Over the last few months (starting sort of after reading A million miles and a thousand years by donald miller) God has really impressed on our hearts "The story of our family". We are charged with this task of living on earth, not just to go through the motions of the mundane: going to school, doing the best we can, being as "good" as we can, getting married, jobs, children, raising them the best we can, getting them to activities, school and start again the next day. I cannot be content in this kind of life, just living just to live. Just doing things because its the next natural thing. That is not much of a worthwhile story. I don't want a great story so I can be great. I just want to be involved in something that is bigger than myself. When i live in "self", i get complacent, bored, dissatisfied and depressed. It is not what we were meant for. This plays out even bigger as I think of the mission of our family. If this is the story we are writing, it is the story our children are being written into. There will be a day coming where our kids are going to look at the story of our lives and either choose to continue or choose a different story. If we don't live out the glory of God, they are going to look for Glory in other places. If we live a "christian life" but yet get caught up in the things of life, or the mundane-ness (probably not a word) of life, they will most likely either do the same or choose another way to find excitement or satisfaction that may not be what the Lord offers. John and I want God to write our story, and we want to follow. That is the only way our life will be worth anything. The last few months have been an amazing time of praying about what that story is. What our mission as a family is. What he has for us. Where he wants us to make an impact. Why he brought us together that we can uniquely add even if so remotely to bring Glory to his name and to make other people see Him when they see our family. That is all I want. I don't want glory because I know i won't handle it correctly nor do i deserve an ounce of it.
It is funny that Reese asked if i could help her write a book today. She wanted to write a story but needed me to tell her how to spell the words. It was so fun as each new page brought a hillarious new adventure. She was so excited as i read it back to her. She asked me my advice on where the flowers should go, or how to draw a nice fox. It was so fun to write this story together. And it was a hillariously epic story of an enchanted castle, prince and princess, love, nice foxes, eating in castles, blooming flowers, and volcanoes that erupt bouncy balls.
If we hand over our pen to the master story teller, he can help us write a better story than we could have ever written alone. I am so excited to see where our story goes and I am glad I can surrender that to a God who has a far bigger agenda than I do. I hope I can do my best through his strength to show a story to my children that they want to get involved in. That they see the Lord and want to join his mission because we in some way made this story one they want to write for themselves. Who knows what that looks like, and some days i need to stop trying to read the end but just enjoy the page i am on, all the while anxiously excited to see what is coming next, knowing God has lots of surprises up his sleeve.
