Thursday, October 9, 2014

THE CANDLE SERIES: The Greatest "AHA" Moment by Joylynn M. Ross

I once read a statement: When a candle lights another it doesn't lose its light.  In fact, not only is light not lost, in a special moment of connectivity, power for both candles increase.  It is with this thought I present to you Checkin' Up and Checkin' In: THE CANDLE SERIES.  This series will feature fellow scribes from all genres and mediums of the written word eager to share our light.

On many occasions I come across a Sister or Brother of the Pen who moves me to tears.  I was on the phone with one of my besties, Chandra Sparks Splond, another Sister of the Pen and she steered me toward this week's guest blogger Joylynn M. Ross.  I'm honored to share this "Aha" Moment with you.


Blessed-selling Author
E.N. Joy
My life just completely changed. I always say that the greatest "Ah Ha" moment a person could ever have is when their life begins to make sense. I live, breathe, see, hear, eat, sleep, think, taste, feel, smell the written word. It is my life. I've made bestsellers lists, won awards, appeared in magazines, had books translated to different languages, created for audio and more, but I was always yearnin...g/desiring/chasing more. I can’t put my finger on one specific thing. Perhaps I was longing for more notoriety, money or what have you. I achieved things that I am most proud of and that other authors have yet to accomplish. But nothing was filling on a long-term basis. Nothing made me feel like I knew what my purpose in this writing thing was. I just knew that it took up all of my time and all of money, and in most cases, with a very small financial return. Of course the wonderful feeling of gratitude I receive from readers is priceless. I love love love my readers, their testimonies, support and reviews. They are the boss of me. They give me a high, but then eventually I find myself back in that space again where I'm seeking , not just an answer, but a feeling; that feeling of everything making sense. "Why am I doing this outside of the fact that I love writing so much?" "Is this what I'm called to be doing or only what I want to be doing?” “Is there something else I should be doing instead?" "Why?" "Why not?"
 I was at a literary event not too long ago and at times I felt inferior to some of the National Bestselling authors that occupied the room because their literary reputations preceded them.


Everyone in the room seemed to have known who they were and greeted them with huge applause. I reflected back on that moment and said in prayer, “God, I want to know what it feels like to enter people's presence and everyone in the room already knows who I am." God’s reply to me was, "Me too."
It was then I had my greatest “Ah Ha” moment. My ministry is delivering God's message through the written word in the form of literary entertainment in order to point the world in the direction of the kingdom. In doing so I FINALLY realized that E. N. Joy's job is not to make herself famous, but to make God famous. In spite of what some may think, not everybody knows God. Even God Himself knows that; He told me so!

I feel so free now knowing that even though my husband, children and so many family members, friends, readers and strangers have supported me in my literary endeavors, that I don’t have to prove to them that their love and support and bragging about me was not in vain by becoming the most famed and richest author in the world. I don't have to make the New York Times, my books don't have to be turned into Lifetime movies or chosen as Oprah's book of the month. My job is to simply write and make God famous. It all makes perfectly good sense now. Wow! My life just got so much easier.


Joylynn M. Ross writing as BLESSEDselling Author E. N. Joy
Author of the "New Day Divas," "Still Divas" & "Always Divas" series
Coined "Soap Operas In Print"

1 comment:

  1. Great post. Reading it gives me clarity about my writing purpose. Thank you, Toni Staton Harris and E.N. Joy.

    ReplyDelete