I was not the best student. Smart, but not very disciplined. Consequently, outside of sports, there wasn’t much I liked about school. It was a necessary means to an end (i.e., a good paying job, the American Dream). Without a doubt, English was my least favorite subject. One of the few things I remember about school was bemoaning the fact that we had to take four years of English. Of course, if you’re reading this, you know that I didn’t know the foundation many years of English (and my patient teachers) were building in me. 

AP English, during my senior year of high school, changed everything. All we did (that I remember) was write. I suddenly had a love for English; essays, poems, even research papers became an opportunity to express my imagination. If I hadn’t seen school as a means to an end, I might have gone into a writing profession. 

But I was good at math and science, and going to college was about making good money, so I decided to become a doctor; then, an engineer. Eventually, I apprenticed into the Information Technology industry. Not a lot of writing to do there. Honestly, I was too busy pursuing the American Dream to notice.

Then, like AP English, things changed. When God called me to workplace ministry, He gifted me with a re-ignition of the desire to write. I soon discovered the greatest joy comes when I am just the pen. It’s like sharing the truth with someone and later realizing it wasn’t you doing the talking. I am sure others experience the same joy when they are being God’s instrument in whatever desire He has put in their hearts.

God has used me as His pen to write hundreds of blog articles and essays, and four books. Both the content and the style of the good ones are simply beyond me. And so, I am careful to add #iamjustthepen.

Humbly yours and forever His,

Rob