Today Jodi told me a story that she read last night in Donald Miller's book A Million Miles. It is a long story and not one I can tell here since I didn't read the book (yet) but basically it's about this father/husband who realizes he isn't doing a very good job when it comes to "writing" his family's story. He decides to step up and lead his family in telling a new story. His family's story becomes one of a family that raises $25,000 to start an orphanage in Mexico.
From my conversation with Jodi, I got the message that Miller is encouraging each of us to stop allowing the world and life to dictate the story we are telling and to pick up the pen, take control (under God's leadership) and decide for ourselves what the story is going to be.
As a recent college graduate (2 weeks), I can feel the pressure to choose a path, to decide what story my life is going to tell. I was just accepted today into an amazing graduate program (my first and only choice)in a city I absolutely love, I live in a beautiful, little mountain town surrounded by amazing, beautiful people who love me and I have an AMAZING job but I also have the opportunity to do ABSOLUTELY anything at this point in my life and I feel like if I go to Charleston right away or if I stay here in Bryson I am playing it safe and I don't want to do that. I want to live my life. I want to trust that God will take care of me. I want to experience His best for me.
I could just go to Grad School because that is the responsible thing to do and I "should just get it over with" but why do I have to be so responsible? When will I ever get to just LIVE? There is a quote in my room that I have had framed for years and it says, "Live all the days of your life." There is also a magnet on my fridge that reads, "Do one thing every day that scares you." The thing is I do not want to sit on the sidelines as MY life story is written by the world, I do not want to allow fear to have control over my life and I don't want to miss out on God's bigger story because I was afraid to step out on a different path than everyone else. I want to discover the life God has planned for EACH and EVERY one of my days and I want to see what happens when I take the pen back from the world and give it to God.
What will happen when I let God write the story of my life? I don't know the answer to that but I can tell from past experiences that it will be absolutely, mind blowingly, amazing!!