The story of our lives

A friend recently asked me, “How do you decide what to write about [in your blog]?”
I didn’t have any fancy answers.
“I just write about our days, mostly; what we’re doing. It’s all just my life, really.”
It’s true.
I do not plan out what I will write, usually.
I just live my life and attempt to tell the story that is unfolding.
One of my favorite authors, Madeline L’Engle (recently deceased) once said, “All of life is a story.
This, also, is true.
Every person has one. A story of their own. A story to tell.
They are neither all good nor all bad, but an amalgam of these elements, with humor and horror and drama and romance all in the mix.
There are heroes. There are villains.
Why tell our stories?
We tell our stories, we listen to other’s stories, because it affirms the life in us, and it connects us to others.
Telling is a way of saying “I’m here. I exist. I am living this beautiful, brutal, precious, phenomenal life!”
Listening lets us know we are not alone.
God chose story to communicate His plan to man.
I’m sure you have heard the cute saying, “History is His story.”
While it contains commandments and poetry and genealogies and letters, story is the overwhelming medium God uses in the Bible to show us how to live, to enlighten us, to touch us, to speak to us.
He uses the stories of people – their lives and the stories of what happened to them are eternal examples of encouragement or admonishment.
And all our stories weave together, some of them touching right up next to each other, or intertwining, but all of them a part of His bigger story.
And when we allow Him, the creator of our being, the one who knows us inside and out, the assessor of our hearts and desires, to write our story, then we can be sure of one thing.
It may be sad, or messy, or wonderful, or difficult, or beautiful, or abundant, or all of these things.
But it will be right.

A few good quotes on the subject:

"The most important story we'll ever write in life is our own - not with ink, but with our daily choices."
— Richard Paul Evans

"You get old and you realize there are no answers, just stories."
— Garrison Keillor

"Stories only happen to those who are able to tell them."
— Paul Auster

"It's like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story."
— Patrick Rothfuss

The short story of another day

We stayed at home most of the day.
I think we all needed a “down-time” day after all of the running around we’ve done recently.
The boys read the books they got yesterday (Isaac is reading Eragon, and Josiah picked out some chapter books that his is reading on his own).
They played some video games with their friend (today was our last day to watch him).
They played outside for a while in meme’s backyard.
When they came back inside, it was to announce proudly to their dad and I that they had indeed broken a sweat out there.
We went to gramps for family dinner, which was a light fare of cold sandwiches and bean salad.
I love sandwiches. I could eat them for every meal!!
The boys got to swim a bit, though it was very breezy and quite late in the afternoon already.
It was a quick dip, and they had fun.

My lens seemed to be looking out at things a lot today (that in itself tells it's own kind of story) . . . looking at scenes out the screen door . . .

on the other side of the screen door . . .

(I tried to get a closer shot -- wings like fine gossamer, beaded body perfection.)

out the window.

And so, the story continues . . .