I received my first writing award when I was in grade five.  I had written a poem for the Sooke Historical Society about a gold miner and his donkey.  It won first place and I won a blue ribbon!  It spurred me on to write more poetry and short stories, but I did not receive any more awards for my writing until I wrote my first book over forty years later.  Needless to say, it was not the winning of awards that motivated me to continue to write…if that were the case, I would have been disappointed and frustrated for most of my writing career.

There is much for me to celebrate these days, especially when it comes to my writing.  I learned several months ago that another one of my stories, “The Greatest Goal” will be included in the latest Chicken Soup for the Soul book, The Spirit of Canada.  This makes eight books in which one of my stories has been featured.  I am very excited about this particular book because it celebrates Canada’s 150th Birthday.  I am also thrilled that the story, “The Greatest Goal” is all about the Canada-Russia Summit Series in 1972.  For those of you hockey fans out there, you will easily be able to identify what that particular series did for international hockey, our national identity and boosting Canadian patriotism at the same time.

Then a few weeks ago, I was informed that my blog article, “Christian Against Christian” is shortlisted for a 2017 Word Award (formerly the Canadian Christian Writing Awards).  I actually won that award in 2011 but was unable to attend the Gala Award’s Night, but my husband, bless his heart, was able to switch some flights and I will be attending the event this time.  Win or lose, I am pretty excited to go!  We had planned to be in Ottawa for Canada Day, so we will just leave a little earlier than we originally planned and spend some time being tourists in the Toronto area before we head to Ottawa.

The Canada Day festivities should be amazing and I’ll be dressed in red and white, and waving the Maple Leaf flag there on Parliament Hill with about one million of my closest friends…!

I am always humbled and honoured by these writing accolades but today I also celebrate the fact that my blog has now surpassed ten million “hits”!  It makes me very much aware that the little blog I started in 2010 is no longer “little” as far as readership is concerned.  I am ever conscious of the responsibility I have to my readers to write relevant and hope-filled articles that will constantly point them towards the true Source of inspiration for all my writing: Jesus Christ.

Recently, I was interviewed by a local paper with regards to the Word Awards, as well as the Chicken Soup book and when asked what motivates me to keep writing, I was purposeful in saying that God is my great Motivator.  Writing from a Christian worldview, gives my readers the Hope they need as they journey through a dark and weary world right now.  Let’s face it, we live in a very divisive time and people are confused by the worldly message they are fed daily.  Now, more than ever before, Christian writers need to be purposeful in sharing The Good News with their readers, through their books, blogs and articles.  This is not a time to be silent about what we believe is Truth.  I will keep doing that for as long as God allows me to.

For now, I am praising God that I’m getting a few pats on the back for my writing right now.  (Writers are more than a little insecure, and any form of encouragement, be it a positive comment from a reader or something as honouring as a writing award goes a very, long way to bolstering our confidence and gives credibility to the words we write.)

Awards don’t motivate me to keep writing, God is my Great motivator,…but I would be remiss if I didn’t give some credit to YOU too, my readers, who have “liked”, shared and encouraged me with your comments over these last seven years.  Thank-you!