Did you ever slide down into a desk during class? I most certainly did. Whether it was called an English or Language Arts class, I tried to hide from the teacher. Why? Because they had asked for volunteers to diagram a sentence on the board. Surprised? Generally, people think writers are experts in grammar. I’m sure most are, but this one isn’t. Even though I have been writing stories most of my life, I am not a grammar girl.

I love words and the wonderful stories that they create, but the rules of how to use them are very dynamic. The biggest issue for me is punctuation. A good example of this is knowing whether or not to use a comma. There are many more potential grammar struggles : subject verb agreement, sentence structure, word tenses, who or whom, and there are many more. Plus, new words are constantly being added to the English language while others change in meaning or fall completely out of use.

While grammar has never come too easily for me, I did manage to hold my own in school. When I grew older, I used books on grammar for reference and to guide me when I had questions or I became confused. There was no Goggle in those days. But then I had one teacher who totally confused me. I seriously couldn’t write anything correct for this person. I wondered how I could have gone so backwards. My fourth grade teacher told my mom that I needed to be a writer. There were others who encouraged in this as well. Did I just completely lose my ability to write?

Unfortunately for me, I had to take the ACT during this time. Needless to say, I didn’t do so well on the English section of it. When I started college a couple of years after high school, they wouldn’t let me take certain classes in the curriculum until I took a remedial English class. After I finished the class, I was to retake and pass the English section of the ACT. Let me tell you, the teacher for that class was the best English teacher that I ever had. Somehow, she made grammar go from being complicated to making sense. This was without a doubt the only English class that I looked forward to attending. So, I wasn’t nervous at all when I retested the section in the ACT. When my results came back, my advisor congratulated me because I had made honors.

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” Philippians 2:13 (KJV)

I let somebody into my head, which brought about doubt. By doing so, I changed the way I saw myself. The only One who’s opinion should matter is the Lord’s. Let Him influence and work within you. It will bring you a satisfaction that man can’t even touch.

Recently, I had an embarrassing moment due to grammar. My friend and I are buying Christmas gifts for a little girl. My note said she liked anything frozen. I asked my daughter Sara how could anything stay frozen if has to sit at church for a couple of days. She informed me it was referring to the movie “Frozen.” While she was horse laughing, I defended myself: “The F wasn’t capitalized!”

Brooke Cox is an author, speaker, and storyteller. She was a 2016 Selah Awards Finalist for Debut Novel. Her children’s book: “Dinosaur Eggs,” is now available. It is based on Ephesians 6: The Armor of God. Her novel “Until the Moon Rises: A Conniving Cousin Mystery” is also available. Also, she has two books out in her storytelling series: “Saucy Southern Stories.” The Amazon links for her books may be found on her website: brookecoxstories.com. Please feel free to contact her. She would love to hear from you.