ANSWER: I AM . . .

Ha! You expected me to put "writer", didn't you?

After my feeling-sorry-for-myself post about writing, I had a long talk with my best friend, Katie. (Actually, friend doesn't quite cover it. She's the sister I never had. And if she doesn't like it, too bad for her!)

Katie said, "Laura, in the deepest part of your soul, you are . . ."

(I expected her to say "writer". I really did.)

Here's what she actually said: "you are a wife and mother."

The moment she said those words, I felt as though an enormous weight was lifted from me.

I am a wife and mother. That was my choice when I married and had children--and it's even more my choice today. Nothing is as important to me as my husband and the four souls God has given into our care. Nothing. Not even writing.

I hadn't realized the pressure I'd put on myself until it was gone. Me, the woman whose motto is "You should do what works for you", I had loaded myself with a basketful of shoulds where my writing is concerned.

The irony? The moment the pressure was gone, the more I wanted to write.

Because writing, indeed, is a part of who I am. It's a large part of who I am.

But it will never be the most important part.