Today’s post is another guest post from Samantha Loucks. Samantha is starting her final semester at a Christian University in South Carolina, where, in December, she will complete her major in journalism and mass communication. To learn more about Samantha after reading her post, click here. Welcome back, Samantha!

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I was thrilled to read Brenda’s recent series of posts about defining (and pursuing!) our passions. This summer has led me on a journey of uncovering my passion, and Brenda’s advice helped me create concrete ideas out of nebulous dreams.

And in light of this discovery, God has led me in a journey of faith—one that revealed the little knapsack I’ve been carrying. It’s filled with my own small offering of loaves and fish.

So here goes.

My passion summary statement:

I am passionate about touching lives through words.

What’s my “Big Why”?

I want to use my God-given ability to write, pointing others to the Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

I’ve always had a passion for writing. Even in first grade, I was writing (and illustrating) my own stories in little blank, hard-cover books I bought in the elementary school bookstore. And now I’m finishing a journalism and mass communication degree in December. While in college, I was privileged to serve as editor-in-chief on the staff of our campus newspaper. I love copy editing (which, I guess, makes me one of those annoying grammar Nazis).

And this summer I’ve been immensely blessed to serve as an intern at a women’s ministry where I write the social media teasers for all of the blog posts and radio programs.

Tweets and Facebook posts. That’s my gig. And you know what? I love it.

Why? Because there’s power in 140 characters.

You might be thinking that a little tweet is frivolous, time-wasting, or, let’s be honest—worthless. But those 140 characters are my loaves and fish.

In 140 characters (or less), I’m summarizing the spiritual application that’s in the blog post or radio program. After reading each post, my heart is saying, Yes! Praise Jesus or Ouch!

I’m growing, and I get to, by God’s grace, help others grow too.

Sometimes I forget how important those miniature sentences are. Then I remember who is connected with this content: mothers who haven’t had four hours of continuous sleep in months; young teens, searching for answers; wives, struggling through marriage difficulties; grandmas, wanting to reach their granddaughters; unbelievers, seeking Christ.

Only God knows the eternal impact of those 140 characters.

Here comes the big question:

Is my passion greater than my fear? Brenda asks this question in one of her posts.

The answer for me is…no.

When it comes to my passion, my fears are huge, to the point of debilitation.

What if they don’t like what I write anymore?

Can I have my passion…and make a living too?

Is there a future in this?

Am I really making an impact?

Should I start a blog of my own? What if it fails?

No one wants to read what I write anyway.

This is where faith in the loaves and fish comes into play. In fact, faith is absolutely and undeniably crucial.

In His heaven-written sovereignty, God has given me a bag of loaves and fish: the opportunity to help women thrive in Christ through social media writing. Where will that lead? I don’t know. Does that scare me? Yes. Should it? No. Because God is in the business of turning our tiny offerings—tweets and Facebook posts, in my case—into something glorious, and then some.

He’s done an incredible work by shaping my passion for women’s ministry and writing; do I think He’s going to leave me hanging? By His grace, I pray I never believe that about our God.

What about you? What’s your passion? Will you join me in this journey to protect our passions from being strangled by fear?

Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.  And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten (John 6:11–13).

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We’d love to hear your thoughts after reading this challenge from Samantha.

Feel free to leave a comment or share your answers to Samantha’s closing questions:

“What about you? What’s your passion? Will you join me in this journey to protect our passions from being strangled by fear?”