The Adventure of Story

I love stories! I love to read them, listen to them and create them. There are so many stories that are worth repeating over and over. The literary world is filled with people who, through the ages, have made a living crafting engaging stories that have served as cautionary tales, entertained others and/or kept history and traditions alive. The Bible is an amazing book of story after story that, put together from Genesis to Revelation, reveals the greatest story of all – God’s love and creation of a world and people that are imperfect and flawed and glorious in showing that we are not alone in our struggles, failures or victories.

I’ve been creating stories all my life. As a kid, I would invent a world of my own that included daring fights with bad guys, dangerous treks through jungles filled with water that needed jumping over and trees that needed climbing. My adventures would generally end with a grand musical number that included twirling around and singing about my victories out in the field of the playground. (yeah, I was THAT kid!)

The other day I came across some old songs I had written when I was much younger, that my dad put to music. I had nearly forgotten about them. They were written by a young person, searching for meaning, that wanted to be a voice that provided praise to her Heavenly Father. And the stories that we had put to music so long ago still resonated with my soul.

When I was a young adult, I loved reading stories to little kids in the local elementary school. And then as a young mother, reading and making up bedtime stories was the best, and quickest, way to get my boys to settle in and fall asleep. Part of me wonders if it was really the story telling or more the fact that my voice is one of those that just simply lulls people to sleep!

As life has gone through particularly busy seasons, writing tends to fall to the bottom of the pile of “things to do”. But any time I have a moment or two to spend on myself, I find the best way to clear my head and get reenergized on whatever is going on at the time, be it work life, family life, or church life, is to let my thoughts flow and write down as much as I can. I’m not a journal keeper, documenting every day, I’m more of an oh-my-gosh-I-have-an-idea-and-I-gotta-write-it-down-before-I-lose-it kind of person.

The life we live day in and day out is the story that will be left to be retold long after we have passed. I want to live every day as a brand new story that I get to star in. Some days will be a story of love and happiness, or a full on slap-stick comedy. Others will be multi-tissue tear jerker that feels like it will never end well, but usually does in the long run. Whatever the story, I want to make it the best it can be. And that means jumping into life with both feet, anticipating a new adventure around every turn.

I want to invite you to join me in this live action story of adventure called life! Let the time we spend together give you the opportunity to slow down, take a deep breath and maybe think about things in a different light. Think about your own story. Are you happy with all the characters in it? What about the scenery or the main plot line? There are going to be all kinds of plot twists along the way….thats what makes life interesting and alive. Do you need to do a little rewriting to put you in a better place to help you really live the life God has intended for you?

Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.  – Helen Keller