Rose Among Thornes

More From Terrie Todd

Share your favorite memory:

One memory I’ll always cherish happened in the fall of 2000 when I attended my first writers’ conference, hosted by Inscribe Christian Writers Fellowship in Edmonton, Alberta. Though I’d never personally met any of the other attendees, the group had been such a help and inspiration to me that I wanted to repay them somehow. I’d been a church drama director for a few years by then. In one reckless act of abandon, I offered to present a humorous monologue on opening night. They agreed.

I wrote a spoof of an addictions support group confession. “Hello. My name is Cynthia. And I am a … I’m a … a…”

Finally, I (as Cynthia) managed to spit out the offensive word. Writer. I could tell the audience felt pity for me, thinking I was struck with a horrible case of nerves. Awkwardly sharing how my downward spiral into this dark and dangerous writing habit began quite innocently, I exposed my somewhat autobiographical tale of woe, exaggerated to the extreme. As the audience began to clue in, the twittering began.

Once they knew it was safe to laugh, it grew.

Eventually, my journey shifted from shame to acceptance to glory. As the confession built to a big finish, my soundtrack of Pomp and Circumstance cut in, reminiscent of a popular TV commercial of the day which ended with a bold “My name is Joe. And I AM CANADIAN!” The audience had seen it a hundred times. In this case, though, the proclamation was, “My name is Cynthia. And I AM A WRITER!”

My audience members rose to their feet clapping, cheering, and whistling before the last word even left my mouth.

Why is this such a happy memory? Probably because it represented a convergence of the gifts God gave me—writing, producing, acting—and because I performed it before like-minded creatives. Their expressions of appreciation through the rest of our weekend still warm my heart two decades later.

God has given you gifts and abilities, too. I believe your greatest joy in life comes when you allow Him to bless others through those gifts. When he gives you opportunity to combine them, and when those whom you’re blessing are “your people,” the joy is magnified a dozen times over. When the opportunity comes, I hope you go for it with reckless abandon.

–Terrie Todd