IT'S NEVER TOO LATE!

Okay, I said was going to go into more detail about my background.  As I had said, I was giving up on the idea that I could really be a writer, but when I turned in an essay in high school and not only got a good grade but a written comment that I may have the talent to make a career of it, I was excited.  I was not just imaging that I had the talent, this teacher thought so too.  But, where would I ever get good ideas to write about?  I couldn’t come up with any.  I was getting discouraged again.   At this time I was also trying to determine what God wanted me to do with my life and was considering going into a full-time ministry. I was a Christian and was taught that the talents we had were given to us by God to be used for sharing the gospel message. I wondered if He wanted me to become a Christian writer.  In a study hall one day I prayed and said I needed a sign.  If God wanted me to write for Him, He would need to give me something to write about.  I began to think of the last words Jesus spoke on the cross, particularly "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do," and I began to write.  I wrote a poem called, "Father Forgive Them" which is still my favorite.  This was the sign I had asked for, I was sure of it.  I was to become a Christian writer.  .Around this time I found out about a Christian correspondence course in writing and I thought that would get me started.  They also were supposed to help students of the course get jobs as writers.  I enrolled and took two courses from them, a basic course and a more advanced one.  I wrote a couple of short stories in the course but I could not find a publisher that would accept them.  I also could not get work in any profession where I could use my writing, so I just went to look for any job.  I thought I would have to do my writing part-time as a freelancer.  After trying a couple of jobs I failed at, when employment agencies worked for the worker not the companies, I was finally able to stay at one at Chicago-Kent College of Law, which has now become a part of IIT.  The professor was impressed with the way I could express myself in writing, and I got along very well with my co-workers. I told them of my real desire and let them read some of what I wrote I think. There were just a few of us, which was just right for me.  I was happy working there and a Jewish young man asked why I was so happy and I talked to him about my religious beliefs.  He was very respectful and curious about Christianity.   I was more interested in writing than in the job, which was becoming boring.  In down time, I would write and sometimes it would affect my performance.  I would be late getting back from a lunch break for example.  I was on the verge of being fired, but I quit before that.  This seems like a good stopping point for today.  I will continue it tomorrow.