When did you do it trembling and afraid?

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face,” said Eleanor Roosevelt. “... You must do the thing which you think you cannot do.”

For years, Eleanor’s words have bolstered me. They changed my life because I acted on them. When faced with doing a few somethings that scared me, I carried them out even while I was still frightened.

Emmet Fox says it this way: “Do it trembling if you must, but do it.”

What about you? Think back: When did you stare down fear and do that thing you thought you could not do?

And then, climb up to the next step. What can your kids, grandkids, and other readers learn from you about taking a wild-eyed, white-knuckled leap of faith?

Dread can hinder potential and keep people from living a full life. What stories can you write about staring down cowardice, worry, and anxiety?

What stories can you write about refusing to let fear cripple you? Paralyze you?

Read the quotes below, s l o w l y. What stories do they revive? Take as much time as you need to rediscover them. They might be experiences you forgot years ago.

“I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” (Nelson Mandela)

“The jump is so frightening between where I am and where I want to be… because of all I may become I will close my eyes and leap!” Mary Anne Radmacher, Live with Intention

“True faith, by a mighty effort of the will, fixes its gaze on our Divine Helper, and there finds it possible and wise to lose its fears. It is madness to say, ‘I will not be afraid’; it is wisdom and peace to say, ‘I will trust and not be afraid.’” Alexander Maclaren (1826-1910)

“Courage is fear that has said its prayers.” Karl Barth  

“…Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand” (Isaiah 41:10, NIV).

“Be strong and courageous. Do not fear. Do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will go with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

“God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

What courageous act have you carried out? Maybe only you know that story. Or perhaps others watched. What did you experience while overcoming your fright? Did it help you choose bravery in the future? Did it help you mature? Did it open up new opportunities, jobs, or relationships for you?

On the other hand, maybe you recall a time when you let fear get the better of you, a time when you chose not to take a leap of faith. How did that impact your future?

What Bible verses pertain to your story?

How did God help you deal with your anxiety? As a result, how did your relationship with Him change?

Turn your experiences into life lessons 

for kids, grandkids, future generations, 

and all your readers.

Be intentional about writing your stories.

Think about those who will read your memoir—

your offspring, nieces and nephews, 

great-grandkids, friends, colleagues, and even strangers.  

They all will face times that scare them. 

Their courage and faith will wobble. 

And your story could serve as a lifeline 

and make all the difference in the outcome.

Your stories about choosing courage

“What we need are people with chests,” said C.S. Lewis. In other words, we need people with fortitude, pluck, mettle, guts, gumption, courage.

And the Bible tells us—as do our parents and teachers and coaches and pastors and heroes—that we must be courageous.

“We need people with guts,” writes Chuck Swindoll, “who will say, ‘I will stand for this, and if I must die for it, then I die,’” (referring to “If I perish, I perish” in Esther 4:16).

And yet, “No one is born courageous,” Swindoll says. Have you ever thought about that?

So how do we learn to be courageous? One way is to watch someone who has chosen to be brave.

And we parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents can teach younger generations to be courageous by modeling how to be brave.  By telling them stories—our own or those of others—about choosing courage.

You know where I’m going with this: What stories about courage can you include in your memoir?

• Who modeled for you how to look fear in the face? Stare it down?
• Who showed you what it’s like to defy fear?
• When did you stand up against what scared you?
• How did you overcome cowardice?

The quotes below will inspire you to write about courage—experiences you and others have had, stories to teach and strengthen your readers when they need to be brave.

“Do it trembling if you must, but do it.” Emmet Fox

“If there is ever a tomorrow when we’re not together…there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we’re apart… I’ll always be with you.” A. A. Milne

“Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak. Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.” Winston Churchill

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill.

“Our heart, which is the center of our being, is the seat of courage…. Courage often starts in small corners: it is courageous not to participate in gossip, not to talk behind someone’s back, not to ridicule another. It is courageous to think well of other people and be grateful to them even when we live different lives than they do.” Henri Nouwen, Sabbatical Journey: The Diary of His Final Year

“Fear is a genuine thing; without it there is no courage. The courageous man is the one who overcomes fear.” Oswald Chambers, He Shall Glorify Me

“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what. You rarely win, but sometimes you do.” Harper Lee’s character, Atticus Finch, in To Kill a Mockingbird.

“Courage is being scared to death…and saddling up anyway.” John Wayne

“…Bravery is not an act—not a moment—it’s a lifestyle. It’s an attitude. It’s a steady, long pursuit. It’s a posture by which we live.” Danielle Strickland, A Long Posture of Bravery (as originally published in She Loves Magazine)

“…Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

The Bible has many other verses urging us not to be afraid, to instead be courageous—and how. Be sure to use those in your vignettes, too.

So there you have it: 

Write your stories about 

courage, fortitude, pluck, 

mettle, guts, and gumption. 

God can use those stories 

to encourage and strengthen others.

And when you get those stories in writing, 

let us know here at SM 101 

by leaving a comment below 

or on the Facebook Page, 

or by sending a private message.

“The unmistakable mark of divine contrivance”

“Event after event has the unmistakable mark of divine contrivance,” writes Lawrence Kushner. Divine contrivance! He writes about recognizing “it is all the doing of the Holy One.” (Eyes Remade for Wonder).

Kushner was writing about what was true in Biblical times, yet it’s still true in our times—but we often overlook the ways God is with us in our everyday comings and goings.

Too frequently we fail to recognize He’s busily at work—that He has the big picture in mind and is taking steps to make important things (often disguised as small details or coincidences) fall into place.

Memoirists need to catch glimpses of God at work. We need to notice His loving care and help in our tragedies and failures and heartaches—our huge defining moments (or months, or years)—but also in our day-to-day activities and relationships and opportunities.

And so, today I hope and pray the words below will stir up story ideas for your memoir—that they will lead you to think deeply and discover “divine contrivances” and “doings of the Holy One.”

Before you read these words I have compiled for you:

• get out a pencil and paper (or sit down in front of your computer),
• read the first quote slowly,
• ask yourself what experience (yours or someone else’s) it reminds you of,
• and jot down a few notes.
• Read the rest of the quotes, doing the same exercise listed above,
• then use your notes to craft stories for your memoir.

Okay, let’s get started with the quotes: 

“God has made everything beautiful in its time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

“When I looked back at the years of struggle, I realized they all took part in the beautiful pattern that became my miracle and it would not have been possible without the struggle.” (Lene Fogelberg)

“The flower that blooms in adversity is the rarest and most beautiful of all.” Walt Disney

“Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving.” (Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking)

“We are all brave men and we are all afraid, and what the world calls a brave man, he too is brave and afraid like all the rest of us. Only he is brave for five minutes longer.” (Alistair MacLean)

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10, NLT).

“Do it trembling if you must, but do it!” (Emmet Fox)

“We are all travelers in what John Bunyan calls the wilderness of this world… and the best that we can find in our travels is an honest friend. He is a fortunate voyager who finds many.” (Robert Lewis Stevenson)

“It’s one thing to go through a crisis grandly, yet quite another to go through every day glorifying God when there is no witness, no limelight, and no one paying even the remotest attention to us. To do even the most humbling tasks to the glory of God takes the Almighty God Incarnate working in us. The true test of a saint’s life is not successfulness but faithfulness on the human level of life.” (Oswald Chambers)

“God is already working on Plan B even as Plan A lies in shambles around your feet.” (John Claypool)

“It’s one thing to say God is a way-maker. It’s another thing to see Him make a way.” (Tony Evans)

“'Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?' declares the Lord” (Jeremiah 23:24a).

“Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.” Mary Oliver

God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6 and Hebrews 13:5).

“What we need is a hope that’s more than wishful thinking or blind expectation that everything will work out smoothly. We need a hope that is vibrant in pain, consistent in grief, indefatigable when people break our hearts, unassailable in disappointment, and unflagging in life’s pressure…. True hope… does not come from searching for hope. It grows out of two basic convictions: that God is in charge and that He intervenes.”(Lloyd John Ogilvie, God’s Best for My Life)

“You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life or death to you.” (C. S. Lewis, A Grief Observed) 

“…Our Lord never wastes times of testing. The pain and struggles and confusion connected with my circumstances only seemed futile and unfair.” (Charles R. Swindoll, Come Before Winter and Share My Hope) 

“Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12).

Notice God

doing major things

during momentous, life-changing events,

but also search to discover

God doing major things

in what you thought were everyday,

even trivial,

activities.

“Father…You met me

at every fork of the road

with clear guidance

and fresh grace.

I beheld Your glory.”

(Lloyd John Ogilvie, Quiet Moments with God;

emphasis mine)

Your stories are important. Your memoir can be a life-giving handbook.

It can offer readers:

hard-earned wisdom, 

hope, 

guidance, 

courage, 

joy, 

a hand up, 

a warning, 

a smile, 

a good cry, 

a more meaningful life, 

a solution to a problem, 

help in making a decision, 

faith in God, 

determination to keep a promise, 

and so much more.