To the Writers Who Shaped Me...

Last week on the Saturday Six, I mentioned this post by Annie Downs, who encouraged people to think about the authors whose words shaped them...and then thank them.

And it made me think about these people I've never met...people who labored over legal pads, typewriters and computers to sketch out scenes and make characters seem so real that I wanted to friend them in real life. People who fostered my love of words and my deep desire to share them with others in the same way I'd received them through the books.

So today I wanted to say thanks...even though some of them have passed away and others don't have Twitter or Facebook for me to thank.

Janette Oke...I could write a whole post about her! She was a pioneer - maybe even the pioneer of Christian Fiction, and I could not wait to buy every single book the moment it came out. From Janette I learned great vocabulary words that showed up on all kinds of tests at school - and I knew the answers from devouring the books. Her Love Comes Softly books were my favorite, and while I love the movies, I'm a purist for the books. {Side note: I wanted to marry Clare Davis.} I wrote Janette a letter in high school and she wrote me back. I still treasure that letter. Janette, thanks for filling my teens and twenties with pages of adventure. And thanks for pioneering an industry.

Lori Wick...My dad bought me my first Lori Wick books during a family vacation one year and I'd read all of them by the time we got home. Though she hasn't released a book in a long time, her books made me want to pursue writing. And I adored the names of her characters. She named one of her heroes Bracken - and that one was my favorite. Thanks, Lori, for writing so quickly. I was ready for the next book about one day after finishing the last one!

Anne Graham Lotz...Her book Just Give Me Jesus forever changed the way I studied Scripture. We read it in our Sunday School class, and if you were to read through my Bible study journals, you'd see a marked difference in the way I studied....right when I read that book. I love her honesty, her vulnerability, her heart for the Lord, and her deep passion for His Word. Thanks, Anne, for teaching me a new way to study.

Elizabeth George...I couldn't read enough of her books when I was in college and in my twenties. I loved the way she took passages...like Proverbs 31...and made them seem attainable. The woman I am today and the wife I am today are largely because of her influence through her Bible studies and books. Elizabeth, thank you for being my mentor in a book. From five fat files to the value of a ruby, your words have stuck with me and I use them.

Madeleine L'Engle...I took a nonfiction class in college, not because I was the least bit interested in it, but because it was required for my degree. In my mind, nonfiction was made up of boring biographies and history books. I had to read a book and write a report over it by the end of the semester. Become an expertin the book, my professor said. I confessed, somewhat red-faced, that I had only ever read fiction and didn't know what to do with the idea of a nonfiction book. That's when she handed me Madeleine's book Walking on Water. I fell so in love with it...I never wrote fiction again. Madeleine, thank you for opening my eyes to a world I never knew existed.

Shauna Niequist...I just found this gem...and yes, I know I'm behind. But her book Bread and Wine gave me permission to combine the love of words with the love of food and realize just how many memories are made when the two meet. Her book was captivating in every way. I even started my own Shafferland scrapbook of favorite food memories because of what I learned about life and God and relationships and love in this book. Shauna, thanks for showing me a whole new way to capture writing and memories and make sense of life.

Bruce Marchiano...I can't close the list without thanking the man who forever changed the way I view Jesus. Bruce portrayed Jesus in the film The Gospel of Matthew, and he wrote about his utter life change as a result of that role. Bruce learned that Jesus was saturated with grace, love, and laughter - and his writing showed me that for the first time. I've written Bruce to thank him - and I even had the privilege of interviewing him on the air last year. But I still say thank you, Bruce, for showing me aspects of Jesus I'd never realized before. Always grateful.

There are many more. People who took time to write and through their words I was challenged, changed, entertained, pushed to deep thought - and much more. I am shaped by their words and I am thankful.