Angela Breidenbach, ACFW publicity officer, here to welcome debut author, Jennifer Hudson-Taylor. She’s a past double Genesis winner and her new release Highland Blessings is proving to be a hit. Take it away, Jennifer!
One of the best features I love about the ACFW Conference is the spiritual refreshing I always experience by the time I leave. God usually whispers some comforting word to my heart. It may occur during the devotions we have, the praise and worship, prayer, or just walking into a room or down the hall. It might be through the words of wisdom someone is speaking to me in conversation or through a workshop. Regardless of what is taking place at Conference, I always feel God’s presence in a special way.
There is something to be said about being in a room full of people who are like minded writers, believers, and lifting up one voice to praise the glories of our Lord. It’s almost as if I can feel God’s very own heart soaring with happiness. He is such a wonderful God and He has a plan for each and every writer present. While our journeys may all be different, just like praise and worship, our writing is to ultimately glorify Him and only He can show us our path.
For many years my feet tread the wilderness as I learned the craft of writing and floundered about in the woods trying to figure out where I belonged. I couldn’t see the path before me, and I wasn’t meant to. As my editor commented on my Facebook page a few days ago, I’m blazing a new trail.
God was able to use ACFW to help me, and the conference to show me that He hadn’t forsaken me, but He was still guiding me, even though I felt like I was tangled in bushes and briars, lost with no definite direction. All I had to keep doing was putting one foot in front of the other and keep moving. He took care of the rest. Sometimes we are exactly where we need to be, all we have to do is NOT GIVE UP!
How did the ACFW Conference help me?
I was questioning if I had spent a decade writing only to waste my time. If God was going to open a door for me, wouldn’t He have already opened it? Not necessarily. As I pondered these thoughts, my agent and I parted ways. Was this a sign? In less than a month, I received a phone call that I had finaled in two categories in the Genesis Contest-not one, but two! It was then that I met my current agent, an ACFW agent, who ended up selling my debut novel, Highland Blessings, a year later. I met my editor at Conference and was so impressed and at ease by her pleasant personality. All of these experiences gave me hope and built confidence in me.
I went home recharged, refreshed, spiritually renewed.
And that was only ONE ACFW Conference. I have since been to other Conferences where God has continued to cultivate those relationships, build new ones, teach and encourage me, all for His glory, but also to help me on my writing journey.
Allow God to use the ACFW Conference in your life as He wills. And I can’t wait to meet you there!
Jennifer Hudson-Taylor