Am I Birthing my Purpose? (Linda’s Journey)
(A Conversation between Khiela Holmes [BTG] and Linda Vorabouth)
Recognizing My Purpose (The First Trimester)
Linda: Discovering my purpose was a coincidence. I was that student that scrambled from one degree program to another trying to find what it was that God purposed for me to do in my life. I didn’t expect that my destiny was not only in my studies but in my connection with others. To make a long story short, I met my best friend, Kim, in college. She led me to my church home. It was only through the process of growing through Christ in knowledge and in spirit, that led me to notice the gift I had in writing.
BTG: The process of growing through Christ in knowledge and in spirit sounds powerful! Can you say more about what that means and how you went about that?
Linda: Recognizing my purpose in my gift was truly like the first trimester of pregnancy. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I didn’t realize I was pregnant until I was at least 4 months along. I have written for journalism clubs and writing competitions in grade school and in college, but it did not cross my mind that writing is my purpose. As a believer, purpose means so much to me. Yes, I could have maintained a corporate job, made a decent salary, and lived a “so call” happy life. I tried working in different fields from administration within the Veterans Affairs Administration to being a designer for menswear. I made a decent salary with those jobs but was left unfulfilled. There is something truly fulfilling about walking out your calling or purpose in life. It was when I surrender and commune with God in prayer and studying His Word that opened my eyes to how much I love to write. Initially, I read the bible. Then I went from reading to digging deeper into the meaning of the words within the scripture. Being that I am multilingual, I knew that meanings of words could be misinterpreted, lost in translation, or have multiple meanings. The more I study and begin to pray for revelation, the more I became whole- fulfilled. As I studied, I prayed. My prayers aren’t complicated or formal. I simply just spoke to God like I would have spoken to my birth father and that is when ideas and images begin to flood my mind. I would write and sketch them out one page after another. One day I found myself writing a story about ducks. The next thing I knew, I created a book.
BTG: Thank you for sharing your process with speaking to God! As a mental health provider that works with youth, I find it so encouraging to hear that people’s gifts (even if they did not realize it at the time) were present and being developed in childhood. What made you write for journalism clubs and writing competitions? Was this something you did on your own or were you encouraged to do so?
Linda: Honestly, I could not remember the reason why I submitted my writings to those writing competitions in junior high. But what I can remember in doing so, I found another creative outlet. I realized that whatever I was going to do in life, it had to involve some kind of creativity. Then in college, I found myself joining the journalism club for the purpose of ascertaining a scholarship. When I joined the journalism club, I had no idea that I would be writing because at that time I was taking photographs for the team. However, not only was I writing, but I had the opportunity to learn the technical aspects of the publishing industry. All this time, I didn’t realize I was developing my skill and understanding in writing without recognizing that this was what I was purposed to do. Encouragement in furthering my purpose didn’t come until Lady Jennifer Johnson asked me randomly if I had ever thought about writing children’s book? She encouraged me to give it a try.
BTG: It’s interesting that it is often a person that God uses to encourage us further in our gifts. What made you choose ducks?
Linda: I believe it chose me. The first images that came to mind when I began to sketch were ducks. I had these images of ducks with crazy stripes, polka dots, and bright colors.
BTG: Images coming to mind is an amazing process in recognizing purpose and gifts. I encourage anyone reading this to consider what they have been interested in over the years, what gives you passion and excitement, what have others encouraged you to pursue, and what is God continually placing on your mind and heart. What might this tell you about your gift package? Linda, what began to happen as you recognized your gift of writing?
Linda: My life changed rapidly when I accepted that I love writing. No one had to force me to get up and write. What was meant to be for fun sprouted into something I love to do and would do for the rest of my life. Depending on what I am writing, the journey of typing each word and combining them to make a sentence allows others to experience what is running through my mind is an inexplicable happiness and fullness. But the transition from working to paying bills, maintaining daily living, and walking out my purpose in writing, took faith. I took the leap of faith to focus on writing when my mother had a stroke and needed care. I had a choice to place her in a nursing home and maintaining a job or caring for her myself and trust God to provide for me as I walk out my purpose. I am so happy that I chose the latter of the two.
Growing Momentum (The Second Trimester)
Linda: When I wake up and no one has to tell me to write, when I have to go through a process to learn the ropes of the industry, when I have long nights and writer’s block, I still push through to finish- that is when I realized I really love writing. It’s a process and there is no short cut. Like prenatal care and child birthing, there was nothing I could do to speed up the process for my daughter to develop faster in my womb. Likewise, with learning the ropes in the publishing industry. Here I am so excited about this new road in life I found in writing. I imagined this new road of life was going to be great. I can write and illustrate all these cute stories for children. Everything was going to be great! So, I thought. When I finished my first book, Ducks Everywhere I Go, I was researching who I can submit my manuscript and illustrations to. The more I read and study about publishing my own book, the more I realize there are so many components to producing one book. After much studying, I realized I needed to copyright my intellectual property. I had to learn how to submit my information to the Library of Congress. I had to learn what an ISBN, barcodes, and the requirements were just to produce one book. Moreover, I was approached and offered to work in publishing. I took the position based on who I believe God created me to be – a writer. Everything went so fast after I accepted the position. I find myself having to learn and perfect book formatting, the programs that are used just to create a print ready manuscript, how to speak to the printing source, production time, and the list goes on.
BTG: You certainly learned quite a bit about the writing and publishing process! What did you learn about yourself in the process?
Linda: With each learning process, I began to grow in my field. I could look back today and see how far I have come in understanding the process in creating one book. The more I delve into my purpose, the more I realize how to focus on what’s important to me. My first book, Ducks Everywhere I Go, I self-published and marketed myself. I learned that was a hard and tiring road to travel that resulted in understanding the importance of delegating. Just like giving birth to my baby, I cannot deliver the child by myself, I needed to go to the hospital to seek proper medical care. I learned that to grow in my gift and purpose, I cannot do it on my own.
Prepping for the Birth of My Purpose (The Third Trimester)
Linda: Prepping to give birth took more than one day; it took more than one week or one month. As soon as I found out I was pregnant, I began taking prenatal vitamins, made appointments for prenatal care, and prepping the nursery. There was so much to do before her arrival in addition to managing the daily mundane. Like preparing for the arrival of my daughter, I had to prep for the finished product. Yes, even after writing the manuscript, illustrating the pictures, and creating a book cover, there was still more to do. Especially, my first book I decided to self-publish through Amazon. Self-publishing meant that I had to learn how to format the manuscript to the specification that Amazon/Kindle required. There were many trials and errors, especially during the proofing process. Even after everything looked great on the digital proofing process, I had to create a plan of action on what to do next. I come to terms that the learning process is never ending even after I discovered my purpose in life. Each book project was and still is a new cycle of life. A life cycle that I have come to understand can vary from project to project. When I gave birth to my daughter, I knew that my schedule would change. I had a whole new responsibility that requires my undivided attention. When she was a baby, I had to feed her, care for her, bathe her, and so forth such as a mother ought to do. When she became a toddler, I had to prepare for the change in the type of pampers she used. She went from regular diapers to pull ups. From her teenage years to her young adult life, each stage puts me in a disposition to prepare differently. Likewise with my love for writing. I must be prepared and have a plan of action for each production stage, and with each stage I contemplate the purpose, the plan, the preparation, and the production. I am a true believer that faith without putting in the work will avail to nothing.
BTG: Wow, that was indeed a critical part of the birthing process!! What helped you to persist through these stages? How were you able to stay with it?
Linda: Ultimately, I recognized that without God’s help, I cannot do anything. I learned that I am inspired by God to create these stories or to write a certain book. When things get tough, and trust me they do, I had to pray and trust God to do the things I cannot do. For instance, there were gaps between the writing period and when I did not have funds to maintain my expenses. But God has always provided for my family; I never wanted for anything. Additionally, the idea of working in another field felt like a burden. That burdensome feeling of doing anything else but writing keeps me also pushing forward. I truly believe once you are walking in your purpose, tough situations may appear difficult, but you will find a way to fight and walk through it. Regardless, bottom line for me is trust God and the process.
BTG: I love how you have captured the process and the analogy you have made with giving birth to your daughter! I certainly appreciate how you infused your walk with God in the process. What advice would you give to aspiring authors? What is up next for you…your next project? Also, where can people purchase your books?
Linda: I would like to encourage aspiring authors to trust God. He has established your steps in life. Trust that God had instill in you that gift – the gift of writing. And never stop doing what you believe that you are inspired to do even when people don’t understand the method or reasoning behind what you choose to do.
I am currently working on relaunching my website www.aretelitreview.com Aretelitreview.com is intended to be a book review website with the focus on reviewing books that are related to biblical studies. There will be a resource link where readers can purchase my books and possibly other authors’ books. Meanwhile anyone can follow @aretelitreview on Facebook and Instagram. Currently, my books, Ducks Everywhere I Go and Zeroing Out Subjecting and Taking Dominion Over Your Emotions, are available on amazon.com, kindle, and kobo.com.
BTG: Linda, thank you so much for sharing your process with us! Birthing the Gifts wishes you the best in all you do and pray that God continues to be with you in your process!
