Tell Me a Story

One of my treasured photos from when our girls were young has our 3 year old cuddled up “reading” to her 18 month old sister. Like many children, they loved being read to. Anyone with toddlers will have noticed how they gravitate to a favourite book and want it read over... and over …. and over again. You can’t even skip over a few words when yawns overtake you. They come to know the story by heart.

I would argue that stories have a lot of influence on us. In fact, some plots are so ingrained that a phrase is enough for us to illicit the details ourselves. Take “The American Dream”, for example. When I hear that phrase, I envision a working class family with strong character, toiling hard and eventually achieving great success. “Every Man for Himself” brings to mind an adventure where the desperate pressure of a trial leads to each character fending for him/herself.

I wonder which narrative am I building my life on.

YOLO?

Acuna Matata?

Go with the flow?

It is what it is?

Follow your heart?

Keep calm and carry on?

Murphy’s law?

I am delighted to say I have found a more compelling narrative than any of these. I like to call it “The Best News” story and it is found in the Good Book.

The Good Book contains the most amazing themes! It’s about never facing challenges alone. It’s about being spared. It’s about receiving gifts of eternal consequence without having done the work. It’s about rock-solid faithfulness...crazy-strong love...never-surrender hope.

I don’t want to live a carefree life centred around my own comfort and desires, although I admit I often do. I don’t aim to make decisions based on whims. I don’t want to resign myself to assuming the worst. And even though I am a peacemaker at heart, I don’t wish to float through life without making any waves.

What I DO desire is to keep learning to live the Best News narrative. It’s an ongoing process and I often get it wrong. But, ultimately I know that the “Best News” settles my worry, provides peace and direction when contemplating the future, allows me to be more forgiving and encourages me to love well.

I want to work hard to know this story by heart.

Note: Check out the song “My Story” by Big Daddy Weave! Very relevant to this post!