Encouragement Makes a Difference

“Encouragement Makes a Difference”

By Maggie Winterton

I don’t know if my mom ever struggled with the idea that she wasn’t making a difference in my life, but I know I’ve certainly seen this a lot in pop culture.

I’m writing today because she did make a difference.

My mom always says that before…

I could even read or write, I liked to make up stories. I actually recall some of the detailed adventures/mundane daily events that my dolls would get into. There was a little bit of both. Some of my ideas were more exciting than others! Sometimes I just wanted my Barbie to have a relaxing day in her Dream Townhouse.

I always had that imagination. I was a daydreamer.

My parents did a really good job of reading to me from a very early age, too. As a result, I started actually reading earlier than most kids.

My mom was always a really big reader. She would tell me how she used to fall asleep on the couch reading. I thought she was crazy for that.

It wasn’t until later in elementary school when I really became a bookworm. I began enjoying reading more and more, and I thought I would even become a librarian when I was “grown up.” The reading I did also helped my ability to spell. After that, I started writing down some of the stories I had in my head.

My mom was really impressed with my writing. I remember showing her an essay I did for an 8^th grade assignment.

I was really into theater and acting at the time. The assignment was to write descriptively about a memory, so I described standing backstage before I was about to go on stage in a recent play.

At that point in my life, I wished I could be in plays instead of in school. I tried to write passionately about how theatre made me feel.

As my mom read the essay, she started to cry. She told me that my essay was “beautifully written.”

I couldn’t believe she was so moved by the words I put on that page. I started realizing that some writing is better than others. I began to grasp that I was actually a good writer that it might actually be a talent of mine.

I was still kind of stuck on acting, but my mom encouraged me to join my high school paper.

It turned out that I loved journalism even more than acting.

Mom became my proofreader/editor/critic for my all my articles, and she loved seeing my picture and byline in the paper.

When I began thinking seriously about college and my future, she wanted to make sure that I would be using my writing skills in the future.

My life took a real turn when I got sick and missed a lot of school my senior year. I got really depressed and stopped writing. When I ended up in the mental health unit of our local hospital, she encouraged me to use the little journal they gave me. She told me to write it out.

I listened to her, and even though I was dealing with a lot of problems, writing did help me feel a little better. When I was diagnosed with fructose intolerance (that combined with my stomach ulcers was what made me so sick), I started a blog to try to help other people with the illness.

I thought I would go to college for nutrition to learn more about food intolerances and help with my crusade against fructose. I took some online classes, and somewhere along the line I started talking less about writing about fructose. The schooling, for me, became more about just getting a nutrition job.

I remember my mom saying to me, “But what about your writing?”

Now, I am so thankful for her encouragement and prodding. She knew all along that writing was my calling, and I finally know too.

I quit the nutrition thing. I started writing a novel, and went to my first writing conference last fall. There, I met author Renee Fisher, who at the time was the editor of DevotionalDiva.com. I was a guest poster in January 2014. In May, Renee announced that the blog would be ending.

I stepped out in faith and asked if she needed help running Devotional Diva, and Renee made me the new editor-in-chief.

Now, writing is my career. I’m so blessed to be able to do what I love and it’s because of my mom’s encouragement!