I want to live a truly good story.

and not for the reasons I might think.  Upon further inspection, I realize I want to live a good story for me.  for my family, for my children, for my transformation, for my character.  not for others, or for acclimation, or fame.

God is the master storyteller  and he handpicked this specific time on planet earth for me to dwell here.  truly “for such a time as this”.  it’s so easy for me to think I have control over my story and the timing of the story god is writing.  but my life expiereces aren’t random.  they are all apart of a bigger story.

the transformation God is working in my life is also for the people in my life.  since I don’t live a life huddled up at home, my life and my people’s lives are intertwined.  

if I change and transform, that spills out naturally from me and onto the people around me.

I’ve been re-reading a favorite book of mine, Donald Millers A million miles in a thousand years, and I love this quote about the transformation change…

“the thing we were meant to live through was designed to change us.  The point of a story is the character arc, the change.”  

I can say wholeheartedly that the story God is writing in my life, although it’s not one I would have dreamed up or chosen for myself, is indeed changing me.  It’s transforming me, drawing me nearer to himself.  The story of infertility that has been woven into my story the past 5-6 years has changed me.  It’s made me different than I was before, and honestly if I would have skipped this part of my story somehow, I would not be the me I am now. 

I am grateful for this part of my story, this event that drastically changed the course of my life has changed me.  There came a point in the story that God asked me if I trusted him, if I trusted that He would write my story better than I ever could…and again and again I have to surrender my plans, my dreams, my life to him.  for His ways are higher than my ways, his thoughts are higher than my thoughts as Isaiah 55 says.

and this story is NOT just about me.

I remember so vividly when our story was about to take a drastic left turn, God had led me on to this line of thinking.

just like his timing was perfect for MY life and my story, so was his timing for any future children he might bring into our family.  

Once you get a taste for a truly good story, an epic adventure, a risk that turns into reward, you want more.

You want it not only for you, but for your friends, for your people.  You want those around you to experience the joy and meaning that comes from taking risks, getting out of their comfort zones, and going on adventurers.

think about your own story – is it the story you want to live?