By Guest Blogger Alexis Goring
My mother recently told me that when I got sick at age 16, she asked God why at such a young age I had a nervous breakdown of epic proportions and had to be hospitalized.
The doctors diagnosed me with a chronic illness and prescribed a medicine that would help me be restored, but would wreak havoc on my weight.
I gained 100 hundred pounds within five months of starting this medication; however, the medicine also helped me get better. And I eventually realized that a main reason I may have gotten sick at such a tender age might be so that God could birth my writing ministry.
You see, a few months after starting to get better, I found an online Christian community that spurred me to write. Other members’ comments moved me, and I felt nudged by God to start writing devotionals for the people who posted messages. Soon after, I began sending inspirational emails to friends and family, and that blossomed into a blog I titled “God is Love.”
About five years ago, I launched a Facebook community page called “Hope in My Heart,” which I borrowed from the title of my first book, Hope in My Heart: A Collection of Heartwarming Stories, that I self-published in September 2013.
Most recently, God answered a prayer of my heart when He allowed my second book to catch the attention of a traditional publisher, and in January 2017, I became an author with Forget Me Not Romances.
Did I mention that for five years, I also served as the “Growing Up” columnist for a faith-based publication called Collegiate Quarterly? Or that God enabled me to get my bachelor’s degree in print journalism and a Master of Fine Arts degree in creative writing?
None of this would have been possible without God leading and guiding me. Looking back, I see how He was there all along. Even at my lowest point, He was still there, and He used my pain to birth my purpose.
Some days, I think about what I lost by missing traditional school for almost two years when I was sick. But most days I realize that with God, I gained so much more, and that is a beautiful thing.
God restored me and made living worthwhile. He’s a miracle worker. I’m living proof.
Alexis A. Goring is a passionate writer with a degree in print journalism and an MFA in creative writing. 
She loves the art of storytelling and hopes that her stories will connect readers with the enduring, forever love of Jesus Christ. Visit her at website, www.screenwriteralexis.com, on Facebook or on Twitter.
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