Stepping out of the Diaper Pail

After receiving my first-grade progress report, my mom scheduled a conference with my dear teacher. She had an important question to ask:  What are we going to do about Alicia’s messy handwriting?  Standing out in the midst of many  delightful descriptions of my academic prowess was a red flag.  While I had tallied many “E”s for excellent in the simple subject matter of first grade, I had earned one grade that wasn’t like the others.  Behind the label handwriting was an “S-” meaning “not quite satisfactory.”


“Should I be concerned about this?” my mom asked Mrs. Hoekstra, long-standing teacher in the cheery Rainbow Room at Lincoln elementary school.


Dear Mrs. Hoekstra, who had taught countless youngsters to read and write, smiled at my mom and responded, “Some things just aren’t worth worrying about, Mrs. Dieleman. Your daughter is going to be a famous poet, and poet’s just don’t have time to write neatly. Her handwriting may never be beautiful, but her words are.”


To  my mom’s credit, she heeded the wise old teacher’s advice and only ever demanded that my handwriting be legible.  How grateful I am for a teacher who thirty years ago recognized my gifting and encouraged my dream.


While I have yet to become a famous poet, I have spent a lifetime in love with words. That same little girl who learned to read in Mrs. Hoekstra’s Rainbow Room eventually read about the WORD MADE FLESH. And she fell in love; not just with beautiful words, but with the One whose words spoke solar systems into existence, the One whose words of forgiveness saved her life. 


I still don’t have beautiful handwriting, but I have spent much of my lifetime crafting words that point to my beautiful Savior.


This week, I’m stepping out of the diaper pail and heading to a writer’s conference. Armed with manuscripts and book proposals, business cards and  high hopes for garnering the interest of publishers and agents, I’m both excited and terrified.  It’s my prayer that God will guide this print missionary down whatever road He has planned from the very beginning. If that involves the opportunity to reach more women with His Words, I’ll be humbled and delighted. Regardless of what happens in the week to come, I will continue to dig for treasure in the ordinary moments of my life and share the jewels I discover with whomever God allows.

 If you have at any point been touched by the words God’s placed on my heart and I’ve shared with you, would you consider praying for me as I take this next step?  Would you pray, also for my amazing husband who is stepping out of the doctor’s clinic and into the diaper pail with five crazy children for the next six days? I’m guessing he might glean a few jewels of his own in my absence!


Thanks for the privilege of sharing words with you. Have a wonderful week!

Today’s Treasure: 

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.  -John 1:14