Photo found at Christine P. Newman.
On the return to school in the fall, teachers will often ask students to write an essay on "What I did this summer." Students will have stories from vacations, summer camp, concert festivals and maybe a trip to Grandmas house. Even when I was in school, I used to look forward to this chance to tell my teacher and peers what I'd been up to over the summer. Taking a moment to look what we've been doing can help to indicate where we are headed in the future.
This last weekend, I took some time to read Donald Miller's newest book, " A Million Miles in a Thousand Years."
In this book, "Miller chronicles a rare opportunity to edit his life into a great story, to reinvent himself so nobody shrugs their shoulders when the credits roll."(Back dust cover,Million Miles by Donald Miller)
While reading Donald's book filled with his own adventures of life editing, I began to ask myself this question, "If I were to think of my own life as a movie, what would I desire to edit, change or adapt so that those who are watching are bored by what they see?"
Left to my own devices, I think the movie of my life would be filled with adventure, drama and scenes of great success or popularity. But when it comes down to living my life as a disciple of Christ,the action scenes of my life-movie will and should play out to be much different than ones inspired by the shallow needs of ego. If I desire to live out a life of real greatness, or write a story of actual significance, it will be impossible to accomplish without God being the director of my film or the co-author of my whole story.
Miller explains more about this process of re-writing his life and how God might feel about the value of each one of our stories:
"...When Steve, Ben and I wrote our characters into the screenplay, I felt the way I hope God feels as he writes the world, sitting over the planets and placing tiny people in tiny wombs. If I have a hope, it's that God sat over the dark nothing and wrote you and me, specifically, into the story, and put us in with the sunset and the rainstorm as though to say, Enjoy your place in my story. The beauty of it means you matter, and you can create within it even as I have created you."(Page 59, Million Miles by Donald Miller)
Instead of the fall essay of "What did you do this summer?", I feel as if God is asking, "What story are you writing with your life?" While I may try to look back at the pages I've already written with regret, I honestly feel excitement when this question presses in upon my heart. I am in the process, the action, the present moment of writing my life story. Yes there are pages behind me and there are pages in front of me, but there is a page that I'm writing at this very moment... letter my letter and minute by minute. My story is changing and growing and with God's help, it will be a story worth reading someday. Each one of us has a life, a story. Just imagine if the lives we lived were ones so in tune with our director that we all ended up with an Oscar in the end?
As I wrapped up reading Mr. Miller's book on story, life and God's part in all of it, I came across a music video by the band FM Static called: "A boy moves to a new town with optimistic outlook." They lyrics of this song also repeat the theme of our lives as story. We all will deal with difficult times and heart-breaking circumstance in life, but if we walk through these times asking God to direct our feet on the path, if we choose optimism instead of apathy, if we choose light over living in darkness; then our stories will be better than any summer essay that has ever been written. Our stories can be great, even better, they can be epic with God as the director; day by day and page by page.
What story will you write?
"And all this time, while the world passes us by
What will we leave behind, but the pages of our lives?
And if we take our time, I bet we can all find
The things in life worth living for
One thing I know is that when life's moving slow
I'm not our here on my own, I've got You (to get me through this)
I'm on a long journey through mountains of apathy
And I'm not afraid to walk through"
Lyric by FM Static
Boy Moves To A New Town With Optimistic Outlook by FM Static
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