I
looked at the question: Who would you be if you could be anyone at all?
I
decided to answer it.*
Actually,
I didn't have a choice. All the missionary women at the small retreat in
northern Japan were expected to contribute an answer.
At
the time I'd been in Japan for three years, had two young boys and were hoping
for a third child soon. Neck-deep in parenting small children as well
as culture-stress, it wasn't so hard to dream about what else I would like
be doing.
My
answer surprised people: magazine editor.
I
think it surprised me too. I wasn't a solid A student in English at high
school. Nor did I study anything to do with publishing or writing at
university. My degree was in the Occupational Therapy (OT).
However,
in the years since I’d married, had kids, and became a missionary I'd drifted
away from OT. One of my monthly pleasures was to produce our family's monthly
newsletter, the one required of missionaries.
At
the time this question was asked, I had no plans to become a magazine editor. I
saw no avenue for that in the missionary work we were committed to. But only a
couple of years later other missionaries began to ask for help with various
publishing projects. Around the same time I began to work proactively on my
writing skills: taking a short course, joining an online writing critique
group, and seeking avenues for the publications of my articles.
Soon,
to my surprise, I found myself with an invitation to work on the editorial team
of a quarterly magazine in Japan for missionaries.
Now
it’s been nine years since I answered that question and I’ve been the Managing
Editor of Japan Harvest for nearly
two years. It’s not been an easy job, but I enjoy the challenge and the
satisfaction of the finished product. I’ve learned many things and it’s given
me much pleasure. But probably the best thing about it is that I can look back
and see how God’s taken a dream (or maybe gave the dream) and made it a
reality.
Dreaming
of the future can be a good thing, especially when your current situation makes
you feel trapped.
3 comments:
This is very encouraging, Wendy!
"Who would you be if you could be anyone at all?"
When you posed that question I thought about what my answer would be. And it occurred to me that finally, at this late stage of my life, I am the person I wanted to be.
Probably in previous years I might have given different answers.
I am in that "two young kids" stage, so this was very encouraging. Thank you.
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