My name is Timothy, and this is my story; or rather, a story of a story. This story begins not at the beginning of my life, but at the beginning of a hard and treacherous path. It begins one Saturday when I picked up a pencil and wrote the words, "Lost at Sea." That day I decided I would write a novel. I was eight. At the end of the day, I had written about twenty words and I had hit my first obstacle. I couldn't write more than twenty words before my wrist would become stiff and painful.
However, I was determined to write my story, so I started over on WordPress, and from there I wrote 20,000 words over two years. However, at age ten, I realized the whole novel had gone off the rails. What had originally been a novel about a girl falling into the ocean, getting lost and being saved by dolphins had turned into a book about a girl who was being chased by an evil lady. It had lost its spark, so I started over.
This pattern continued. I would write 20,000 words, then start over. However, each time I rewrote the story, it got better, and so did my writing. Then, when I was 16, I broke out of the cycle. I realized that I was writing just for me, and so I asked God to take control of the story. Since I had recently re-dedicated my life to God, I wanted to dedicated my story too. At night, I knelt down, dedicated my story to Him, and asked Him if I should continued writing. I figured if He wanted me to keep writing, he would tell me. I couldn't have been more wrong. In His typical fashion, He answered my question with a story.
A few nights later, I had a dream about an academy. I can never describe what kind of academy it was, except to say that if God started an academy, that one would be it. Everything He created: fellowship, worship, kindness, beauty, and above all, love, was in this academy. I knew I had to capture this dream, so I started my book over again. But God wasn't done. First, He showed me the academy, then He gave me a story. It was a story about a 12-year-old who was struggling with God and his past. Unlike the others, this story had a spark, which soon became a flame.
Now, Mission Aquamarine has 50,000 words and the first draft is almost finished, and so I have begun this blog as a way to spread the word, that I have a story to tell, but then again, this is only the beginning. Who knows where this new path will lead.
"For at one time, we were darkness, but now we are light in the Lord. Walk as children of Light!" (Ephesians 5:8)
Thanks, Noah!
You've GOT THIS!! Way to go, Timothy! I think you're going to have more than a flame--you're going to have a wildfire!