By Debra DuPree Williams @DDuPreeWilliams

I’m thankful to have had a long weekend to recover from the hustle and bustle of a writing conference. The Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference (BRMCWC) is held each May and I’ve attended it every year since 2014. As my friend, Michelle Cox, said in her orientation speech, I reckon I’m just a slow learner.

Under the direction of Edie Melson and DiAnn Mills, this is one conference I can’t bring myself to miss. It’s that special. From the time you enter the gates of Ridgecrest and your feet hit the parking lot outside Pritchel, the check-in point, you know you are standing on holy ground. This is no exaggeration. You ask anyone who has ever been to this conference. You can feel Holy Spirit in the atmosphere as you draw in that first fresh, clean breath of air from the Black Mountains.

Back in 2014, I was brand new to the writing scene. In fact, I had no clue if I evenwasa writer. I had written most of my life, but it was little things for school projects, my children, and grandbabies, mostly poems. With trepidation, I entered a poem in a SCBWI contest once upon a time. That’s how naïve I was. But hey, you have to do this stuff sometime.

In 2014, I took the children’s writing track attending classes taught by Sally Apokedak. If you don’t know who she is, Google her. I sat in the classes she taught on writing picture books and all things associated with that part of the industry. I even made a fifteen-minute appointment with Sally. My only question was, “Am I a writer? Is this worth the time and effort and my money to learn to be better?”

I trembled as I watched Sally read my poems and glance at my picture books. Surprisingly, she told me not to quit, that I am a writer with a unique voice.

Much of my time at that first conference was spent in tears as all of this was overwhelming to me. I carried so many burdens into the praise and worship meetings and cried so hard I couldn’t stay in the meetings and had to leave every single one. But invariably, someone would follow me out, put their arms around me and pray for me and the obvious burden upon me. This. This, my friend, is BRMCWC.

A lot has changed since that first year. Holy Spirit still roams the hills pouring out God’s love and grace to all who will receive it. New writers have won Selah Awards and Foundations Awards.  I’ve switched from writing for children to writing mysteries, and my work has earned awards not only at BRMCWC but at Autumn in the Mountains Novel Retreat, also held at Ridgecrest. I am in awe at the doors God has opened for me. Excuse me while I say, “Thank you, Father God, for allowing this servant to somehow reach others with the message you laid upon my heart.”

This year, my precious sister Bobbie Foshee accompanied me. This was a gift in celebration of all that she has meant to me in the seventy-five years she’s been on this earth. She rocked me when I was a baby, danced before me so that I wouldn’t cry. She’s counseled me, prayed for me and mine, and has shown me what it means to walk, not just talk, a Christian life. She is my brainstorming partner, my alpha reader, the one who can say anything she knows I need to hear and get away with it. I was so blessed to have her at my side this year. Sissy, these awards are partly yours.

All of this is to say, that if I can do this, if God can use this lady, who had never considered herself to be such, and turn her into an award-winning writer,you can do this, too. Do you hear God calling you to write for Him? Has He given you a gift with words? How I wish you could have heard Eva Marie Everson’s keynote in 2016 about Nehemiah, the cup-bearer to the king. I won’t spoil it in case you ever get to hear this inspiring speech. I wish you could have heard all the keynote speakers this past week. Without a doubt, almost every person in that room thought the words they spoke were just for them. I know I did.

One final thought. I still carried burdens into the praise and worship meetings which are held just prior to our keynote speeches. As I prayed for those I love the most, David Teems’ words penetrated the depths of my heart. At that moment I knew, I knew, God had heard all the prayers I’ve prayed during these years. I laid that burden at the foot of the cross, never to pick it up again, because I know that God is on the throne and He is in control. I need not worry about this ever again.

David quietly read scripture as music played softly in the background. We sat, eyes closed and tears coursed down my cheeks. Then he ended with this:

“You didn’t choose Me. . .

I chose you.”

My friend, God chose you a long time ago, before you were in your mother’s womb. The fact that you are here tells you He had a reason, a purposefor you to be on the face of this earth. Maybe you haven’t been called to be a writer but be assured that God has a purpose for you. Be still and know that He is God. Listen for that Still Small Voice as He calls you to yourpurpose. Can you hear Him?

Called . . . to What Purpose? @DDuPreeWilliams on @BRMCWC

Debra DuPree Williams is an award-winning author whose work has appeared in Stupid Moments, Additional Christmas Moments, Michelle Medlock Adams’Love and Care For the One and Only You, in addition to other publications. When she isn’t busy writing, you will likely find her chasing an elusive ancestor, either through online sources or in country graveyards. Debbie is a classically-trained lyric coloratura soprano whose first love is southern Gospel. She has been married forever to the best man on earth, is the mother of four sons, mother-in-law of one extraordinary daughter-of-her-heart, and DD to the two most-beautiful and talented young ladies ever. Debbie divides her time between North Carolina and Florida.