Inspirational Breathing

By Jody Bailey Day

The word 'inspiration' always makes me take a slow, deep breath. My eyes close and a smile warms my face. The word always reminds me of the reason I became a writer.


I am a great fan of Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series. The third novel, Anne of the Island, finds Anne and her young adult friends facing life's challenges. Ruby Gillis is a chum who had never given any thought but to her day-to-day pleasures. Unhappily, Ruby is now dying of consumption. Anne pays her a visit and finds Ruby terrified of death. Ruby's "soul clung, in blind helplessness, to the only things she knew and loved". Anne left that meeting a different young woman. I was changed as I read Montgomery's prose of Anne's thoughts: "The little things of life, sweet and excellent in their place, must not be the things lived for; the highest must be sought and followed; the life of heaven must be begun here on earth."


That sentence first inspired me to "the highest" and reinforced my faith. Second, I was consumed with the desire to write in a way that would encourage people to aspire the way I did at that moment. The notion began as a desire and has blossomed over the years into a full-blown passion and calling. I will never forget it. Over time, I have reread and highlighted many such inspirations in Montgomery's work as well as many of the Masters and Christian authors.

Keeping that goal in my heart and mind has gotten me over many a writer's block. I just close my eyes, remember that moment, and then ask the Father to help me take my readers to that place of inspiration the highest.

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Jody Bailey Day is an author who looks at life through love-colored glasses. Her passion is inspiring people to live a life that embraces who they are in Jesus Christ. She writes poems, articles, devotionals, and novels from West Texas, where she is President of the Fort Stockton area Critique Café. She is a member of ACFW and Faithwriters.com. Her poems and articles have appeared in Mature Living, The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, Christiandevotions.us, EveryDayPoets.com, and Splickety Magazine. She has two books available on Amazon,

H.E.A.V.E.N. A Handle for the Storms of Life and H.E.A.V.E.N.: A Handle for Troubled Times Her debut novel from Harbourlight/Pelican Group, Washout Express, is forthcoming. She is represented by Terry Burns of Hartline Literary Agency.