You have all this evidence: Write about it!

You can't see God's hands or face or look into His eyes.

You can't take a photo of Him or of His promises, but God does give evidence of His involvement in your life.

He gives tangible evidence of His love, His power to help, His creation, protection, guidance, and forgiveness. He gives perceptible evidence when He answers your prayers.

"God has blessed his people—just look at the evidence!" (2 Chronicles 31:10b, The Message).

God ". . . never left them without evidence of himself and his goodness" (Acts 14:17, NLT).

"There's no end to what has happened to you—it's beyond speech, beyond knowledge. The evidence of Christ has been clearly verified in your lives" (1 Corinthians 1:4, The Message).

"Everyone will see this. No one can miss it—unavoidable, indisputable evidence that I, God, personally did this...." (Isaiah 41:20).

This is important: Remember . . . that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced . . . the Lord, . . . his majesty, his mighty hand.... It was not your children who saw what he did for you in the desert until you arrived at this place...." (Deuteronomy 11:2-7, NIV).

Do you grasp what these words mean? They mean you have a story that only you can share.

"You have all this evidence confirmed by your own eyes and ears. Shouldn't you be talking about it...? (Isaiah 48:6, The Message).

You need to write your stories!

If you don't write them, someone else might try,

but only you know the whole, accurate story.

What "unavoidable, indisputable evidence" do you have that God has acted on your behalf?

Maybe He helped you with a financial need.

Perhaps He caused someone to notice and help when you were in danger.

Maybe God sent someone to sit with you and pray for you when you were desperately ill or brokenhearted or frightened.

This list—your list—goes on and on....

Writing stories of God's involvement in your life will strengthen your faith—for today and for the future, whatever it holds.

Writing your stories will also strengthen your readers' faith.

Who knows what they'll face in their lives?

God can use your stories to prepare them,

and mature them,

and use them,

and bless them.

Let's write our stories so that this can be said of you and me:

"Our children will hear about the wonders of the Lord.

His righteous acts will be told to those yet unborn.

They will hear about everything he has done."

(Psalm 22:30-31, NLT)

Tell them who they are, to whom they belong, and …

Oh, wow. A blog post that sounded like music, like a symphony. Rachel’s words rang oh-so-true and I knew I had to share them with you.

You’ll want to read the whole post but below is the excerpt that made my heart sing.

"Telling them the story that they couldn't remember

but which belonged to them

was like cracking open a space in their self-identity

and pouring in the backstory.

This is where you came from,

this is what brought you to this here and this now.

This is what we once feared and grieved

and how we moved forward.

This is your story,

this is who we are."

Rachel Pieh Jones, "Telling Them Their Story"

Like Rachel, you and I mustn't assume our kids, grands, and great-grands know stories from when they were little.

And we must be deliberate in telling them important stories that happened before they were born, intentional in telling them stories that would have a significant impact on them once they were born.

Remember, your children were not the ones who saw and experienced the Lord your God: His majesty, His greatness, His awesome power. It was not your children who saw what he did for you in your desert wilderness and how He brought you to this place. No, you saw these things with your own eyes (Deuteronomy 11:2-7, paraphrased). 

Therefore…

We will tell the next generation the praise-worthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done … so the next generation would know … even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds, but would keep his commands (Psalm 78:4b, 6-7 NIV). 

We need to tell our children, grandchildren and great-grands who they are, to whom they belong, and how they became who they are and where they are.

What brought you to where you are now?

What brought your kids and grandkids to where they are now?

To whom do they belong?

What events, what stories, belong to your family and shaped who you all are?

You have a great opportunity to carry out a holy work.

Writing your stories is so much more than a hobby, so much more than just telling stories and spinning yarns and reminiscing about the past.

You have stories only you can tell.

You are part of a story much bigger than you. Your story includes earlier generations, and it's your privilege to be sure your kids and grands and great-grands know their part in that story, too.

Writing your stories is a ministry!

Write stories that will be like

"cracking open a space in their self-identity

and pouring in the backstory."

Write stories that tell your family:

"This is your story,

this is who we are."

"It was not your children who saw what he did for you in your desert wilderness…"

Here's your 15 seconds of inspiration,

your Tuesday Tidbit:

Remember, 

your children were not the ones who saw 

and experienced the Lord your God: 

his majesty, his greatness, his awesome power. 

It was not your children who saw 

what he did for you in your desert wilderness 

and how he brought you to this place. 

No, you saw these things with your own eyes. 

Deuteronomy 11:2-7, paraphrased

Therefore…

We will tell the next generation 

the praise-worthy deeds of the Lord, 

his power, and the wonders he has done … 

so the next generation would know … 

even the children yet to be born, 

and they in turn would tell their children. 

Then they would put their trust in God 

and would not forget his deeds, 

but would keep his commands. 

Psalm 78:4b, 6-7 NIV

Let’s tell the next generations, that all will go well with them

Remember, your children were not the ones

who saw and experienced the Lord your God:

His majesty, His greatness, His awesome power.

It was not your children who saw

what he did for you in your desert wilderness

and how He brought you to this place.

No, you saw these things with your own eyes.

Deuteronomy 11:2-7

Therefore…

We’ll tell the next generation

the Lord’s marvelous deeds, His power,

and the wonders He has done,

so the next generation can know, too—

even children not yet born—

and so they in turn will tell their children.

Our purpose, our hope,

is that they’ll put their trust in God

and remember all He has done

and will keep His commands

so that all will go well with them.…

Psalm 78:4b, 6-7; Deuteronomy 12:28

Pray that [God will] fill your good ideas

and acts of faith

with his own energy

so that

it all amounts to something.

2 Thessalonians 1:11, The Message

The clock is ticking. How is your memoir coming along?

“An unfinished manuscript cannot change lives.”

Lee Roddy wrote those words.  He continues:

“Even a finished one cannot minister in a drawer or filing cabinet.

Only in published form

can a book go where you and I will never go,

to people we will never meet.”

(Lee Roddy in the Foreword, Write His Answer, by Marlene Bagnull.)

For over a decade Lee’s words have run through my mind on a regular basis.

Recently they were so noisy and persistent that I got out—not just one but two—unfinished manuscripts. I’d stuck both of them in the drawer—on disks and flash drives. I’ve been working on them the past week and it feels good. It feels like the right thing to do. The task is daunting, but I’m persevering.

So the big question is: How are you doing on writing your memoir?

Do you have a manuscript or two in some drawer or filing cabinet?—maybe on an old floppy disk, an old CD or DVD, an old hard drive, a flash drive?

If so, congratulate yourself on what you have already done.

But don’t be content with that because if you leave your stories hidden and dust-covered, they will do no one any good.

Give yourself permission to start with easy topics.

I’ve seen too many people tackle a traumatic story, only to have their still-raw emotions sidetrack them. Inevitably, discouragement leads them to abandon that story and give up on writing their other stories too.

Don’t let that happen to you! Instead, start with accounts of joyful events, delightful people, and the beauty of God’s creation. Include humorous stories.

Gradually move into stories about your harder experiences—how God helped you find a job, for example, or helped you make an important decision. For now, avoid traumatic stories because they tend to slow down your onward momentum.

Give yourself permission to start small.

The thought of writing an entire book can easily overwhelm. Instead, focus on writing short stories— vignettes—aiming at two to five pages each.

Get started on more than one vignette, and tell yourself they’re rough drafts. Knowing they are rough drafts—merely works in progress, for your eyes only—frees you from thinking you have to write perfect, publishable stuff the first time.

As you receive inspiration, over time, you can revise, edit, and polish. If you keep at it, step by step, before you know it you’ll have written a number of stories and you can compile them into chapters or sections—into some logical arrangement.

Lee says, “Only in published form” can your stories have impact, but don’t let that word “published” intimidate you. “Published” can take many forms, and nowadays publishing is easier than ever before.

Start small: Here’s what I recommend (I’ve done this several times): Create your first edition of your memoir by snapping a collection of vignettes into a three-ring binder or scrapbook.

Make your stories the very best you can through good writing and editing (preferably with help from other writers).

Hand your book to someone to read.

When you do that, you will have succeeded in “publishing” your stories. (You can always publish big-time later if there’s a market for your memoir.)

At that point, paraphrasing Lee: your memoir can change lives.

Your stories can go where you will never go, to people you will never meet.

So here’s the deal: You and I must want to write our stories. We must want to invest in our kids and grandkids.

We must see writing our stories is a ministry, not a hobby!

Our God-and-me  stories are important—not  because you and I are so great, but because God is so great.

In most cases, if you and I don’t write our stories, no one will. They will go to the grave with us because, after all,

Remember … your children were not the ones

who saw and experienced … the Lord,

… his majesty, his mighty hand.…

It was not your children

who saw what he did for you

in the desert until you arrived at this place.…

Deuteronomy 11:2-7 (NIV)

The clock is ticking. We must be intentional about finishing our memoirs.

Focus.

Persevere.

Pray.

Write.

Finish.

Publish.

Evidence: Write about it!

You can't hold in your hands a chunk of God's love.

You can't take a photo of Him, or of His promises, but God does give you evidence of his attributes and activity in your life.

He gives tangible evidence of His love, His power to help, His creation, protection, guidance, forgiveness, His attention to your prayers, and His answers.

“God has blessed his people – just look at the evidence!” (2 Chronicles 31:10b, The Message).

“ … But [God] never left them without evidence of himself and his goodness. For instance, he sends you rain and good crops and gives you food and joyful hearts” (Acts 14:17 NLT).

“There's no end to what has happened in you—it's beyond speech, beyond knowledge. The evidence of Christ has been clearly verified in your lives” (1 Corinthians 1:4, The Message).

“The poor and the homeless are desperate for water.… But I'm there to be found, I'm there for them, and I, God of Israel, will not leave them thirsty. I'll open up rivers for them on the barren hills, spouts of fountains in the valleys. I'll turn the baked-clay badlands into a cool pond.… Everyone will see this. No one can miss it—unavoidable, indisputable evidence that I, God, personally did this...” Isaiah 41:17-20 (The Message).

“You have all this evidence confirmed by your own eyes and ears. Shouldn't you be talking about it...?” (Isaiah 48:6, The Message).

This is important: Remember … that your children were not the ones who saw and experienced … the Lord,… his majesty, his mighty hand…. It was not your children who saw what he did for you in the desert until you arrived at this place… Deuteronomy 11:2-7 (NIV).

Do you grasp what those words mean? They mean you have a story inside that only you can share. You need to write your stories!

Let this be said of you and of me:

“Our children will hear about the wonders of the Lord.

His righteous acts will be told to those yet unborn.

They will hear about everything He has done.”

(Psalm 22:30-31 NLT)