Each week you are writing your own story. You are creating and living the story that will one day be told about your life. The story that your grandkids will hear is being written today by you and the choices that you make. One day your kids will tell their kids a story about you. What would that story sound like from their perspective of you?
Don’t believe me? I’ve bet you’ve told some stories to your kids about your parents. Maybe you shared some fun stories about how your dad took you to the arcade every Saturday or how this time of year always reminds you of picking apples and making a pie with your mom. Possibly you’ve shared some painful stories about how a parent was never around or struggled with alcohol. The point is that you shared a story about someone who probably wasn’t aware they were writing a story that would be shared…and yet it was.
It’s easy to forget we are writing a story, not just any story, but our story. A story that will be told by our kids to our grandkids about their experiences and perspective on who we are. Even more sobering is realizing this is a story we will give an account to God for.
If you are single I can guarantee that one day your kids will ask you about the parts of your story they didn’t get to experience. The parts you are writing and living now. They will ask you if you did drugs. They will ask you if waited to give your highly valued and prized gift of sexuality to their mom or dad. If you didn’t wait they’ll ask you about how many partners you had. And in that moment you will recognize the difference between the story you lived and the story you hope your kids live and the person they will become. Your kids will ask you for your story because they are trying to understand and interpret their own story. They will use your story as a template.
Today can be the beginning of a new chapter for you. Just like in any great story where the hero is going down an ordinary or average path and has a defining moment that changes everything, you too can make a change. Your story can be different from this moment on. You can live a story you are proud to have told.
One of my favorite examples of this is St. Paul.
No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. -Philippians 3:13-14 (NLT)
Run to win!
