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| Rebecca Waters |
How do
you handle life’s unexpected—and sometimes painful—events? Do you trust that
God still has a plan? Rebecca Waters
shares her inspiring journey as a writer. ~ Dawn
He
is the Potter,
I am the Clay
I’m acquainted with many authors who started their writing
career by way of reinventing themselves. They say things like, “I always wanted
to be a writer, but I had to make a living.” Some were insurance salesmen or
lawyers. Others, like me, were teachers.
My opportunity to reinvent myself as a writer came by way of
a decision my husband and I made in December, 2011. His doctor had informed us
that Tom’s heart issues were genetic. As we left the doctor’s office we made a
decision to retire early. We would leave our respective jobs at the end of
2012.
One year. One year to tidy everything up at work. One year
to plan our future. Tom was clear about the path he would take. We would move
back home to Florida, he would buy a boat and he would spend his days fishing
and golfing.
He had a plan. I didn’t have a clue.
That December I began praying about my future. What would
God have me do?
I was an educator. I taught in the public schools for
nineteen years. After completing my doctoral work at the University of
Cincinnati, I headed the education department at Cincinnati Christian
University.
On a February morning in 2012, I sat up in bed and announced
to Tom that when we retired I was going to be a published author. He didn’t
blink an eye. He encouraged me.
I always knew I was a writer. Ever since my second grade
teacher chose one of my stories to publish in our school newspaper and right up
until the year a high school English teacher selected my paper as exemplary, I
thought of myself as a writer. I wrote stories for my daughters. I wrote for my
students. As a college professor I wrote for professional journals.
Spring break was the first week in March. I used it to
research and plan my newfound career. And I began writing. People assumed I
would write children’s books or devotionals. Instead, I had the nugget of an
idea rolling around in my head for a novel. I worked on it every free minute.
In May, I met an acquisitions editor for Lighthouse
Publishing of the Carolinas at a writing conference. I pitched the book. In
March of 2014, with Tom by my side, Breathing
on Her Own was launched.
The novel was released the last week of March 2014. The last
week of October that same year, my husband died. A bicycle accident. I was
devastated.
Recently, as I read the first few verses of Jeremiah 18, I
recognized a message God had for me (as well as the Israelites). “The pot he
was shaping from the clay in his hands was marred…so the potter formed it into
another pot.”
I was Tom’s wife. The mother of his children. A useful
vessel. But God will make me useful for Him in a new way. I understand now.
He’s the one reinventing me. As a writer.
Molly
Tipton and her husband are looking forward to retirement but Molly's life
suddenly spirals out of control when her oldest daughter is involved in a
terrible accident. An icy road and a sharp turn leave one woman dead, another
clinging to life.
While
two families grieve, details emerge that reveal Molly’s daughter was driving
under the influence. As she prepares her daughter for the prospect of a
vehicular homicide lawsuit, Molly discovers her oldest child is not the only
one injured and under attack for past mistakes. If it is true time heals all
wounds, what are we to do with our scars?
Rebecca Waters’
freelance work has resulted in two stories in the popular Chicken Soup for the
Soul books, articles in Standard Publishing’s Lookout Magazine, The Christian
Communicator, Church Libraries, and Home Health Aide Digest. Breathing on Her Own is Rebecca’s first
novel. As a published author, she shares her writing journey in her weekly
blog, A Novel Creation. To learn more about Rebecca or to read A Novel
Creation, visit her website at www.WatersWords.com
Social Media . . .
Facebook Author Page: https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaWatersAuthor/
Twitter: @WatersAuthor
