How the Surrendered Scribe Got Started: A Scavenger Hunt Story

I’m happy to be part of a group on FB that features ACFW (American Christian Fiction Writers) where the members are part of the Ohio chapter. Carole Brown is one of those members, and she’s having a scavenger hunt today. A bunch of us are part of the hunt stops.

I’m sharing three clues, and I’ll give them to you as bolded words embedded in a story.

Before I Was a Surrendered Scribe

When I started writing, I first started using Julie Arduini: The Surrendered Scribe as my blog name. I wanted readers to know whatever they were going through, Christ offers freedom through surrender. And my biggest surrender was fear of rejection.

As a little girl, I wasn’t the best writer. I wasn’t the most popular. I wasn’t confident, quite the opposite. But I was a bit ahead of time and observant, and called life as I saw it. And I saw some not fun things going on at the time.

I didn’t have a real faith to speak of. In fact, I was disgruntled enough that at age 12 I convinced the church going members of my family to walk away. To me, God was far away and distant, and He sure didn’t answer my selfish prayers.

I made food my safe place. My sanctuary. Perhaps even my god. Cookies, candy, chips, even homemade pie were my friends.

But there was also writing.

I wrote stories for my friends on the bus and at lunch. The characters were my friends and I loved telling their stories.

Me, 1976, before food and fear took over.

But when friends encouraged me to share my writing with teachers, there wasn’t a lot of hope.

Mediocre. Average. Wasn’t given a decent education in grammar were things I heard. One teacher let me know that a writing course that accepted me via mail was most likely a scam. Afterall, her honor students hadn’t been invited to join.

So for years decades, I ate. And rarely wrote.

But when a serious of events and a great praying friend ultimately brought me to a personal relationship with Christ, I might have been a young adult, but I was a wounded one.

And it took decades of prayer, Bible studies, and mentoring to learn who He really was, who I really am, to realize I was called to write.

And He equips me.

On December 31, 2006, I laid my fears down and promised to write for Him. Whatever He gave me to write, I would.

And that’s how The Surrendered Scribe started.

I’m working on the eating part, some days better than others. If this is your struggle, I highly recommend Lysa TerKeurst’s Made to Crave.

Did you find the bold words? Those are your clues.

Want to find Carole and learn more about her work and scavenger hunt?

See below!

Carole Brown

Coming: The Redemption of Caralynne Hayman

Blog: http://sunnebnkwrtr.blogspot.com/

Facebook: https://facebook.com/CaroleBrown.author

Twitter: https://twitter.com/browncarole212

Thanks for stopping by.

Me, now. Writing for Him.

Surrendering the good, the bad, and—maybe one day—the chocolate.

Please Follow & Like