Intersection Column | Finding Holy Courage to Say Yes

by Kit Tosello

What if I could go back in time and inspire my younger self to say yes to the dreams that scared me? This thought fueled me as I wrote In a Word, Yes.

As I considered my career path many years ago, a question scrolled across my mind (picture it in traditional typewriter font): What kind of job fits someone passionate about words—about reading them and arranging them into sentences—who also happens to be an introvert?

Journalism came to mind. How noble to be a newspaperwoman! Also, didn’t that Today Show anchorwoman I admired have a journalism background? Except, there was a not so itty-bitty problem with this type of dream: all those high-functioning women of print and TV news shared a common trait. They were outgoing.

I, on the other hand, was an indoor kitty.

Quite by chance I fell into a career that suited my creative side and slowly stretched my social confidence. Kitchen design.

But in choosing the path of less resistance and sidestepping my writing dream, had I also shortcut opportunities for personal growth? How might God have used my discomfort to nurture trust?

Cut to twenty-five years later and the Great Recession. Given my metaphorical pink slip and plenty of free time to rethink the second half of my life, I began blogging. Processing life and faith and all the things in this way reawakened my long-dormant writing dream.

This time I made a decision. No longer would I allow fear to be the reason I say no!

In one blog post, I tried to capture the sweetness of a local fundraising concert held for a friend of ours who’d been critically injured while skiing. Loaded down with brownies and bundt cakes, his multitude of friends and neighbors filed into a weathered barn to show support. Our town had come close to losing a bighearted man who, along with his wife, was known for a “no-knock policy,” welcoming kids into their home at any hour to be fed and cared about.

Candles flickered. Friends mingled. The rustic venue hummed with down-to-earth acoustic strains. “Outside,” I wrote, “under a thin smile of a moon, a ranch dog barked and a chorus of baritone frogs crooned across the meadow.”

But wait. This wasn’t just a blog post. This was local news. The kind of story that kindles hope and binds a community together. Did I have the guts to submit my article to the local newspaper? My finger hovered over the send button. Would I press it?

Yes.

In short order, my phone rang—the editor in chief inviting me down to the newspaper office for a “confab.”

I looked up the word confab.

“Can you give me more stories like this?” he asked.

“Yes.”

Overnight, I became a freelance community journalist.

And over time (because God specializes in redemptive plot twists), a published author.

In penning my second novel, In a Word, Yes, it was a joy to give the main character, Lucy, the chance to say yes to opportunities I might have let slip by.

But would she? I didn’t exactly make things easy for Lucy. Like me, she’s a word nerd who has pigeonholed herself as an introvert. What’s more, she’s got plenty of good reasons to want to cultivate a safe, unadventurous life. She’s a single mom of a special needs child. And every day, when she goes to work behind the scenes as a proofreader for the local newspaper, not only does she carry a canvas tote with a bookish quote but also a heavy, hidden burden: shame over past choices.

What will Lucy do when she senses she’s being called to live a bolder story?

What if, say, she finally steps up to the challenges posed by her editor at the newspaper or joins an eclectic group of wannabe writers . . . and falls flat on her face?

And what if she dares to reconsider the possibility of romance?

Could she ever again trust herself to say yes to the right things?

My own journey has convinced me that God cares less about what we accomplish and more about who we’re becoming. So I rooted hard for Lucy. To “do it scared.” To grow in purpose. To chalk up some wins. But especially, to surrender her fears and notice the Father’s sweet, constant hand in every detail that follows.

As I have.

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About the Author

Kit Tosello is an award-winning writer of small-town contemporary fiction with a big heart, as well as inspirational essays and devotionals. With her eye trained on the beauty hiding in plain sight all around us, she arranges words with tenderness, humor, and hope. When not writing, Kit can be found in the loose-leaf tea shop she operates with her husband, exploring the great Pacific Northwest, or enjoying the “great indoors”—bookstores and libraries. Often while sipping a matcha latte. Learn more at KitTosello.com.

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About the Book

Lucy Montgomery excels at drawing boundaries and avoiding risk. Her favorite word is no, and she's not afraid to use it. It's been five years since she picked up the leftovers from a crumbled marriage and started over with her brilliantly unique autistic son in Charity Falls, Oregon. Enter Wyatt Hayes—an affable local police officer who's more than eager to help her break free from her security blanket of an adventure-free life.