A Writer�s Best Baggage
by Lucinda Secrest McDowell @LucindaSMcDowel Mike and I had arrived at the New Hampshire retreat center as speakers for the week�s Family Camp. While settling into the Lodge I glanced over at a bookshelf full of bound volumes of� what was it? Old copies of InterVarsity�s HIS Magazine from the 70�s and 80�s. Thumbing through the pages I quickly discovered my very first freelance article on short-term missions �What to Take and What to Leave Behind!� A rush of memories came over me�serving as a mission pastor in San Francisco, selling that first article to a magazine I respected and subscribed to. And how that one open door in publishing eventually led to many more. After a heavy sigh, it was time for a prayer of gratitude. That HIS editor Linda Doll took a chance on me and used my article. That God gave me gifts and then the perseverance to work hard to get better at writing. That (miracle of miracles) today I am still writing. I�m knee-deep in w...