A Million Miles, 6 Billion People, and a Story Worth Living

I love a good story. Whether it’s listening to a friend or getting lost in the pages of a book, stories always seem to draw me in. I love to listen and always have. When I read a book, even though the author isn’t sitting right there, I get lost in each word like they were sitting there right in front of me. If I skip over a paragraph or skim part of a book, I almost feel guilty for not hearing the whole thing out. Silly, I know.

Some stories are obviously more exciting than others, while others have the ability to make you want to go into self induced coma to avoid having to listen to/read one more sentence of a seemingly meaningless monologue.

I am always surprised at the stories I love the most. A few months ago, I finished reading the Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. If you haven’t read it, I won’t ruin it for you, but go read it now so we can talk about it. I COULD NOT put it down until I finished. If someone had told me I would love reading a book about, to put it bluntly, child sacrifice in a future society after nuclear war, I would have laughed at them. None of those subject matters are my cup of tea. A good friend told me to read the series and loaned me the books. I am so glad I trusted her opinion. Suzanne Collins drew me in. It was the story: the characters, the emotions… everything.

What is it about stories that draws us in, makes us hold our breaths, and feel what others are feeling so deeply? Last week, I finished reading a book called, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, by Donald Miller. (yes, I read a lot) A few months back, I was having a conversation with a dear friend about post-grad life, the future, and finding meaning in our day-to-day lives. She stopped me mid-sentence, and told me there was a book I had to read. She then started her car, and offered to drive me to Barnes and Noble. She was serious. B&N let me down and was out of Miller’s book. Thank goodness for Amazon.

With a title so vague, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I soon realized why my friend insisted I read it. I am not one to spoil a book before you read it, so read on, then log onto Amazon, and read it for yourself. Basically the author of the book was approached by movie producers who wanted to make a movie based around his life. This offer makes Miller examine the elements that make up a good story, the story he had been living, and the story he needed to live to be one worth telling. In a long string of events including a bike trip across America, falling in love, and treks to other countries, Miller comes to the conclusion that life isn’t always about the outcome of the story, but the transformation that takes place within us along the way.

We are all living a story. We decide what goes on the pages next, and have no one to blame for writing a boring story than ourselves. At one point in the book, Miller made the observation that so many people say that life is meaningless, but really they are saying that their life is meaningless and pushing that generalization on everyone else.

Sometimes it seems easier to sit and think about all the things we want and want to accomplish instead of stepping outside of our doors to actually make those things happen.

Action increases the possibility of conflict, and who wants that? I am the first person to tell you that conflict makes me cringe, and I would do almost anything to avoid it. As Miller says in his book, “Fear isn’t only a guide to keep us safe; it’s also a manipulative emotion that can trick us into living a boring life … the great stories go to those who don’t give in to fear.” It’s those conflicts and moments of self-examination that help form us into who we are and need to be. The struggles are worth it to reach the outcome.

The good new is, first of all, that no one is writing a movie about my life.  Secondly, the better news is that we aren’t living our stories alone. One of my favorite quotes from the book says this:

“I am a tree in a story about a forest, and it is arrogant of me to believe any differently. The story of the forest is better than the story of the tree.”

A few days after I finished the book, I had déjà vu doing my daily hw for my LifeGroup Beth Moore Bible Study. There was a quote listed from How to Read the Bible for All it’s Worth stating this: “The story they tell is not so much our story as it is God’s story, and it becomes ours as he writes us into it."

I am but one person among billions on the earth. That fraction is miniscule but the whole is almost unfathomable. The whole wouldn’t be possible without each part. God has given us all a part to play in His story and wants to transform each of us along the way. Its crazy to think that the Creator of the universe chose to write me (quirks and all) into His story.

The way I see it, there is no better choice than to embrace the place God has given me in His story. There is purpose in everything, given that God has a purpose for His story and for us as we are a part of it.

Get up off your couch and go live the life you have been given. Be a part of the story. Make mistakes, learn to love, and be transformed by all that God has waiting for you. At least open a new web page and order this book. It’s worth it. I promise.

Bubbles and Boxes.

A year, 365 days. 3670 hours, 525, 600 minutes (don’t tell me RENT didn’t come to your mind), and 31,536,000 seconds. I’ll be honest. I’m no math genius. I’m a big fan of google, and use it to look up far too many things, including this.

The past week, I’ve seen so many pictures of diplomas, caps (rhinestones included), and gowns. It wasn’t until then that it hit me that it has been a year since I graduated, and safe to say its been one of the fastest, not to mention, surprising years of my life.

Lets hit a few highlights.

• I got my degree
• I learned what it was like to have an emotional breakdown. I guess I was long overdue after 23 years.  
• I started my first “real” job
• I moved to a new city alone

Right before graduation last year, I started praying that God would grow me in more ways than He ever had in the upcoming year. God definitely answered my prayer, but not the way I expected Him to. Funny how He works like that right?

In my mind, I was asking God to teach me a lot from his Word, let me hear some good messages at church, and find a good Bible study. Sure, all of those things happened this year, but those barely encompassed His answer. Don’t ask God for something and expect a human answer. Ephesians 3:20 says it perfectly “ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine...”

God’s answer looked more like this. I moved me to Tulsa and was leaving my favorite people in the world in another city. God popped my bubble. Don’t get me wrong, staying where I had been for the past 4 years wouldn’t have been a bad thing. I had a great church, amazing friendships, and most of all security. God knew better than me though. He knew he couldn’t grow me in the way I had asked with my eyes fixed on the things I already had going for me. 

Going through college, I grew in so many ways. Friendships, mentors, professors, pastors, and countless others who invested in my life shaped and formed me over the span of four years. I learned what it meant to have selfless friendships, learned to be independent, and learned what it looked like to have a deep personal daily relationship with Christ. Diploma in hand, and four years under my belt, I was sure God has shaped and molded me into the woman he wanted me to be.

That just shows I was still putting God in a box. Moving to Tulsa, I’ve learned things about myself I would have never seen without stepping out my bubble. I’ve seen so many areas I was placing security in the blessings God had given me instead of in the one who had provided them for me. Temporary security can be found in a familiar face, but true security and joy, crossing all city, state, and country lines, can only come from the Lord. 

The biggest lesson I have learned, is that God isn’t through with me yet, and he never will be. There is always room to grow, learn and change and I am so thankful God continually places people me in my life who are wiser than me to help me find my way when I get off track.

Despite all the change that has happened in the past year, one thing hasn’t changed. God is the one thing that has remained a constant in my life. He has proven himself faithful, answered so many of my specific prayers, and shown me His love in the most unusual places.

What a comfort to serve a constant, loving God.  If life can change so much in 1 year, I can’t even begin to fathom all that will come at me in the future. The thing is though, that I don’t have to, because He holds the future, not me. He has a plan, and knows me better than I know myself.

God may give us 525,600 minutes in a year, but he doesn’t ask us to have every one of those figured out ahead of time. He asks us to live for him moment by moment, and day by day and trust that He will take care of all the unknowns. With His help, that’s something I can handle.