Stories

I'm not much of a storyteller and never have been. It's just not a part of who I am. One thing I do know - a good story engages the listener with hope, passion, at times suspense, and any other range of emotions.

While I am not a good storyteller, I do have an avenue to tell stories. It is not with pen and paper, or with words, but with my actions. The way I live my life tells a story and whether I like it or not, I have "listeners". Some people look at me and watch how things unfold in my life. Not saying my life is more important than anyone else's, but it is human nature. We have an innate need to look at the people around us. We often compare our own lives or situations to the "stories" of others. We say things like, "He got the princess! How is he better than me?" or "She got the kingdom while I am still stuck in the stables."

In contrast, there are those people who look at others’ stories and get engaged emotionally. They see someone going through pain/hurt/loss/happiness/etc., and they feel that emotion. The empathy that is experienced, helps connect them with those around them in a way that wouldn't be possible otherwise.

Many authors, when penning a story, don't know how many people it may affect - good or bad. Just the same, we have no idea how many people the "stories" of our lives will affect. When someone looks at your story, what will they feel? What will they experience? Will your story inspire greatness or empower defeat? It's up to you and how you live your story. I pray that it will be a story of hope and love. If there is a massive battle and you lose, it's not the last page. That you get up and keep writing and fighting.

One last word of encouragement, we have an author who has and is still writing a book for us to follow. He was and is the ultimate author. When we look to His story we will find hope, love, joy, sadness, victory, and a future to look forward to. It is a story we can emulate. It isn't copyrighted. It's free for you and available!

"All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work." - 2 Timothy 3:16-17