When God Writes the Story: My Journey as a Kingdom Writer
Smiling as I hold one of my books inside Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Lexington, KY, a surreal moment seeing my work on their shelves.
If we were sitting together right now, maybe sharing a cup of coffee or just talking face-to-face, you’d quickly find out that one of my greatest joys is truly getting to know people. Not the surface stuff, titles, success stories, or who’s “important,” but the real, honest journeys people walk through. I love hearing how God shows up in the middle of life’s messiness, how He uses trials and tough seasons to shape us.
That’s why I want to share a piece of my own story with you today. This isn’t just about being a writer, it’s about how God pulled me out of places where I felt inadequate, rejected, and worn down by grief. My hope is that as I open up, you’ll see not just my journey, but the ways God can meet any of us right where we are.
My Kingdom Writer Journey
I’m Charis Rooks, though most people call me “Doc.” Let me take you back for a moment. If you were sitting here with me, you’d probably laugh at how my writing journey started, not with inspiration, but with frustration at my grandmother’s kitchen table.
When I was a child, my Nana, who wrote the most beautiful poems and heartfelt letters, used to look at my handwriting and call it “chicken scratch.” She’d joke that I was destined to be a doctor because, with handwriting like mine, medicine seemed a safer bet than poetry.
Honestly, I didn’t mind. I would have chosen anything over another afternoon practicing cursive on that brown, three-lined paper, you know, the one with the two solid lines and the dreaded dotted middle. My mother, on the other hand, was a speed reader and a calligrapher with handwriting so elegant it could have been framed. Clearly, the talent skipped me. Nana tried to mold me into a writer like my mom, but eventually (thankfully) she gave up. I know she was disappointed it didn’t work, but I was secretly relieved.
Still, there was one thing I loved without reservation: books. Even if writing felt like torture, I couldn’t get enough of reading. The scent of freshly printed books at the school book fair was pure happiness to me. My late husband used to tease me about being a bookworm. Perhaps he was right.
Fast Forward
After my divorce in 2013, writing became less of a hobby and more of a lifeline. The Kingdom Writer collection and everything I’ve written since then were born out of some of my darkest moments. Back then, I was a newly single mom, barely keeping the lights on, when I got a call inviting me to an empowerment certification course. Honestly, I thought it had to be a mistake. I couldn’t afford a certification when I could barely pay my bills. I was “broke as a joke broke.”
I even asked for a refund once I realized it wasn’t a prank. No shame at all, I figured, why not try? My mom always said, “A closed mouth doesn’t get fed,” so I asked. When they refused, I was frustrated, but looking back, I know God had other plans. I’m genuinely grateful now that they didn’t give me my money back.
So, I went to the class anyway. Walking into that fancy hotel conference room, I was sure I’d be out of place. The room was filled with powerhouse women, authors, CEOs, professors, doctors, and then there was me, just trying to hold it all together. But instead of rejection, I found acceptance. These women saw something in me before I could see it in myself. When I finally shared my story of divorce, they surrounded me with encouragement. At the end of the workshop, they challenged me to write my story. That’s when I started writing, really writing, for the first time.
Looking back, that moment was the true beginning of my wild writing journey. My first step was a chapter in an anthology, but the publishing world nearly scared me off. I didn’t know enough, and I almost gave up. But by God’s grace, something inside me wanted to help others who were struggling like I was. That’s what gave me the courage to keep going and eventually publish my first devotional for divorced women.
My First Book: God’s Rarest Diamonds
Not long after, I felt a spark, an idea for a nonprofit. The only problem? I had no clue where to start. Around that time, I was laid off, and suddenly, nobody in my small town would hire me. “Overqualified,” they said, which felt almost laughable. I was an unemployed single mom with no college degree, how could I be overqualified to bag groceries? What I didn’t realize was that God was shifting me into a new season, one I now call “watching God write things into existence.”
During those hard days, my church family and local pastors stepped in, helping pay my bills while I kept searching for work. One day, after another round of tears and venting to my mom, she looked at me and asked, “What is God telling you to do?” I said, “He says write, but that doesn’t make sense, I need a job.” My mom, never one to let up, reminded me what scripture says and pushed me to listen. I figured if I just wrote, maybe she’d stop asking.
So I did, I wrote out my first nonprofit idea. And wouldn’t you know, out of nowhere, I got a call for a job I never even applied for. It was the best offer I’d ever received, and it required a degree I didn’t have. Still, they interviewed and hired me on the spot, and even offered tuition assistance. That was something I’d written on my bathroom mirror, a list of dreams I dared to believe God could fulfill:
I will earn my bachelor’s
I will earn my master’s
I will earn my doctorate
I will publish books
Within 90 days, I started business school. While earning my degree, I found myself drawn to business writing. I took that vision I’d scribbled when I had nothing, shared it with my professors, and turned it into my first real business plan, a nonprofit for divorced women. In just a few years, we served around 150,000 women worldwide. I published a prayer challenge for divorced women, launched our first magazine, and started listing out all the resources I wished I’d had during my own struggles. Before long, those ideas became real services: life coaching, mission trips, workshops, virtual Bible studies, retreats, and conferences. I even became a contributing writer for The Divorce Magazine in London.
Divorce Recovery Advocates Working for Women
The 30 Day Life After Divorce Prayer Challenge
A few years later, life started to settle. I finished my undergrad and went on to earn my MBA in Leadership. At the time, I was working in the medical field, and one day I decided, without asking God, to write a business proposal for my company. They had a program that rewarded employee ideas, and I thought, why not? My plan ended up bringing in a lot of revenue, which was exciting, until they used my proposal, gave me a small compensation, and then moved me out of my department into a role I couldn’t stand. I was frustrated with the company, but even more so with myself for not seeking God first. I stopped writing altogether, and work became a place I dreaded.
After three years of frustration, God spoke clearly: write a women’s devotional. So I did. That step of obedience led to Inspired Grace Media Productions. I saved up, left my job, and started a publishing company, at first just to publish my own books. But it quickly grew. Other writers came to me with their testimonies, and we began publishing their stories, creating magazines, and supporting writers in every part of their mental, physical, and spiritual journeys.
As soon as I chose to be obedient with my writing, life threw me another curveball. My oldest daughter, just 16, told us she was pregnant. Then we learned my youngest daughter needed brain surgery for a rare, incurable condition that had been misdiagnosed for years. The guilt was overwhelming, I’d trusted every doctor instead of my own instincts. I felt helpless to heal my child and worried about guiding my oldest through motherhood at such a young age. At the same time, I was juggling roles as a wife, outreach pastor, business owner, and student. It was a season where all the plates were spinning and I felt like they might crash at any moment. But every time I prayed, God’s answer was the same: write.
Still Standing: Stories of Hope After Divorce
Truth Laced With Grace
A couple of years later, just as life was starting to feel a little more normal, Covid hit. Like so many others, I had no idea how much everything was about to change. The publishing world slowed down, and my business declined, so I made the difficult decision to pause Inspired Grace Media.
That’s when God nudged me in a completely new direction, one I never would have chosen on my own. I felt led to enroll in a PhD program in theology. It was a huge shift from business school, and honestly, I tried to go a different route. I even got accepted into a DBA program, but God made it clear: “You’ve learned enough about business. Now it’s time to learn more about Me.” I didn’t want to repeat old mistakes, so I listened, even though it wasn’t easy.
While I was studying theology and leadership, God gave me another assignment: write a business plan, but this time, focus on creating jobs for the community, something that wouldn’t be shut down by a pandemic. That’s how Selah Logistics was born, a trucking company I started with my husband and children. My parents had owned a trucking business most of my life, so it felt familiar, but this venture was different. It became a place of ministry, too. I watched as staff members who didn’t know Christ gave their lives to Him and were baptized. It was a powerful reminder that God can use any business, any season, for His purpose.
During that season, I found myself shifting into academic writing. I developed two master’s-level college programs, one on entrepreneurship and another on ministry, before completing and publishing my 300-page dissertation on entrepreneurship and discipleship in the church, workplace, and community in March of 2023. (Read it here)
But right after graduation, life hit hard. Just 56 days after I walked across the stage, I lost my mother unexpectedly. My physical, mental, and spiritual health took a dive. Even though I’d written so much by then, a wave of insecurity and grief washed over me, and I stopped writing altogether. I found myself in a very dark place. But even in that darkness, I could still hear God’s instruction: write. Life was “lifeing,” as I like to say, but I could almost hear my mom’s voice, fussing at me from heaven, nudging me to pick up my pen again. So, slowly, I did.
The Continued Journey
All of this has brought me to start studying advanced biblical studies in Bible college, still carrying the grief of losing my mother, and still writing. To be completely transparent, there was a point when things got so dark that my doctor and therapist recommended I be admitted to a mental health facility and prescribed medication. It was bad, truly bad. I lost so much, including our home. But deep down, I knew that if I didn’t gain a stronger spiritual understanding of the valley I was in, and the attacks I faced while writing, it really could be a matter of life or death.
So, instead of checking into a facility, I started Doordashing to earn enough for tuition and enrolled in Bible college. And I kept writing. It was in those classes that my desire to write, and to serve other Kingdom writers, became more intense than ever. Not just writing for myself, but writing to educate, motivate, support, and testify to other writers who were facing their own storms.
God put it on my heart to create a safe space for His writers, no matter their genre or background. This time, I chose obedience, finally, and with joy. That’s when Inspired Grace Productions transformed into Inspired Grace Ministries. The Kingdom Writer Collection, Sapience Atelier Consultant & Publishing Agency, and even the name “Doc” (which my mother lovingly gave me after my PhD) were all born out of this new season of surrender and purpose.
Writing became my lifeline. It was how I poured out the ache that words couldn’t contain, how I processed pain, memories, and the questions that filled my days and nights. When I couldn’t find the strength to speak, I wrote. When I felt alone, I wrote. It was through writing that I started to find little flickers of hope and healing, even in the darkest moments.
When Grief Arrived Again
Just when I thought I was beginning to navigate the grief of losing my mother, another wave crashed over me. Only a year later, my husband passed away unexpectedly. Suddenly, I found myself both a motherless child and a widow. The loss was staggering, another piece of my foundation gone in what felt like an instant. I remember feeling completely untethered, as if the world had shifted beneath my feet and nothing made sense anymore.
In that season, my pen became more than just a tool, it became my lifeline. Writing was how I poured out the ache that words couldn’t contain, how I processed the pain, the memories, and the questions that filled my days and nights. When I couldn’t find the strength to speak, I wrote. When I felt alone in my grief, I wrote. It was through writing that I started to find little flickers of hope and healing, even in the darkest moments.
Full Circle
God has carried me through so many journeys, challenges, breakdowns, mountain tops, and more valleys than I can count. Every twist and turn, every high and low, has brought me to a place where I’m passionate about helping others navigate the complex path of being a Kingdom writer. I know firsthand what it’s like to write through insecurity and adversity, and I want to walk alongside others as they do the same, writing to expand God’s Kingdom, even when life gets messy.
My prayer is that God ignites the hearts of His Kingdom writers to build the Kingdom through their words. I pray that every testimony, every act of faith, and every piece of writing leads a nation to Christ.
