Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Stories

As a YoungLife leader for several years, I became very well acquainted with stories. The lives of teens. My own life. The redemption story detailed in the life of Jesus. As a leader, I was given countless opportunities to share these stories, to reflect on how incidences of joy and tragedy in my own life are woven into the story of Jesus.
When I started this blog, I intended it to be a place of release, like every other blog ive had for the last six years has been, I know now that it is actually a place to share my story. Why is it that we are so intent on being known? And to knowing eachother?
I am literally addicted to biographies and blogs. I read them from beginning to end, often in one setting. And maybe the actual addiction is not the stories at all, but the people telling (living) them. Since I started blogging, i've discovered countless people who have captured my heart and become a part of my own story. There is something about blogging that is so real, so unedited. And there is something about life that lies along the same lines. I think our stories define us, particularly the chapters that we have no control over.
I believe that the creator of the universe has written (is writing) a redemption story of epic proportions. That He will stop at absolutely nothing to have a relationship with His children. With me. With you. His story is hard to wrap your mind around, even for me (especially for me) and yet so clear. It is written in every human breath. Every sunset and sunrise and flower and rainbow and moment of peace. And also in every storm and instance of heartbreak and death and disaster. I believe that there is an everlasting love that blankets the universe healing our deepest wounds and filling the voids of our innermost being. And that He knows my story, and your story, because He wrote it.