Story

Now that I'm school free I've rediscovered the joy of reading for fun. Last Saturday morning, I woke up late after not setting an alarm (something I had not been free to do for literally months) and stayed in bed for a couple of hours reading. It was a perfect morning. It's amazing how much you appreciate something so simple when you've not been able to do it for so long.

I've been reading Donald Millers new book, "A million miles in a Thousand years."
Have you ever read a book and felt as if it found its way to your hands at exactly that moment in time by some sort of divine intervention. The words are just a bit too relevant, the story just a bit too telling.

Strumming my pain with his fingers,
telling my life with his words
killing me softly with his song.

Perhaps I'm being a bit over-dramatic (As I've mentioned before, I do have a certain flair for the dramatic) but there is really so much in this book that is inspiring and challenging me. It's about story, which is always a concept I've been facinated with. Everyone is living a story with the day to day of their lives, never really knowing what part of the story they are living or what our role contributes to another's story.

I think about people I've met, like a pastor in Ethiopia, who grew up in a poor village and couldn't afford to go to school. Completley illiterate at the age of 12,his older brother became a teacher in the city and finally came to get him so he could attend school. He cried the first time he had to ride in a car because he had never seen such a scary contraption and felt trapped inside of it. While attending high school in the city, he met a missonary couple who took an interest in him and he became a Christian. As a result, he was kicked out of his home and disowned by his family. However, he endured hard times and eventually was able to go to Europe to bible school. He returned to Ethiopia, stared a large chuch, was imprisioned for his faith, was miraculously released and joined the bible institue where he oversaw the translation of the bible into several tribal languages. Today he is responsible for literally thousands of students in rural schools. He wants to give these children something he never had, a chance at a brighter future. He has committed his life to this. He is one of the most amazing and inspring men I've ever had the pleasue to meet.

I feel that telling this story in such an abbreviated fashion is almost disrepectful; However, the part of the story that continues to fascinate me is the unnamed missionary couple who first took an interest in a young Ethiopian high school boy. I wonder if he still keeps in contact with them, I wish I would have asked. It is just as likely that he didn't and that is my point. These people had no idea the role they were playing in the story of his life. They may not know today that their obedience to go to Ethiopia, their choice to care for one young boy, continues to literally change the lives of thousands of children in that country.

There are many people that have played significant roles in my life and are probably completley unaware. I wonder if I've ever given that desperately needed encouragement or inpiration. I wonder if I've had the opportunity and missed it because I was focused on something more shallow or selfish. I want to commit to writing better stories with my life.

"A character is what he does...we can't just say it...we have to show it."

Much more on stories to come...I know my blog is bland and in desperate need of pictures. I'm working on it