This One's For You, Katy

I love the idea of taking the thing you fear most and turning it upside down. One of my greatest fears was in writing. The thought of anyone reading my words, my innermost questions and opinions, well, that was too much for me to grasp.

But, as I shared in a recent post, I pushed past the voices in my mind and just did it.

I wanted to give this fear its own space, for its given me so much joy the past two years. This month is an anniversary for my blog. A world of possibilities opened up for me when I conquered this particular fear monster and hit "publish" that first time.

I have someone special I'd like to thank publicly, and give a few reasons why I love her so much.

Meet Katy...

Katy at The Cove in 2013

She is a writer, friend, confidant, mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, Christian, teacher, musician, gardener, and lover of Hershey, her chocolate lab.

She is smart, beautiful, loyal, outrageously funny (with a bit of sarcasm), talented, and an excellent writer. And she has a green thumb, with a beautiful yard to prove it.

She is the reason I have a blog and I wanted share our story. Everyone needs a "Katy" in their corner.

My husband was walking with Katy, and David(her husband), one Wednesday night at church and he said something to her about writing, and that I liked to write. She said she had no idea I was a writer. We've played handbells together for several years, but never talked about writing.

As soon as she got to the handbell room that night, she brought up the subject of writing. I told her I was a closet writer. I said I was too afraid to let anyone read anything I'd written.

A few days later she sent me a link for a writers conference in Asheville, NC. She asked me to please go with her. She said she'd never gone to anything like that and it would be so much fun to go together.

I went online and checked out the conference and decided it was safe enough. I told myself, and Katy, I would go as her cheerleader.

As most females do, we planned our trip, coordinated our outfits...the important stuff. We were excited to be going to The Cove in Asheville. If the conference was a bust, at least the scenery was beautiful and the food would be excellent.

Katy and I both love the written word, but let's just say the spoken word was overflowing the cup many times over that weekend.

We both felt like we had arrived at our Mecca. We were with our people. We soaked up every drop of information, every resource, and every ounce of inspiration our writerly minds could absorb.

It was at this place I heard God say in the quiet of my mind, "I didn't bring you here just to be Katy's cheerleader. I want you to write for me."

When we got back to our room that night, I let Katy read something I'd written. Never before had I allowed anyone to read my words. It was too risky. They might reject me, and I couldn't take that. I'd faced too many rejections in my life.

Attempt at a selfie at our favorite hangout...Starbucks

She read it and gave me positive feedback. I still didn't call myself a writer though. But, it was a start. Something was birthed inside of me.

My friend gave me courage.

When I came home from The Cove in February of 2013, I published My Little Corner. That name has significance since I live on a corner and my office is in a far corner of my home. I wanted to share from my little corner of the world. Katy encouraged me from the first time I published, and she continues to this day.

We meet for coffee and talk for hours, about writing and life. She's listened and let me talk out my fears. Sometimes that's all it takes, that person in human flesh who will listen and allow you to talk without fear of judgment. As you talk it out, your fears become smaller and you gain control over them.

Katy is not one who puts herself above others. She is selfless and always ready with a smile.

I am a writer today because of her encouragement. I hope I'm a better person because of her friendship.

We share a lot of things...our love of writing, gardening, music, chocolate labs, but the most important one of all is Jesus. He is the one who binds us together. I believe He is the one who whispered in her ear the thought to invite me to The Cove to set His plan in motion, and she obeyed.

So Katy, thank you for listening and obeying. Love you girl.

Cindy

p.s. Katy writes at http://www.katybrownglymph.blogspot.com. Go over and visit her blog, you'll love her as much as I do.