Reader’s Write

There will be “good” and “bad” days, but in reality, all days are simply days of grace. The BEST writers confide to us that 9 out of 10 days they feel they have written poorly. We just keeping adding to the soup, whether we think it’s good, poor, or brilliant.

Be prepared to hit delete – more than you like. Be prepared to hate what you’ve written – more than you wish. Be prepared to love what comes out of this adventure!

Learn to trust the soup, as Steven Pressfield, calls the art of writing. It’s the PROCESS – what I call the adventure – that creates your final product. It’s just going to be what it is. And you need not make any apologies! You are writing from your heart and just being real. Don’t be afraid you might offend someone. You probably will.

Write to heal. Write to move forward. It’s your right to be real, to be well, to be whole.

“Everybody is a story. When I was a child, people sat around kitchen tables and told their stories. We don’t do that so much anymore. Sitting around the table telling stories is not just a way of passing time. It is the way the wisdom gets passed along. The stuff that helps us to live a life worth remembering.” ~ Remen

The following stories, essays, and journal entries are samples of the ingredients in my own soup pot. I’ve included them here, as a result of a couple years’ worth of collecting, to demonstrate that memoir-writing is done one little piece at a time. Think in terms of 500-1000 words for each story.

Let’s stir your Pot by reading some sample stories from Team Family Online readers!

As Heaven Sees Me By White Dove "How do I begin to tell my story?" is a common question we all ask ourselves. Most of us have endured the deepest suffering on this beautiful but certainly chaotic planet. We know what it is to lose everything, including family, reputation, jobs, finances, credibility… Where do we begin […]

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How Changing My Thoughts Changed Me By: Miriam Miriam is the pen name of a reader, who shares with us part of her story. I hope you will encourage her by commenting in the box at the bottom. You can be anonymous, if you wish! For as long as I can remember, mirrors have held […]

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Believing for a Breakthrough By: Carolyn Hughes Carolyn is a guest blogger today, and one I hope you may get to know better. Her story is one of redemption, reconciliation, and renewal of faith. She speaks with compassion for the broken, hope for the despairing, and love for the wounded! Do you ever doubt God? […]

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What It Took to Find Me Here in the Freedom Place By: Marvia Davidson, posted with permission I always “thought” I was on firm footing when it came to faith and living. I thought I had some semblance of what it meant to really have it “together”. I thought I could ignore those dark secrets. […]

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3 Rules that Make Great Relationships Special By: PJ McClure "Great job." "Thank you." "Your grandpa would be so proud of you." I think every grandchild wants to hear those words. For what it’s worth, I would have preferred to hear it somewhere other than his funeral. Regardless, the idea that I had done well […]

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A Father's Legacy: Investing in Relationships By: Beau Henderson None of us know how much time we have left on earth. I saw this first-hand at the age of 23 when my father passed away unexpectedly. I am now a financial planner in the business of helping people plan for their future, and most clients […]

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Welcome Home A dialogue between a little girl and an elder who are asking God to help them understand His heart in regard to why people hurt each other by aidng abusers and what should be their response. * * * * * * * * * Little Girl: Someone close to me hurt me. He […]

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Beginning to See the Light By: Jennifer Jacobson Jennifer's Previous Story: "Caught Between Two Worlds" I am coming out of the fog of several emotional and psychological abuse situations, and the mechanics of this system of passive-aggressive, psychological/emotional subjugation is coming more clearly into focus.   I now understand how this system has kept many of us […]

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How A Praying Cowboy Saved My Life By: Kimberly Dimick Only six months into my marriage, I was already suffering under Joshua's abuse to the point of losing my mind. I had always been a such a joyful person, so when I grew more and more depressed it sent me reeling. I could not get […]

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When the Mess Becomes the Message Video by: Jessica Stone who can be found here My friend Jessica, a single mother of four beautiful children, recently made this video to update her friends, clients, and anyone in the world of her recent divorce. Why would someone want to share such a vulnerable and weak period of […]

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Letting go, Sharon ODay, Harry Leyman

By: Sharon O'Day The massive banyan shot fifty feet into the air in the front garden, creating a perfect canopy for the bromeliads and orchids I had collected over the years.  A straight line of old oaks stood like sentinels along the driveway.  Old bricks shipped to Miami from Chicago, where they had been salvaged […]

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Caught Between Two Worlds By: Jennifer I want to be able to stand on my own two feet, firmly planted, and take care of myself. But it feels like I am in a forest and it is so scary to trust I will be led out at some point. Since leaving my abusers, I am in a very strange place.  It […]

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A Life Story Interview with Aurora By: Susan Deborah Schiller We all run into blocks in writing our memoir. When telling your story is too hard, it may help for someone to listen and write a few lines for you. Soon you're ready to tackle another chapter of your memoir. You know, it's usually in the hard stories where […]

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The Other Side of Normal By: Laura —   in the category, "Write to Freedom" Previous Chapter: Laura's Story, Part One Long ago, I met a great woman. Right from the start, I was so impressed by her resilience through pain, her faith, her delicate soul.   Her thinking was so profound, that we talked about everything […]

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Choose Life By: Laura In the "Write to Freedom" series, where readers become writers! Editor's Note: Laura is a member of our "Write to Freedom" mini-memoir eCourse, and she wishes to share with us her life story, with the message: Choose Life. Like most survivors of a lifetime of abuse, the simple act of saying, […]

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Compelling Compassion By: Newell Hendricks In the "Write to Freedom" series, where readers become writers! Today it's my honor to introduce you to Newell Hendricks, a man compelled by compassion to form friendships with women who have been hurt by men. His website, "Life of a Normal Man" feels like God's kitchen to me – a welcoming place […]

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Choosing Life By: Joyce Lagana In the "Write to Freedom" series, where readers become writers! Joyce has contributed this story as part of the "Write to Freedom" Mini Memoir course. It's a brave story, and although painful in the telling, she has given me permission to publish here, because she knows the power of a […]

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The Projection Room By: Linda South Honea In the "Write to Freedom" series, where readers become writers! Do you remember those reel-to-reel projectors in elementary school? Before You Tube, before Podcasts, before DVD’s, before VHS videos, there were reel-to-reel films. Long ago, I attended Kiest Elementary School.  Once or twice a month, the students formed […]

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THE GIFT In the "Write to Freedom" series, where readers become writers! Guest writer, Joyce Lagana, shares with us some love from our Father. As I read "The Gift" I cannot help but remember my friends and I claiming, "I'm Father's favorite!" as we all rejoiced in the love of God. And it's true, you […]

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happiness

“Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.” ~ Oscar Wilde I’ve always had difficulties with my identity. Being abandoned by my mum as an infant left me growing up with extreme insecurities about being unloved and unwanted. It changed how I perceived myself […]

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