Birth of a Blog

Posted Jan 12, 07:05 AM by Kay Camenisch

I am NOT computer friendly. A year ago I would have never dreamed I would be writing a blog. However, step by step God has led me to this point. If you’re interested in how I got here, read on and I’ll share my story.

It began when my husband, Robert, and I were running a treatment center for troubled young men. We had far more calls than we had time or capacity for helping. Parents were desperate for answers. It was difficult to listen to problems over the phone, pray, and send parents on their way. At the time, we had a vacant cabin on the property, so we began inviting the parents, and sometimes the troubled son to come for a week or two of counseling to see if we could help them turn the situation around.

I was devastated by the intensity of the anger that I experienced in most of the families we met with, and with the pain and destruction I saw in the individuals members of those families—Christian families. It seemed that if we could just help them overcome the anger, the other issues could be worked out. But when they left, we knew that for many of them it would only be a matter of time before the old pattern of anger would re-emerge.

I was haunted by the desire to bring the Lord’s transforming life into those families. Knowing that God is all-powerful and has provided a way for us to be saved and redeemed (for life on earth, not just to go to heaven), I began to search the Bible for answers. I printed out lists of every passage I could find that dealt with anger, wrath, strife, contention, and so forth. I looked up the context. I studied and searched, making notes in the columns, determined to find a quick-fix, one-size-fits-all cure for anger.

The harder I tried, the more frustrated I became. I couldn’t find a common element throughout the verses, nothing even close. Finally, I decided to study one passage at a time. If I went a bit deeper and understood more of particular texts, maybe I could see the pattern better. So the next morning, I asked the Lord to lead and I focused on just one passage.

He showed me some exciting things. It was neat stuff I’d never seen or heard before, so I wrote my insights down so I wouldn’t forget them. The next morning the same thing happened with another passage. Before I knew it, I had a stack of over thirty meditations! But I still didn’t have a common theme that went through them. I came to realize that anger has many roots, not just one.

After a great deal of nudging from my friends (and the Lord) I began pursuing publication of the meditations. In the process I was told repeatedly that if you want to reach people that have the needs, you must be on the web. I drug my feet because I wasn’t eager for another learning curve.

Well, to be honest, I have to admit that I dug my heels in. I didn’t want to learn all that would be involved. I left ruts in the path for months.

I finally realized that God was saying to do this, not just men with good ideas. So here I am—thanks to hours of patient help from Jonathan, my son, and valuable counsel from others. I’m still learning, but much to my surprise, I’m enjoying it!

And what about the meditations that got me started? A collection of over forty, with accompanying studies for each, was narrowed down to thirty-one. A prison chaplain in a Florida has used them with great success. The testimonies of those who have been through the program is prompting other men to come to the chaplain asking if they can go through the study.

Consequently, I am now in the process of preparing for publication and hope to have it on the market by early summer. The Lord continues to lead me outside my comfort zone, but as long as He is leading instead of me running ahead, I trust it’s a good thing!

Meanwhile, thanks for joining the blog. We (Robert and I) love to hear from you.