"For I am the Lord your God, Who stirs up the sea, so that its waves roar: The Lord of hosts is His name. And I have put My words in your mouth, and have covered you with the shadow of my hand..." Isaiah 51:15-16

Hi, my name is Susan and I am a housewife, mom and Christian writer. My husband, Bob is an engineer at Warner Robins Air Force Base. We have 5 children: Sarah is 16, Teddy is 13, Ian is 9, Claire is 6 and Lydia is 2. We live in Byron and are members of Southside Baptist Church in Warner Robins.

I am 36 years old and I was born in California, the youngest in a family of seven. I grew up in a Christian home. By that I mean that our family went to church. In 1979 my mom, dad, youngest brother and I moved to Boca Raton, Florida. Then we began going to a large and more conservative church.

I had thought I was a Christian up to this point just because I believed in Jesus and I went to church. In my senior year of high school I became good friends with a girl named Leigh. She was involved in a cult called The Worldwide Church of God. It has changed since the 80s, but at that time they followed the Levitical law in the Old Testament. As the result of studying my Bible to discuss doctrine with Leigh and other events in my life, I surrendered my life to Christ and was "born again" in the Spring of 1984. Ever since then I have had a great zeal for evangelism and sharing the truth with people who are caught in cults and false teaching.

I came to the conclusion that God was calling me to be a Christian writer in 1999. Before that I just wrote Christmas letters every year and I also kept a journal which I still do. People always commented that my Christmas letters were "inspiring". In 1999 I read a book that had belonged to my grandmother who died when I was 5 years old. ("A Man Called Peter" by Catherine Marshall). Then I began to buy and read many things written and edited by Catherine .This and the encouragement about my Christmas letters caused me to think that maybe I could be a writer someday. I didn't mention this to anyone . Then something neat happened, my good friend Becky invited me to her church's ladies prayer meeting which meets once a month in someone's home. So here I am at this meeting and Becky suddenly remembers we were supposed to bring a gift to exchange (it was December ). "Oh well, that's O.K., we just won't get a gift" I thought. I soon found out, though, that this was no ordinary gift exchange: Some brought gifts with a certain person in mind, some didn't but all of them brought what they felt impressed by the Holy Spirit to bring. There was a woman there named Judy Davis who is a Christian writer. She's written for Christian magazines and devotionals and just had two of her books published. So, she had a book and she said "I have here a book, I don't know who it's for, I won it at a writer's workshop it's for someone here who's thinking of becoming a writer". "No way!" I thought. I think God is so awesome. Finally ,when no one else said anything, I spoke up, but I had no gift for her. The ladies were all so gracious. If God had not got my attention in this way, I would probably still be thinking, "Someday I'll start writing" The book Judy gave me was "Awakening the Giant: Mobilizing and Equipping Christians to Reclaim Our Nation in this Generation" by Jim Russell copyright 1996. Jim Russell is the founder of the Amy Foundation which encourages Christians to start Church writing groups and write from a Christian perspective for secular publications, especially letters to the editor. The purpose of the book is to encourage Christians to obey Christ and disciple the masses. (Matt.28:19-20) (see also: A Discipled Nation). Before I even finished the book, I began writing. It was December and time for my annual Christmas letter. In January I wrote my testimony. In February I saw a letter in the local paper on a subject I knew something about, so I wrote a letter and they printed it. I have passed out my testimony much and used it as a witnessing tool, but it has never been published anywhere. (see: My Story) In April of 2000, I found a 129 year old book about a nun in the 1800s. I felt lead by the Holy Spirit to write about that. (see: A True Story) Since I have continued reading about Catholicism and meeting and speaking with many Catholics. I would like to eventually get this old book republished.

In late May of 2000 I looked Judy up and then I went to see her, bringing all the things I had written so far. She returned them to me with this encouraging little note:

"Susan,

Enjoyed reading your material- I feel you have a ministry-
(Christian Writing)- Use it for God's glory-
May God bless your home and ministry-

Judy Davis

Prov.3:5-6 "

I have had more letters to the editor printed since then. (see: Pedophiles and Purgatory) I hope to compile and edit my articles and put them into a book . I want to call it, "I Love to Tell the Story".

Last Christmastime my mom put me in touch with her friend from childhood. She is a writer also and is involved in Church Writing Groups with the Amy Foundation. I love these neat little Providences and I love to tell the Story!

"I love to tell the story,
'twill be my theme in glory,
to tell the old, old story
of Jesus and his love."

Refrain from "I Love to Tell the Story" By A. Catherine Hanky.

© Susan E. Story 2003