Changed Forever By A Book

By Gloria Rose

At the lowest point of my life, I traveled in search of a new place to live. Recently separated from my husband, I visited a girlfriend in her downtown San Francisco flat. I picked up a book on her coffee table, The Sacred Romance: drawing closer to the heart of God by Brent Curtis and John Eldredge.

Five hours later, I closed the back cover and felt relief. I was in a new place—inside.Until reading Sacred Romance, I lived my adult life like a college student in a perpetual final exam week. My role was to burn the candle at both ends to pass the tests. Was I nice? Paying my taxes on time? Impressing my boss at work? Obeying the rules—don’t steal and don’t tell lies? Am I gaining the approval of God, the Tough Grader in the sky?

In TheSacred Romance, the authors painted God as the cosmic Lover pursuing His beloved—you and me: God created us for intimacy with him…and He uses beauty and affliction to recapture our hearts.

With this new perspective, I felt valued and secure. I smelled the roses more. I started to recognize love oozing out of children, coffee house baristas and strangers with dreadlocks. Authors Brent Curtis and John Eldredge had rewired my brain.

Recalling Sacred Romance’s impact on me fuels my motivation and growth as a writer. Isn’t that why I write—to rewire a reader’s perspective? To move a person from darkness to light? To reveal the hope and love available to us, just for the seeing?

A successful writer needs persistence and discipline. However, something more sends me to the keyboard: a desire to use words to heal another in some small way.

To reignite your writing passion, ask:

1. How have words changed me?

2. What is my message—the insight I can share with others?

3. How can I weave this message into my writing?

Your words matter.

A book changed me forever.

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Gloria Rose is a writer and coach. Formerly an executive recruiter (“headhunter”), she now helps people identify their life purpose and fulfill it. She is the author-teacher of the class,

“Find Your Purpose—Now.” Her latest eBook is “7 Ways to keep your dream alive.” Gloria blogs at http://www.gloriarose.com Connect with her on Facebook,Twitter and LinkedIn