Setting off for college in 1961 was exciting; but college was not going to be easy. My high school English teacher said that I would never be able to make it through college because I couldn't write. My typing teacher said I would never be able to work as a secretary because I couldn't type more than 23 words a minute and I couldn't spell. According to them, writing was simply not going to be part of my future.
Even so, I did make it through college as a PE major. I did no writing for any of my classes. Mostly it was memorization and physical activity. Because of this, I was able to get campus jobs cleaning offices, running the switchboard, and working in the library. Up to that point, no writing or typing was needed.
After graduation, I worked for three years as a first-grade teacher. That involved running off mimeograph copies. Once again, no typing or writing was required. However, in 1984 when I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, these jobs were no longer possible for me. I prayed and asked God what I could do for a job. Everybody needs a job. Even in the Garden of Eden Adam tended the garden.
During that time, God put on my heart that I could pray and I could write. Yet from a human standpoint, my ability in the area of typing and actually writing profound words seemed impossible. I would never be able to send in perfectly typed pages for publication. I would never be able to put words together in a meaningful way.
Then something unexpected happened. A computer appeared in our house. I could type slowly, spell atrociously, and have everything corrected. Encouraged by that, I signed up for writing correspondence courses. I took writing courses at the vocational college. I joined a senior citizens writing group. Even so, nothing was accepted for publication except one column, which my husband rewrote before I sent it in.
Meanwhile, prayer groups did not require wonderful words. I learned how to pray God's Word back to Him. Fortunately people in prayer groups are not critical, and God isn't either. I know God loves me, and the people in the prayer group are commanded to love me. So in that sense, I was set.
That still left one question: what about editing my thoughts as I form them? I have found that AI is a good partner. It helps me organize my ideas and shape the words I want to say.
Of course, I now hear that AI is using too much power and too much water. But I believe people will solve those problems. Human beings have always found ways to improve the tools they create. New power sources will be discovered, water will be conserved, and perhaps—like the Israelis—more water will be desalinated from the sea. Sorry to hear that teachers have to run papers through an AI checker to be sure it was not used. That is one drawback.
What matters most is this: God can use whatever tools are available. Long ago it was pen and paper. Then it was the typewriter. Later it was the computer. Now it may even be AI.
For someone who was told she could not write, could not type, and could not spell, it is remarkable that God has provided ways for me to do all three. The tools changed, but the calling did not.
And so I keep writing—not perfectly, but faithfully.
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men.”
Colossians 3:23
