the whole story

We all have stories; deep stories of need, of joy, of aching darkness, of blinding light.

Perhaps no other generation before us has been given so many ways to tell our stories. Blogs, eBooks, published books, magazines, twitter, facebook, instagram, they are all really just doors through which we let the world see our stories.

But even so, we forget who we are. So easily, we leave behind what we once knew, and pick up the most recent and most pressing news, details, problems, or joys.

Life is a continual rebirthing of the same story: creation, fall, redemption, restoration. Again and again, God creates newness in us as we forget and fall, then He redeems us and restores us in His love.

This season will be no different form the past. God will always be our great Redeemer, our loving Father, our valiant Savior who has come to restore us into who we were made to be.

Today I pulled out some old photos, remembering the beginning of my story. And although the details are all different, we all really have the same story. And truly, it is a story of His love….

God knew me from the very beginning. When I was too fragile and small to live on my own, He placed me in safety and waited for me to grow strong.

Love and life were written for me, and His eye was on me as I encountered light and noise, as I cried and flailed.

My dad passed out cigars to all his friends in the hospital lab. This is his friend, Harold, whom I never really met. 

I was welcomed into the world, rejoiced over as the gift and miracle of new life.

My Great-Grandma Jackson came to see me. She was a writer, too. Her story had different verses, but the same beautiful melody of God’s love and faithfulness rings from her poetry and musings as does from my own. I often wonder what she spoke over me and said to me when she held me in her hands.

And so the messy business of life began then and continues today. On and on goes His story in our lives. On and on go joy and pain, fear and faith, truth and grace.

Today is no different, really, than any other day. It is the day God has made for us, and He is writing His redemption and restoration into our moments. 

Stop and listen to the tale of His love for you. Then write it, paint it, hammer it, speak it, sing it, and live it for the world to hear.

“Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story- those He redeemed from the hand of the foe, those He gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.” -Psalm 107:2-3