On June 15th, Gary and I and our son, Matthew and his wife, Sarah, and their two children will head off to Wisconsin Christian Youth Camp. We have been invited to be the featured speakers at Quest-WCYC’s family camp session. This is a first for us for several reasons. One, while Gary and I have presented together many times, we have never been presenters with any of our children. So, this opportunity to collaborate with Matthew and Sarah is exciting. Of course, if you’d ask Matthew and Sarah about now, I think you’d find them extremely nervous and regretting the day they agreed to this. But, I know that they are going to do an excellent job. They are a marvelous couple, who are balancing hectic schedules with jobs, church and everything else while raising two precious little girls to know God as their Creator and Jesus as their Savior. I remember those days well. The only difference is Gary and I were juggling the pressures of raising three boys instead of girls.
Our presentations will be centered on living our lives as Story. “Everyone’s story begins at home,” reads a plague we having hanging on our screened porch. We will all four being telling our stories through each of our own generation and prospective and how God is growing us all uniquely closer to Him. It should be interesting and fun. I’d like to invite any one interested to come along. We’d love to see you there.
Have you ever thought about your life as Story? As a writer, I know the elements that make a good story. First, you must have a strong lead character-- someone who makes a difference, who readers can care about and root for; someone who has goals—has something they want to accomplish. What do you want out of life? Spiritually speaking, do you have any goals? What are they and why do they matter? Are your goals noble? Self-serving? Or, are you one of those characters who just fly by the seat of his pants…wandering or waiting for something to happen?
Second, as you write your story, you must have conflict to make it a page-turner. What is getting in the way of you accomplishing your goals? What most often interferes with your story? What can you do about that?
Third, a good story must have resolution. While not all heroes ride off into the sunset, if they give it their all, then they do win…don’t they?
Well, there’s a little preview. Let me ask you…what is the ‘so what’ of your life story? You are here on this planet--you are getting up everyday and walking through your life but…so what? Is your story one that will matter when the last page is turned? Think about it.
Well, hopefully, I’ll see some of you in a week or so and spend some quality log-sitting time with you. And, I’d love to hear your story…
