The Ten-Year Memoir?

I started writing a memoir at least ten years ago, tentatively titled Out of the Grave: A Witness for My Lord. I keep believing that I will just stop everything and finish it. I think a part of me questions whether I really have anything that others want to read. Also, at age 71, I realize that if I don’t get on with it, I will leave a lot unsaid that maybe my grandchildren and great-grandchildren might benefit from knowing.

I need to read how to add stories about others without being sued for character defamation. Also, how do you tell your stories about how blessed you have been without making other people feel that they must not be blessed or that their faith must be less than mine. I survived domestic violence, but as a sociology professor, I know that one out of every four women die at the hands of someone who once told them they were loved. Do I leave the impression that they were not blessed by the Lord?

Lastly, with so many books worldwide, do we need another memoir? I wonder if my blogs will reach more people and if I make it seem so simple? For instance, as I listened to the guest pastor preach today, I realized that we can make salvation seem easy, but it can be hard to put our trust in God when we have been betrayed by people we trusted to love us and keep us safe.

I grew up without a father, and it took me longer to understand God as a father, as I didn’t know what a father did in people’s lives. It was easier for me to understand Jesus as David’s shepherd. So, you have to be careful what you proclaim as sure knowledge because so often, what people read they take as truth without question. And if I get it wrong in my book, will the blood of the unsaved be on my hands?

There is so much that we don’t know about what occurs after death. But Jesus promises that there are dwelling places in the house of our Father God and that Jesus will prepare one for those who believe in God. So, I think I get around to everything but finishing the book because I want to be sure that I am testifying truthfully about the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and I don’t want to mislead anyone.

Of course, sometimes I don’t understand why bad things happen, and I don’t want to make it seem that some of us are blessed and highly favored and others are not. It’s a dilemma, but I got four or five chapters written, so it’s a start.