Is it ever time to quit?

When is it time to quit?

Time evaporates. Tomorrow I travel again. And I only just got back.

The Write-to-Publish conference in Chicago was awesome. Fellowship was rich and inspiring both on the spiritual and the intellectual level. I made contacts for Orphans First that will hopefully generate more prayer for the children with more people considering how they can help them. I returned home with a long list of potential assignments as well as some exciting, new projects for O.F.—enough to keep me busy for a long, long time. Yikes! Now I need every ounce of God’s grace to get things done.

Why is that so important? Because there are millions of children being enslaved, abused and suffering. Getting the word out can make a big difference for them.

Tomorrow, I’ll do a women’s radio broadcast in Las Vagas, and another with my husband on Friday. Sunday, he’ll preach at a friend’s church and on Monday, I’ll teach a women’s Bible study. Great opportunities but I hate the thought of hot Vagas in June. Still, God never said the call would be comfy!

Returning to the conference in Chicago, I’d like to share some reflections about the call to write and whether or when we should quit.

A young, new writer I met was enthusiastic about writing but concerned about juggling family with two very small children, and writing. I encouraged her never to place writing above being with her children. Maybe she could write during their naps. But if it didn’t work out for some reason, then maybe the timing’s not right. If she couldn't write for a long season, it didn't matter. What matters most is her children because she only has so many years to invest in their precious little lives.
(I cover this subject—as well as many others—in my parenting book:
Heaven Help Me Raise These Children! -- Biblical Direction for Practical Parenting Issues.)

Sometimes God calls us to quit either a project or our entire career--even just for a season. He might need to re-prioritize our focus, such as when a career becomes our ambition, our goal, our (dare I say it) "idol". God and family come first. If not, then who are we writing? What is the purpose behind our words?

Sometimes God has us quit our piece because it's oozing with bitterness. We might need to come back to it later when some healing has taken place. (Sometimes, of course, the healing takes place as we plod on—which complicates our ability to discern whether we should or shouldn't quit).

But if we quit because it's tough, or because we haven't yet found a market for our "masterpiece", then we perhaps need to remind ourselves about spiritual warfare, about godly determination, about having gutz to press on when that seems to be what God requires of us. As has been said gazillions of times: writing is hard work. But worth it if He's calling us to do it. If God is calling us, quitting is not an option, no matter how bleak things might appear.

As my fellow compatriot once said: "Never, never, never give up!" Thanks Winston. I agree.

Janey L. DeMeo
Founder/director of Orphans First - www.orphansfirst.org
freelance writer, author of Heaven Help Me Raise These Children!
Biblical Direction for Practical Parenting Issues.
http://janey-demeo.blogspot.com / http://www.myspace.com/orphansfirst
http://www.myspace.com/janeydemeo