“Opportunities with your name engraved on them”

Today I hope and pray the words below

will stir up ideas for

stories to include in your memoir.

May you find here

“a seed of an idea”

and may you be

“available and ready”

to write!

What past events or encounters do the following quotations bring to mind?

What do you or a friend or a family member know, 

from personal experience,

 of each quotation’s message?

What wisdom, what blessing, can you share in your memoir?

“Each day sets before us unique, unprecedented opportunities and challenges. More than a few of them have our names engraved on them. Most of the time, we are too busy or too conveniently self-deluded into thinking that our decision will have no consequence. Yet every now and then (from where does that thrilling and terrifying insight come upon us?), we feel compelled to act. Each one of us are messengers on a sacred mission. The world depends on it!” Lawrence Kushner, Eyes Remade for Wonder (emphasis mine)

“Our lives mean much more than we can tell; they fulfill some purpose of God about which we know nothing....” Oswald Chambers, The Quotable Oswald Chambers (emphasis mine)

“It’s impossible,” said pride.

“It’s risky,” said experience.

“It’s pointless,” said reason.

“Give it a try,” whispered the heart.

(author unknown)

“Faith is a decision you make to believe that the dark road you are traveling on will eventually yield to a sunrise.” Tony Evans

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.” President Theodore Roosevelt 

“Any grief we have gone through ourselves and given over to the Lord’s healing is preparation for comforting others.…” (Lloyd John Ogilvie, Silent Strength for My Life)

“… Through flaws and fissures in the bedrock harshness of things, there wells up from time to time, out of a deeper substratum of reality still, a kind of crazy, holy grace.” Frederick Buechner, The Sacred Journey (emphasis mine)

Your stories are important.

They can give your readers hope,

guidance,

a hand up,

a warning,

a smile,

a good cry,

help in making a decision,

courage,

faith in God,

and so much more!

“God gave us the gift of language to express something extraordinary. Well chosen words launched intentionally from one heart to another establish bonds, create character, soothe, heal, edify, build, and bring comfort.” Birdie Courtright (emphasis mine)

Be intentional.

Write your stories as a gift for others.

Launch them from your heart to your readers’ hearts.