This Life/Job/Relationship – Coincidence?

Do you think life is a set of coincidences? Or do you believe a master engineer is guiding your life? I must say I believe the latter. Why?

I keep bumping into people and opportunities that fit into my life and into my dreams. Sure, I’ve got to put my horse in the race, but I can’t make a lot of these things happen. The meetings may be years in the making, but suddenly there it is, and I’m awestruck.

I could provide numerous examples of this, but today I want to point out one that’s led me to a new position. I’ve been named senior staff writer at The Wonder Report, www.thewonderreport.com. I will be reporting stories and also writing a monthly column on family and relationships with an emphasis on navigating grief.

Time travel with me. We’re going back two years. It’s early 2017. I just received my first manuscript rejection. My baby. My book. The big publishing company didn’t want to look at it. Didn’t say why. I was devastated, and then, right about Valentine’s Day, I got very sick. I thought I’d eaten something disagreeable. Or caught a fleeting virus.

I toughed out a cycle of being better and being worse while looking for new freelance work. One night, I was looking around in my Facebook tabs and realized I had a message notice. It had been sent a few months earlier from someone I did not know, thus, Facebook put it in a place I don’t look. This woman was notifying me of a magazine that was seeking out writers in the Memphis area. I responded to her message.

She didn’t work for the magazine anymore, but she put me in touch with the publisher. He let someone else handle the message, and that guy left, too. And then as the spring arrived, the publisher followed up. We did phone interviews. I shared some of my work. I was hired.

I worked with a fabulous lady, Lacey Johnson, editor-in-chief. She loved my work. I don’t think she realized that she was helping me back on my feet. Writers always wonder if their work is good enough. I was at a low. Lacey and the publisher valued me. I began to see myself again as a skilled writer. One rejection had been one opinion on one pitch.

As my spirit healed, I decided I had to get my body well, too. After seven months, doctors discovered I had c. diff., the nickname for a bacteria that had sickened my digestive system. A round of antibiotics and I was good to go.

This fall, I decided I needed to spend more of my energies on writing about my own experiences, particularly with navigating grief. I loved the magazine work, but I left.

Lacey asked me whether I’d be interested in The Wonder Report. She is creator of this inspirational, informational online news source. She asked me to write reported pieces and a column about family and relationships, with an emphasis on grief.

The Wonder Report published my first article this week. It’s entitled “Everyone Lives Out Their Grief Differently. Here’s How to Identify the Signs.” You can find it here: https://thewonderreport.com/everyone-lives-out-their-grief-differently-heres-how-to-identify-the-signs/

I got a new photo for the stint – and for my renewed commitment to write about how to navigate grief. Thank you for sharing this journey with me. I will continue to blog about once a week at this site. Please, as always, feel free to contact me with any suggestions, ideas, comments or questions.

And don’t give up. That obstacle. That terribly thing that happened. We can find healing. Often we must travel a discouraging road for long periods. We round the corner and discover our prayers have been answered. Or even more interestingly, the thing we didn’t even know to pray – wow – we’ve got it. God graced us with more than we asked for.

Copyright © 2019 by Toni Lepeska. All rights reserved. www.tonilepeska.com