by Emily Conrad
 

When I quit my day job to pursue writing, I told myself the transition would be like going back to school and training for a new career. I thought, it might take 4 years to get a book published, but that would be fair, because that’s how long students take to earn a bachelor’s degree after high school.

I already had a bachelor’s degree, and I didn’t take on more classes to take my writing from where it was toward publication, but I did work with a lot of critique partners and I attended some conferences. My plan was to work toward publication and consider that four years as something of an apprenticeship.

My first day as a full time writer was 3/8/2014.

My debut novel released 3/9/2018.

I only just recently noticed how exactly that matched the goal I started with, but now that I’ve seen it, I believe it’s a fingerprint of God’s faithfulness. Not that I set a deadline and He met it–I’ve tried before, and letmetellyou, I can’t make things happen that way.
 
Rather, He whispered the timeline to me and then fulfilled it. He is the faithful God. He saw to completion that part of His calling in my life. Though I am His beloved writing daughter, I could not have forced this timing without Him.

I’ve been grateful to see Him at work in this writing endeavor, and I’m excited to see where He’ll take me next.

I’m excited and grateful, too, because I know this same God is at work in your life, fulfilling wonderful plans He has for you.

I’m sharing a little about my journey in an interview with a fellow Pelican Book Group author today. Click here to follow me over to MaryAnn Diorio’s blog to read a little more about how I felt called to be a writer, what “Christian fiction” means to me, and what I’m working on now.

Not that I set a deadline and God met it–I’ve tried before, and letmetellyou, it doesn’t work that way–but that He whispered the timeline to me and then fulfilled it. via @emilyrconrad

Photo credit: photo by Marivi Pazos on Unsplash, graphic designed on Canva.com