By Stacey Britton | 05July2020 |Blog: To Send or not to Send

To Send or Not to Send

I remember it vividly! It was Christmas holiday from school for me. A nice break to regroup and work on my writing. I’ve been writing since early high school so in reality since the late 1970’s. Writing but not publishing. Writing but not sharing. Writing in secret a downloading of my life.

The first send: I shared my writing with one person. One story. One push of the button ‘send’. A living trust of part of who I am FINALLY shared with someone I trusted.

“Have you published this story? This story NEEDS to be published!” It was 2012. Over 30 years of pouring my life unto the page, pages and pages, pens galore. It took another several postings to my friend, story after story, send after send. Bringing me the confidence to finally think the impossible, possible.

Maybe, just maybe I could write my stories and post them on a website.

Then one December night in 2013, Christmas Eve our family had celebrated in our normal way and the guys were playing the new games, laughing, joking around and so forth. I took the opportunity to find a quiet spot in my upstairs bedroom. I took the time to FINALLY step forward. My heart was frantically beating, I was afraid, my secret life of writing would now become public. Should I take this step, should send my life out among others to be seen, read and become vulnerable with the reality of my life story? Shame tugged at my mind, doubts yelled in my head, unworthy, you’ll be exposed. Don’t do it!

I stepped forward, set up the website, loaded a story and ‘Publish’ was pushed. The Christmas story of that evening soon became my highest read story of all for several years. But it was the story behind the story that I am sharing now.

I remember how I felt then and wonder why it took so long to share my life with others. Reader, be brave, each of us have a story all our own. No one else knows the inside of our minds and hearts. Share your ideas, push that ‘send or publish’ button, search for them with a boldness that carries a hope of the future.

Just Send.

I’m reminded of another ‘send’ story. Jesus was sent to us, it was his choice to leave heaven and tell us His story here on earth so we in turn could have a relationship with Him. He sends us to share the loving story of His longing to have a relationship with all of us, to reunite God our create to our story.