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Lont-Time Columnist Taking a Break

 Porch Swing Perspective

The Next Chapter

By Camille Kendall

I visited my youngest last week, a brief holiday together before summer classes begin and school again consumes my every waking moment.

“Mom, are you still working on the story about Michael?” The story is not actually about Michael, but he is a supporting character my daughter and I both fell in love with as he developed on the page.

I confessed that I had not worked on the story since I began nursing school a year ago, although it had been much in my thoughts.

“You need to finish this story,” my daughter pressed. “I need to know how it ends!”

She is right. I need to finish the story – for her, for me, for Michael, and for those with whom God sees fit to share the final manuscript.

Someone asked me during an interview several years ago, “What is your favorite thing about writing?”

My immediate response: “My readers. Definitely, my readers.”

I love to write. I love to gather thoughts and knit them together into words. Writing allows me to work out the implications of my faith in this broken world, to explore new possibilities, and to connect with people with whom I would otherwise have no contact.

Writing makes my world bigger and it expands my heart.

Still, readers are far-and-away the sweetest thing about writing.

I have been writing for readers in Northwest Tennessee for almost a decade now. Over the years, you have challenged me, encouraged me, and blessed me in more ways than I can count. You have helped me grow as a writer, and you have strengthened my faith.

I have saved every email and handwritten note, journaled every encouraging comment shared when we passed at Walmart, on the UTM campus, in the library or at coffee shop.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

But to the point of today’s article…

Summer classes begin this week. Between school, work, family, household chores, and important stuff like eating and bathing, I have more to do in any given 24-hour period than seems humanly possible.

And somewhere in all of that, I want – and need! – to write.

Unlike Hermione Granger, I do not possess a Time-Turner: I cannot expand a 24-hour day to last 30 or 40 hours (nor would I want to).

Considering demands on my time and my own physical limitations, I am taking a break from writing here at the Porch Swing Perspective. It is time for me to get reacquainted with Michael and the story he inhabits. He has waited patiently long enough.

I will miss writing this column each week. I will miss you, Dear Readers, even more.

I hope to check back in occasionally in the months ahead. And when he has finished telling me his story, I will introduce you to Michael. I can’t wait for you to meet him!

Byline: Camille Kendall, a native of Northwest Tennessee, explores the implications of faith for everyday life through her writing and speaking.