Parkinson’s diagnosis so I was able to be home to take care of him.

In 2019, after 6 1/2 years of caregiving, my husband died. I started a new life.

At first moving on was excruciating; the grief, the covid isolation, the life as a single woman after 55 years of marriage. Little did I know that The Lord had given me a purpose and an identity in Him that night at the retreat in order to move forward in Him with my completely new single life.

An author was born.