For as long as I can remember I’ve loved to write. I love poetry and stories and journaling and a good handwritten letter. I still have my first journal, a lisa frank journal with a lock that I was given for my birthday when I was around 9 years old. When social media came a long I would catch myself posting things I wrote without thinking. Then I started to pray about it, because I never wanted to be the person overly sharing. When we lost Sierra in the accident I felt the pull in my heart to share our journey in hopes it might just help someone or maybe just help myself.
When my sister was diagnosed, I immediately withdrew from social media. I wanted to keep it to myself and private, for once in my life. I knew God was telling me over and over to write and share. I really wrestled with that. When you share your heart it leaves it open for hurt, for opinions, for questions. It exposes a place that is tender and vulnerable.
One day when I was down in Florida with Heather when she started chemo, she asked me to write and share her journey for her and she said “no matter what I want God to have the glory”. We were opposites in many ways; one being she didn’t express her self well through writing, she did however express her self well person to person. She was a doer. She would run in a situation head first and help everywhere she could. She would hug and touch and talk to everyone she met no matter what they looked like or how well she knew them. I am naturally better at using the written word to share my heart. So I write.
As her journey went on, I struggled more and more with writing and sharing. But God kept telling me “write and share” so I did.
The other day I was in the grocery store and I saw a older woman I’ve known most of my life. I started to hide like I have in the past, but ironically I was just at a live to love conference this past weekend and I told God I wouldn’t hide anymore from people in the store… go ahead take a minute and laugh and wonder if I’ve ever hidden from you, because I honestly may have.. haha ….. I know it’s ridiculous, but sometimes(most times) I want to get my stuff and get out.
So there I was, me and God. I knew I couldn’t hide from her, I had to say hello. She saw me and happily came towards me, and the first thing she said was “I’ve been hoping to run in to you out and about I wanted to ask you to pray for me. Your fb posts have really helped me heal from losing my husband. I was starting to lose faith and feel sorry for myself. But you reminded me I have life to live and stuff to do”
Ouch.
There I was caught up in myself and this woman who I’ve hid from twice before has been waiting to see me. Not because of me either, but because of the God I serve. I wanted to cry. Instead I told her the truth.
I am not a good writer. I make grammar errors, love a good run on sentence and my husband or daughter spell a lot of words for me. I am however trying to be more yielded to God, to actually put action to what I tell others to do.
So I write, because He says write.
It’s not about remembering my sister, or keeping part of her alive. Because she is more alive now than ever, and if you knew her you can’t forget her. But it is about the fact that God still heals disease, addiction, conquers fears, makes the blind to see and the deaf to hear, He heals broken hearts and makes a way where there seems to be no way! He is good and He is faithful and He will have the glory! So I will keep telling the stories He blesses me to play a part in.
If you write, I would love to hear your “why I write” please share them with me❤️ 
Shannon R. Hess 