{"id":878,"date":"2011-11-10T21:58:42","date_gmt":"2011-11-10T21:58:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/prayables\/?p=878"},"modified":"2011-11-10T22:55:02","modified_gmt":"2011-11-10T22:55:02","slug":"your-calling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayables\/2011\/11\/your-calling.html","title":{"rendered":"Your Calling"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>I don\u2019t have a bountiful womb. Or maybe I do. The point is I\u2019m not hell bent on finding out.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve wanted to write since I was twelve-years-old. It\u2019s never been a choice of whether I wanted to or not. I have to write just like I have to wear a bra with extra padding or pretend I\u2019m not checking myself out in the full-length mirror at the mall when I totally am. Breathing, eating, taking a peaceful bathroom break, one in which my toddler doesn\u2019t insist on blowing bye-bye kisses to \u201cmommy\u2019s poo poo,\u201d don\u2019t even begin to compare to the feeling of building sky high cities and breaking them down one key stroke at a time.<\/p>\n

But children have a way of freezing your fingers and keeping the page painfully, shamefully blank.<\/p>\n

This is the thing: I love my daughter. I love her more than writing. And I\u2019m not ashamed to say at one point, in the beginning, middle, maybe even the end of my pregnancy, I was a little bit worried that I\u2019d still love writing more than her. I know that\u2019s ludicrous for most mothers to read (and if your eyes are bleeding, here\u2019s a tissue) but there are a lot us out there, women born with passion, maybe even a smidgen of talent who want to drink from that cup until it\u2019s dry. I\u2019m one of those women.<\/p>\n

My husband and I have decided we only want one child. This is a plan we\u2019ve put in place for a number of reasons, the main one being that my attention can only be split in so many directions and if I want to really concentrate and focus on my ambitions then I need to know my limits. One gorgeous, healthy, incredibly destructive yet cute as a button little girl? She\u2019s my limit.<\/p>\n

I think a lot about calling. I remember when I was younger, being raised in a Catholic household, going to a Catholic school, you\u2019d hear about calling and learn who was called to do God\u2019s work as a priest or nun, who was called to live the single life, who was called to teach and who was called to raise families. And I always wondered who was called to marry a loving husband, raise one beautiful baby girl, write with abandon and occasionally clean up after her Chihuahuas\u2019 many accidents.<\/p>\n

And I know now. God is calling me.<\/p>\n

– Ericka Clay, Prayables<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

READ MORE and Enjoy these features from the Daily Prayable! <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2192 Daily Story<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2192 Daily Scripture<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2192 Daily Prayer
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\u2192 Daily Video<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2192 Daily Joke<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2192 Daily Quote<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I don\u2019t have a bountiful womb. Or maybe I do. The point is I\u2019m not hell bent on finding out. I\u2019ve wanted to write since I was twelve-years-old. It\u2019s never been a choice of whether I wanted to or not. I have to write just like I have to wear a bra with extra padding…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":463,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[478,163,480,477,479,391,476],"class_list":["post-878","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-inspirational-stories","tag-blog-for-young-mom","tag-ericka-clay","tag-god-calling","tag-hearing-gods-call","tag-inspiration-for-writers","tag-inspirational-story","tag-parenting"],"yoast_head":"\nYour Calling - Prayables<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/prayables\/2011\/11\/your-calling.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Your Calling - Prayables\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I don\u2019t have a bountiful womb. 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