When I was just a little girl, I loved Doris Day's signature song, "Que Será Será." (And those of you who know the song as well as I do, know what I just did there with my opening line!)
The lesson in Doris Day's song is the translation of the title:
"What will be, will be."
I idolized Doris Day. She was so cute, so sweet. If I were to ever become a famous singer/actress like she was, I wanted a similar reputation. But—que será será.
Like the first line in the song, I also wondered what I would be when I grew up. A teacher? A writer? A singer? Que será será, but I was willing to bet language would be a major part of my future.
Sixty years later, I can look back on my life and see what came to be. I became all three—just wasn't as famous as Doris Day! While the song sticks to a secular message of fate or destiny, I’ll take it a step further with faith.
We are not in control of our lives.
We couldn't see what our future held when we were children. We can't see the future now. Not in our personal lives. Not in our professional lives. But unlike the song, we can trust that God is in control and He knows our future.
I was a member of the ACFW Indiana board for several years, and I've had the
privilege of getting to know many of you, something that probably
wouldn't have happened if I had remained a member at large.
Some of you are in the prime of life, raising
children, eager to see how God uses the talents He has given you. Some are in
the autumn of your lives. I count myself among you. We deal with health issues and generational issues
as we watch the world and our families. Sometimes, our grown children crash and burn, and sometimes we have the joy of watching them thrive. But all
of us look forward to what is ahead in eternity. And that should be the message
to our readers. No matter the circumstances on earth, we have a Savior waiting for us, waiting to welcome us home.
In the meantime, how do we use our writing gifts to mine
for the jewels God buries in our lives?
Do we guide our characters into their future? Do we offer them hope?
In my YA books, my main character struggles to do the right thing. She learns what is most important for eternity.
My women’s fiction follows the same tensions. How can she make up for her sins? She can’t, but God shows her the way out of the mess she created. Her faith has an effect on what her family's future will be.
Que será será.
Some of us are highly successful in the writing world. Some of us are still struggling for an agent’s attention. Others of us have chosen to step away from the traditional and publish our work independently.Who knew that would be a possibility thirty years ago? No matter how we seek to get our books into public view, we know God has called us to write.
Stay true to your calling, and...que será será.
Linda had always figured she’d teach teens and tweens until school authorities presented her with a retirement wheelchair and rolled her out the door. However, God changed those plans when He gave her a growing passion for writing fiction. In May of 2016, she blew goodbye kisses to her students and dedicated her work hours to becoming an author.
A wife, mother of three, and grandmother to eight, Linda regales the youngest grandchildren with “Nona Stories,” tales of her childhood. Maybe one day those stories will be in picture books!
Where Linda can be found on the web:
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