Eleanor Shepherd
Eleanor Shepherd's article, "Living Outside Our Comfort Zones," is on page 120 of Hot Apple Cider. This article, based on Eleanor's personal experiences, including her son's life-changing accident, received The Word Guild Award of Merit for a Profile or Human Interest Article in June, 2009.
Eleanor Shepherd spent 30 years in ministry after ordination as an officer of The Salvation Army. While giving leadership in pastoral ministry and administration, she contributed over 85 articles, mainly to Salvation Army publications. These were distributed in a variety of periodicals in Canada, the USA, France, Germany and New Zealand.
Prayer has played an important part in Eleanor’s life. For 15 years, she has been a member of the Intercessors, an international prayer ministry begun by Catherine Marshall. Besides leading workshops and seminars on prayer, she applied her teaching by creating a personal prayer support network for the ministry of her husband and herself. This network proved particularly valuable to the Shepherds six years ago when their 30-year-old son, John, who was attending Harvard Business School, broke his neck in a car accident and became a quadriplegic.
Prayer and writing intertwine for Eleanor with her membership on the prayer support team of The Word Guild, a professional writers’ association to which she belongs. She was also for several years a prayer partner with Lin Johnson, organizer of The Write-to-Publish conference in Wheaton.
Eleanor, along with her husband, has spoken at many conferences, particularly for clergy in Canada, the USA, France, Belgium, Switzerland, South Africa, Haiti and Jamaica.
Administrative responsibilities for Eleanor in The Salvation Army included Women’s Ministries. Her heart for women has led to her current involvement as a member of the Board of Directors for Women Alive Canada. Her daughter, Elizabeth a Juno award nominated professional jazz singer shares this passion. They will collaborate in writing together about faith in 2010. Eleanor’s passion for encouraging women is being applied in practical ways in her new position as Quebec Director of Philanthropy for Opportunity International.
Hot Apple Cider came together in a rather unusual way. What made you want to have your work in it?
Most of the writing that I had done had been published within The Salvation Army. I felt that it was important to move out of that into a wider sphere and I was happy to be identified as a Canadian and as a Christian.
This book is 100% Canadian. Canadian authors, publisher, printer—everything. Is that important to you?
Yes, I am delighted that it is Canadian and I think it is important to promote Canadian, as we are unique and see the world from a different perspective than our neighbours to the south. The differences between our cultures seem to be increasing over time.
In her foreword for Hot Apple Cider, Janette Oke mentions that writers are often asked, “Why do you write?” How do you respond to that question?
I write because it is the best way I know to express the thoughts and ideas that burn within me. I find that to talk tires me, but when I write I can get all of the ideas out on the table, where I can sort through them and rewrite to sharpen my focus and really discover what it is I want to say. Then I can express it with passion and conviction.
When did you first begin writing seriously?
In the sixth grade, I had an English teacher who required us to submit an essay every week. She made me believe I could write, and the desire was born within me to do so. I had no idea how I could publish what I wrote until, in my thirties, I took a journalism course by correspondence as part of the requirements for my ongoing development as a Salvation Army officer. Then I submitted some of my articles to Salvation Army publications and, to my surprise, they began to publish them and ask me for more.
You’ve had a very busy life, moving from one side of Canada to the other as a child, raising a family, living in France for a time, being very active in ministry… How did you manage to fit writing into your life while you were so busy?
Usually deadlines prompted me to write in those busy years. I knew that if I had to get something done, I would find time to do it. I love to write, because for me it is a creative process.
My father was also a writer, and he had about seven books published. He still writes at age 92. My son and daughter have both written and my husband too writes whenever he is asked to do so. It is part of being part of this family, I guess.
I have always believed that no matter how busy we are, we find the time for things that are important to us, and writing is important to me.
You’ve written Bible studies with your husband, Glen. How did the co-writing work? Was it a challenge to wok together that closely?
Not only do Glen and I write together, we also preach together. We were responsible for the preaching for our congregation all of last year, and every Sunday we shared the preaching, alternating for each point.
We have spent most of our lives talking together about ideas and we share so many ideas that they fit together well. We try to decide who best can handle each point of the message and that is the person who preaches it.
With writing the book, we discussed the ideas together, then Glen prepared a draft that I worked through, and we tested it with the College and Careers Bible study group we were leading.
How does writing fit into your life these days?
I have a book that I have been working on for the past ten years. This spring, I prayed about it and said to the Lord, “I need to either complete this or abandon it. If you want me to finish it, you are going to have to provide me with the time.” He took me at my word, and I was laid off from my job. I was then hired for another job that would not be starting until September. Thus, I had the whole summer to write.
Every day, I was at the computer from 8:30 until 5 p.m. What luxury! I loved every minute of it. I was able to completely rewrite the book. Then when we went on vacation, Glen read what I had written and gave me some helpful editorial advice. I have some other folks reading it and I am so much happier with the book as it is now. I am moving forward with the marketing of my proposal, confident that I have something worthwhile to offer.
By the way, I was not sure that I could do this, and just to give me the confidence I needed, in June I received an Award of Merit for my story in Hot Apple Cider. I knew that this was the Lord giving me the gentle nudge to assure me that He had equipped me to write.
I’m assuming you get feedback from a lot of people because of the nature of your writing, and feedback is great for the author—you know someone is actually reading your words! But I’m wondering if you’ve learned anything from your readers that you could share with us?
I have learned so much from my writing. I do love it when people let me know that what I write has been useful to them. My first time in France, I felt that I had been a failure, because I had not accomplished what I wanted to accomplish in my work there. When I returned to France eight years later, I met someone who told me that they still had copies of some of the articles that I had written that were published in a series I did in En Avant. They found the articles so helpful that they cut them out, kept them, and reread them from time to time.
I learned that I was not a failure and that the Lord would use my gifts as I gave them to Him, so that His purposes would be accomplished in the lives of others. To think that He could use me humbled and amazed me.
Aside from your own piece, is there a particular piece or thought in Hot Apple Cider that stood out for you?
I loved the story by Angelina Fast-Vlaar, probably because I could identify with the way the Lord carries us when we are put in situations that we cannot handle. I also loved "Perspectives" by Mark Buchanan, and as I result, I went out and bought one of his books.
A lot of people want to share their stories in order to help others. What advice do you have for someone who wants to write but doesn’t know how to begin?
Do it. If you want to share you story, take the time to think it out and write it out. It may or may not be helpful to others, but it will enable you to see something of the faithfulness of God and some of the things He has been doing. Let Him use your writing as He sees fit. You will be blessed in the telling.
What are you writing currently?
I am finishing off More Questions Than Answers and trying to write book proposals that accurately reflect the content of the book. I have another joint project that is a story about the wonderful dog, Beau, who shared the life of our family for sixteen years. That is a fun project that is written but needs to be prepared for publication.
What is your prayer for the readers of Hot Apple Cider?
My prayer for the readers of Hot Apple Cider is that through reading this, they will be reminded once again that God is always there. A friend of mine, who lost her youngest child when he ran out into the street after a ball and was hit by a car, shared a wonderful thought with me. Our faith is like a brick wall that we build up brick by brick. When something dreadful happens, the wall comes tumbling down, but one brick always remains. God is there. That is enough to begin to build again. I would like readers of Hot Apple Cider to know that our stories affirm that this brick is always there and that no matter what happens, we can begin to build our faith up again.
Thanks for giving me the opportunity to talk about my writing. It is one of the passions of my life.
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