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| Arlene James |
You may have a teacher who stands out in your memory as
someone who made learning fun, made you feel special, or was particularly hard
on you. Author Arlene James had such a
person in her life, and today she shares how that teacher helped her embrace
her calling as a writer and begin her journey to publication. ~ Dawn
Mrs.
Johnston
Trust me on this, if you are not called by God to write,
then writing is nothing short of cruel and inhumane punishment.
Those of us called to write are compelled to write.
Even as a girl I knew that I would write. Indeed, I wrote as
a child and even published as a child. God blessed me with an ogre of a teacher
who made it her goal to prove to me that I could write if I chose to do so. Her
name was Bernice Johnston, and she was my seventh grade English and Literature
teacher.
I didn’t like her much, and frankly, I thought she was
picking on me at first. She would assign a theme subject on Mondays. We handed
in 500 words on the subject on Wednesdays and were supposed to receive them
back, heavily marked up (edited) on Thursday, to be revised and turned in again
on Friday. I routinely dashed off mine and turned them in at the end of the
period that same day. So, Mrs. Johnston soon began giving me special
assignments.
The rest of the class got 500 words on what it meant to
respect one’s elders. I was told to write a short
story about respecting an elder. And so it went throughout the semester.
Oh, was I resentful. Short stories––that is, fiction––is much more difficult to
craft than a simple theme. I complained to my father, who listened then refused
to intervene. Wise man.
The day came when Mrs. Johnston provided me with a check.
For five whole dollars. My first payment for publication, in this case for a
short story that she had sent to a children’s magazine. She had been sending my
work to every publication she could find, as well as entering my stories in
contests, several of which I actually won. By the time I entered high school, I
knew what I wanted to do for a living and didn’t doubt that I could do it.
Life, as it always does, intervened. I was 26 and a mom when
I sold my first book, but I had lived for a long time under the firm conviction
that I was called to write. A Christian from the age of nine, I was blessed
with wise grandparents who taught me that God calls all of His children to
something (and often to more than one thing). Mrs. Johnston helped me find
God’s career calling in my life. Eighty-plus books and more than three decades
of steady publication later, I don’t think I missed my calling.
Do you have a Mrs. Johnston in your life? Has God placed
someone to nudge you toward a calling? Pay attention, whatever you stage in
life, and trust God. Let Him direct you. If you just aren’t sure yet, then pray
for your Mrs. Johnston. My prayer for you is that you’ll recognize your Mrs.
Johnston when you bump into her.
Tweetables:
God blessed
Arlene James with a teacher who set out to prove that Arlene could write. Click to tweet.
A teacher helped
author Arlene James find God’s career calling in her life. Click to tweet.
Has God placed
someone in your life to nudge you toward a calling? Click to tweet.
LOVE IN BLOOM is Book 1 in the Heart of Main Street
continuity series from Love Inspired. Set in Kansas, the series involves six
businesses that receive matching grants to locate in a small town trying to
save their beloved city from economic death after the main employer closes its
doors. When Lily Farnsworth opens her floral shop there, she is escaping the
expectations of her family and a disappointing love life back in Boston. The
last thing she expects is to fall for widower Tate Bronson and his matchmaking
8-year-old daughter, but Tate will have to forgive God for the death of his
wife before he can open his heart to Lily. Can planting a rose bush and giving
a little girl a birthday wish really help him do that?
ARLENE JAMES is
the author of more than 80 novels. Publishing steadily for more than three
decades, she has concentrated on Inspirational Romance for the past several
years. She loves providing her readers with uplifting stories of true love as
God has ordained it. She and her husband, the artist James Rather, have
traveled extensively and now live in northwest Arkansas, near the two brightest
granddaughters in the world.
To learn more about Arlene and her work, please visit:
