Writing 101

I love stories.  Always have.  Give me a good story and I’ll lose track of time, reading voraciously to see what will happen next, who winds up where, how it all ends.  When I pick up a book, my husband grins at me over the cover and says, “See you when it’s over.” 

I’m ashamed to admit it because I consider myself a fairly intelligent adult, but I read the entire Twilight series in less than a week.  I was furious when my book club chose the first installment as one of our monthly reads.  Even told the woman checking me out at Barnes and Noble how irritated I was about spending my husband’s hard earned money on a book for high school kids about vampires.  Seriously . . . vampires?  I was a mother with two children.  I had important duties to tend to.  There were people counting on me to wipe their bottoms and cut their grapes and teach them the alphabet and I certainly did not have time in my life to read about vampires.   I was pissed.  The woman told me I’d be back within a week for number two.  I smirked.  I scoffed.  I sneered.

I went back the next day for number two.

I’m not saying Twilight is quality literature, people.  It didn’t change my life or impact my future or improve my soul - the Bible is where I go for that kind of stuff.  I’m not even saying it was quality writing, although you gotta hand it to a lady who is creative enough to come up with a vampire/werewolf/human love triangle and make it a worldwide sensation.  Jane Austen was never a bazillionaire. 

What I am saying is that Twilight was a good story because it created in its readers a need to see how it was going to end.  I HAD TO KNOW – is Bella going to become a vampire or not?????

Thankfully, if you were team Edward, which I was (how could anyone in their right mind not be), Twilight had a happy ending.  Because what I am not ashamed to admit, is I have always been a happy ending kind of girl.  I will never be a fan of books that don’t wrap things up in a neat little package with a bright, shiny bow on top.  If a book ends badly, or not at all – you know the kind - one that leaves you hanging so you must decide for yourself what happened next.  Damn those authors with commitment issues.  We count on them to finish their flipping books.  That’s what you do when you write a book – YOU. FINISH. IT.  Sorry – clearly, I have my own issues.  So like I was saying, if a book doesn’t provide an ending or has a tragic one, I likely won’t recommend it.  Life is tragic enough.  My escape mechanisms need to be all rainbows and butterflies.

Recently, I’ve found myself encouraging some friends in tough seasons to remember that the very best stories in life are written by the author of life Himself.  

“God is writing your story this way for a purpose.”

“I can’t wait to see what your next chapter is like.”

“Just think what God might have in store for you soon.”

Yep.  Said all those things to people who are important to me.  They smiled and nodded and thanked me, and then probably walked away cursing my name under their breath because who does she think she is claiming to know anything about God’s writing skills.

Here’s the thing.  We would probably ALL write our stories differently.  I certainly would.  If I were writing my own life story, trust me, there would be some major plot changes, not to mention totally different main characters.  If I were writing my own story, I would be smarter, funnier, taller, thinner, prettier, more successful, and let’s not kid ourselves, a whole lot wealthier. I would live in a perfect country with no social or economic issues, a perfect community with no traffic or crime, a perfect house with every room furnished exactly the way I want it.  My car would always have a full tank, the sun would shine every day, and the laundry would do itself.  I would never put my foot in my mouth or show up late or fail so colossally I want to stay in bed for days.  I would give and serve and love from sunrise until sunset without ever growing weary or resentful.  I would find forgiveness easy.  

If I was writing my own life story, my family would never turn their back on me, my neighbors would be my best friends, my best friends would never let me down, complete strangers would make me smile each day.  My children would use their manners at all times and dress in the clothes I want them to wear and obey the first time I asked.  They would be thoughtful and helpful and grateful and joyful and make perfect grades.  And they would never track mud in the house. 

If I could write my life story, my husband would agree with everything I said.  He would keep his hair and his muscles and (just thinking ahead here) his libido.  We would parent as a team no matter what and fall more in love each day and retire early to a tropical island with a housekeeper and a chef and a masseuse at our beck and call.   

If I were writing my own story, there would be no sorrow.  There would be no illness.  There would be no sin.  There would be no death.  Which really means . . .

There would be no need for Jesus. 

You see, THAT is why God is writing our stories.  He wants us to know Jesus, because without Jesus, our stories can never end well.  Without Jesus, there are no happy endings.       

The best stories aren’t the perfect ones.  Those aren’t the page-turners that keep us up at night.  The best stories are the ones that take us on a wild journey we could never have predicted and might never have chosen – the ones that truly lead us somewhere important.  Somewhere we might not have planned to go.

The best stories have interesting characters.  The kind you can relate to and share life with because their imperfections are as glaring as your own – the husbands with receding hair lines who make you laugh so hard you cry, the children who forget to brush their teeth but remember you promised to bake cookies after school, the friends who reach out to help before you can even ask.   

The best stories come with unexpected twists and turns that leave you wondering what in the world the outcome could possibly be.  They have flawed people and bad timing and more mistakes than you can count.  They have selfishness and greed and envy and cancer.  Sometimes they have abuse.  Sometimes they have divorce.   Sometimes they have violence and corruption and war.  And they always have death.  They are hard.  They are messy.  They are ugly.  They are filled with pain.

And they are our stories . . . written by Him to point the way to our happy ending.  We simply have to keep reading, one chapter at a time, and remember that there is no better author for our life than the Author Of Life. 

God is not writing a story of perfection for me.  He is writing a story of purpose.  He wants my story to mean something.  He wants it to change me . . . to take me to the places He alone knows I need to go.  Most importantly, He wants it to lead to a happy ending . . . to Jesus.  Because God wants my story, and yours, to last for eternity.