Story.

Recently I acquired a book & it was free, which I love. I flipped it open & for hundreds of pages there were inspirational quotes & after each quote there is a small amount of room to write & reflect on the day, or that quote, or life at large. For twenty minutes or so I sat reading page after page of quotes, inspired by some & left wondering, "Did that quote make it in by mistake?" by others. After I had my fill of mild inspiration I closed the book to find the pinnacle of self-inspired messages on the back cover, it read, "You are the hero of your own story." I almost threw the book out after reading this.

The more I think & read of it the more I realize my life is a story. As far as it relates to this world I have a beginning, a middle & an end. There are seasons of drought where the story line waivers & I question whether or not mine is a good one. Then there are climaxes or turning points that beckon us ahead or stop us in our tracks, these are the exciting parts. But however our story is currently being written or in what direction we are headed in, a truth is there; when we believe a better story lies before us we have no choice but to move forward. Well, really, we do have a choice but the choice is move ahead or numb ourselves in our march toward death, to pretend that call is not there. The latter of the two we seem like the obvious one to avoid. But when a greater story lies ahead of me why do I often choose to stay where I am? Why do I ignore or decline the offer for a greater story? This is a question I struggle with daily.

Being a human & a man I default towards comfortable & safe things. More than not I set roots in areas of my life where comfort is ample & when distress trespasses inward I again strive for comfort. This sole desire for comfort makes me an increasingly boring & predictable author of my own story. I sit most days & pencil in a script of good food, familiar company, mediocre faith & an occasional outdoor adventure. These are all alright things to have in part but not through the entire story, it's so boring. Yuck. I realized several years ago I didn't want to play author of my life anymore, I wanted God to.

At first I really did not like the things He would write; love that person over there, forgive this person over here, ask for forgiveness for yourself, tithe your hard earned money, don't eat for a full day... But as I did these little things my story began improving, I began enjoying living in it. I began understanding God was able to write a story for me far greater than I could write my self. A life full of all the elements of my favorite books or movies; growth, adventure, romance, joy, forgiveness, redemption, justice & love. If it were up to me I would continue writing the story but with a slightly more attractive narrator, with slightly more money, with a supermodel wife, that has to work less, that has to sacrifice very little to achieve great things. This is not real life & thankfully He has far greater plans for me than I do for myself.

We are not all promised a good beginning to life but we all have equal chance of a good death. If we want a funeral with standing room only we have to ask God daily, "What will you write for me today?". If we only have today with God as the author & if we let Him write, we are part of a story worth sharing & remembering. It is my prayer the our ending is written far better than our beginning, with God being the Author & hero of our stories.