God's Glory, My Story

The Write Kids
by Diane Stark

"There's just no way around it," said my husband, the frustration evident in his voice. "We just need more money coming in." I agreed with him, but with four young children to care for, it seemed nearly impossible for me to work outside the home. We prayed over our finances, asking the Lord to show us how we could improve our situation.

I made concerted efforts to cut our grocery bill and other spending. Of course, this helped, but I wanted to do more. I searched the Internet for work-at-home opportunities, but they all seemed like scams. Finally, at the library one day, I found a book on starting a freelance writing business. As I held the book in my hands, it seemed that God had provided us with an answer.

I had always received good grades from teachers and professors for term papers and other writing projects. And more importantly, writing was something I'd always enjoyed. It seemed like a great fit.

I bought a Writer's Market and subscribed to all of the free writing newsletters I could find. The overriding advice they offered new writers was to "write what you know." As a former teacher turned stay-at-home mom, the thing I knew best was kids.

I searched the Internet for parenting websites that paid for articles from freelance writers. I found several that seemed like good prospects, figured out what a query letter was, wrote up a few and sent them out. Then I prayed and barely breathed until I began to hear back from the editors.

Although I received mostly form rejection letters, I did get one acceptance. A website for moms wanted me to write an article on losing postpartum weight. I did, they printed it, and sent me a check for $50. I was on Cloud Nine for weeks.

I began writing whenever and wherever I could. I wrote during the kids' naps, while waiting for soccer practice to wrap up, and especially, during the evening hours that I used to spend watching television.

I wrote several more articles for the parenting website, including ones on discipline and communication. I discovered that my experiences with my own children were invaluable resources for my writing. I used things they did for anecdotes in my articles and then I began to see how easy it was to turn my experiences into personal essays.

These essays were easy to write because there was no research involved, and there seemed to be a lot of markets that would print them. I sent in an essay about my son to the Christian moms' magazine MOMsense, and it accepted it. Another essay was printed in a Chicken Soup anthology. Funny things my children said and did appeared in women's magazines. And I realized that my children were like little gold mines! My most precious gifts from God were enabling me to use the writing ability He gave me. It was amazing and nearly overwhelming. I pray constantly that God will keep my eyes, ears, and heart open both to my children and to Him.

My writing has had an additional benefit: it has brought our family together in such a unique way. When one of the kids says something humorous, they immediately hand me my writer's notebook, knowing that their words will soon become fodder for one of mom's stories. They love seeing my name (and their own!) in print and we often remind one another that every publication is a blessing from God, not our achievement.

Writing has been an answer to prayer, both financially and for our family's bond. And I thank God for all of it.