About the author...

It's been awhile since I took the leap with Faith Like Jasmine, so consider this a moment of introduction. Not a testimony or biography, simply a heartfelt "here I am" and why I'm here writing to you.

My name is Megan Griffin.

I love words.

I love the feel of a pen as it loops and strikes across a page creating words.

I love the sound of a keyboard as it clicks under my fingertips, reminding me of the old word processor I used to type on in grade school.

There is something thrilling in transforming a blank, white page into more.  Whether that more is a one act play, a poem, an essay, short story or well-crafted nonfiction book.

And there is something humbling, as I have gotten older, in realizing how much we get to partner with God in this creating.  He spoke and everything was created. And with a beautiful echo, I can write and create fresh characters – with a past, present and future.

When I was in third grade, I had a teacher – Mrs. Zakavish – who introduced me to the concept of creative writing, and all the possibilities that came with it.  I was already well into being a bookworm, but it was as though a secret door had opened that allowed me access to the world behind the pages.

In high school, I was lucky enough to be able to take a few semesters of creative writing.  Two distinct projects came for me out of that – a novel and a one-act, one-scene play.  The novel is still in my back pocket these days, having evolved quietly over years and not quite enough time to dig into it.  The play, however, was picked as one of three to be performed by our drama class. 

Surreal is the best word I can use to describe how it felt to sit in the audience and see something I had penned, from inside my head, played out before me. 

I dabbled in poetry through high school, but it wasn’t until college that I found myself using it as a means to process emotion.  Somehow that was a place I could be raw without reservation.  I wasn’t turning it in to a teacher who would critique it or asking anyone to approve. 

Eventually, I began sharing it with some of the people around me. And an incredible thing began to happen – they connected with it. 

The whirlwind of emotions and my wrestling with faith, my words filled with questions and aches – it somehow spoke to them.  Occasionally, I would pen something specific.  A friend asked me to write a poem for the girls and then the boys in our youth group.  ‘Precious’ came from that, with one of my favorite lines: ‘Even in the rain, you are beautiful!’ 

Often, my poetry comes from times of prayer and worship.  One night at church, we were praying for a couple who had decided to move to New Orleans.  It was within 6 months or so of Hurricane Katrina and they felt God was calling them to be down there to help work alongside to rebuild and encourage the communities that had been devastated.  I had never been there; I knew only the basic scope of the damages based on what I had seen in the media.  But God had seen and He knew.  And He gave me the words that became 'Beautiful'.

No More Hiding is the culmination of years of pen to paper.  Years filled with joy, with grief, with tension and with hope.  My husband and I were on a date night, writing down goals that we wanted to dream about.  One of mine was to be an author; I wanted to have published books.  And one night, the month before our anniversary I decided that would be my gift to him.  He was always pushing me to go after my dreams.  God gave me the confident, parental push and invited me to take a risk. 

It was time to be done hiding.

It isn’t flawless.  I can guarantee there are a few typos. 

It is self-published.  I didn’t get the backing of a well-known publisher.

But I did it.  I can hold it in my hand and offer it out, hoping and I praying that some piece of it touches your heart to let you know you aren’t alone.  It’s okay to feel raw, to ask questions, to walk through despair or frustration.  Just remember that isn’t all there is.  God still has a lot more to say about your story.

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