This is My Story
Sandi Cooley is a new contributor to Prodigal daughters. She is currently leading the This is My Story Bible study at Meck.
So the This is my Story Bible study has started. I am so excited about what God is going to show us about how He has always been at work in our lives. In my preparation of the study I was reading from the book Destination: Community, a book about small groups. The following is applicable to our study:
“In Waking the Dead, author John Eldridge wrote, ‘Our life is a story. A rather long and complicated story that has unfolded over time. There are many stories, large and small, and many ‘firsts’. Your first step; your first word; your first day at school. There was your first best friend; your first recital; your first date; your first love; your first kiss; your first heart heartbreak. If you stop and think about it, you heart has lived through quite a story thus far. And over the course of that story your heart has learned many things. Some of what you learned is true; much is not.’
The truth is that God does keep his promises, but we have a responsibility to journey into our own stories if we really want to experience the peace and joy that comes with being a child of God. The process begins with each of us remembering; realizing; verbalizing; processing; and diving into our past.
In To Be Told, author Dan Allender points out in that we must answer some important questions before we enter into our stories. Our answers will help us to realize that God (the Author of our stories) cares deeply about us and longs for us to have “happily ever after” lives. They also reveal how our past experiences are affecting our present lives.
Here are the questions:
1. What sort of Author do I have? (Romans 8:28; Psalms 139:13-16)
2. What kind of characters populate my story? People in our lives shape our stories in both good and bad ways.
3. What sort of plot does my story have? Every story has a beginning, middle and end. In fact, the plot of most stories include 1) the background or situation, 2) the complication or conflict in the story, 3) the unveiling flashbacks, tone, mood, and even irony during the story, 4) the turning point when conflict and suspense resolve, and 5) the return to normalcy for the protagonist.
4. What sort of ending am I co-writing?
Remember that in all of our stories there is a villain. His name is Satan. His primary job is to destroy our lives. We have the weapons necessary to defeat him. God’s word! Hide it in your heart in order to fight the good fight. And as our study encourages us to do, (Deut. 4:9, Deut. 11: 19 both tell us to teach these things to our children and grandchildren) lets share our stories with the next generation so they may know the things that God has done for us.
I am excited about what stories you are going to share this week as you work through your journaling.
God Bless
Sandi
jill
Candice
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