Your memoir can have an outcome beyond your imagination

 

If you suspect your story isn’t worth sharing with others, this post is for you.

 

If you don’t recognize the influence your memoir can have, this post is for you.

 

If you can’t imagine how God can use your story, this post is for you.

 

Priscilla Shirer’s Bible study, Jonah, caught my attention in relation to memoirs.

 

She is certain that

in the same way other people’s stories

have encouraged and guided you

along life’s ways,

your story will do the same for others.

 

She asks us to think back to the Bible’s characters, pointing out that they

 

“may not have realized the privilege

and certainly didn’t know the eternal impact

they would make.”

 

Does that sound like your thinking, too?

 

“How could they have known

that their names would go down in God’s Word

to encourage us millennia later?”

 

Take to heart what Priscilla says here—take this personally:

 

“Like those holy heroes, you’ve got an outcome you can’t make out. . . .” and:

 

“The fog of your life’s journey will clog your spiritual sight. . . .”

 

(Let me interrupt Priscilla here. That fog she refers to—that’s a holy fog. It keeps us from navel-gazing and pride. By God’s grace, He dims our self-absorbed vision in a blessed fog.)

 

Okay, back to Priscilla and this important point of today’s blog post:

 

“In future generations, your story will be the one that encourages someone else to follow hard after God.”

 

Read that again and believe it:

 

“In future generations,

your story will be the one

that encourages someone else

to follow hard after God.”

 

Priscilla’s insights give ideas for those who write memoir:

 

First, which Bible characters have impacted your life? Abraham? Joseph? Moses? Ruth? David? Esther? Peter?

 

What about other people—just ordinary people not in the Bible: a historical figure, a grandparent, a best friend, a spouse, a professor, a colleague, a coach. . . . The list could go on and on.

 

• How did they point you to God? What did they tell you about His love for you, about His grace and mercy?
• What did they say that helped define your life’s choices and values?
• What did they do that influenced your life’s direction?

 

Craft vignettes illustrating why and how those people inspired you, guided you, and shaped you into the person you are today.

 

But don’t stop there. Don’t keep those stories to yourself. Look to the future. Pass on your stories—the blessings contained in them. Share your memoir with others, especially family members.

 

Always believe that in God’s hands, your stories are important.

 

Savor these rich words by Andrea Sanborn:

 

“In this autumn of my life, I have had to let go of the expectation that my physical body may one day may return to its youthful state. The added weight and wrinkles match my graying hair to render me on the downside of life’s trajectory.

 

“Now, like the falling leaves filling the woods around me, I hope to nourish others with the life given me; with the wisdom gained through the flourishing, green years now past.

 

“I think of the ones who sheltered and nurtured my seedling faith: the pastors and teachers, authors and leaders. I contemplate the ones who welcomed me, encouraged me, and prayed for me. The ones who parted the curtain into eternity before my hungry eyes.

 

“Now it is mine to pass on the glimpses of glory that I have witnessed to the sapling souls around me.”

 

I hope you enjoyed Andrea’s words as much as I did.

 

Let me ask: Do you see your writing as a privilege? As a calling from God? Do you believe your memoir can have an eternal impact on others? How can future generations benefit from knowing your stories?

 

Always remember:

 

God can use your experiences,

joyful and sad, good and bad,

lovely and ugly,

funny and scary,

and He can use your words about them.

 

Together with God, your stories

can help readers cling to hope,

remain strong in their faith,

live in harmony in His ways,

and to delight in His love

now and forever.

 

When you realize God can use your memoir

in people’s lives,

your writing takes on

an altogether new meaning

and urgency.

 

Write your stories.

What do you need to remember?

Upside down.

Inside out.

I had turned my heart and my dreams upside down and inside out in order to say “yes” to God and move to Africa, far from my kids—and from future grandchildren I was sure would join our family soon.

Originally I had strongly resisted the move but over time, God helped me believe His dreams for me were better than my dreams, so my husband Dave and I set out for Africa—I was willing to go even though my heart felt shredded.

After only four months on African soil, I’d fallen in love with the place and her people, and Dave and I eagerly embraced our new ministries.

And then it happened.

We received word our first grandchild was on the way. The news ripped open my recently-healed wound and broke my heart: I didn’t want to miss out on knowing and enjoying my grandchild!

Suddenly I doubted, I questioned: Why, God, did You have to send me so far from home?

But then I remembered.

With a leaden, hammering heart, I took a deep breath and remembered:

I had given God many months to clarify whether He wanted us to move to Africa, and He said “yes.”  Only “yes.”

And I remembered:

On our way to Africa, we had spent a few days in England in an old World War II barracks. A poster in our dorm room displayed Psalm 126:5-6, “Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping…will return with songs of joy.”

I pondered those words at length because I didn’t know what they meant for me specifically, but I did understand about tears—I had shed so on my way to Africa because I couldn’t see our kids, and now our new grandbaby, for four long years.

But what about tears turning to joy? Could I believe it? Would I believe it? Would I believe that God could turn my tears into joy?

I thought about it for a couple of days and then, there in our dark little barracks room in England, I stood before that poster and told God I’d give Him time to show me songs of joy in Africa. (from Grandma’s Letters from Africa, Chapter 3)

Four months later in Nairobi, with news of my first grandbaby, I did what Priscilla Shirer said: I raised my hands in surrender to my God, trusting Him for His best outcome for my life and that of my kids and grandkids.

I lifted my heart to God and recommitted myself to living where He placed me and to the role He had for me in Africa as well as in His larger agenda.

I told God, yet again, that I’d give Him time to turn my tears to joy.

Some of you have had heartaches—all because you said “yes” to God and His purposes. Initially you had set out with conviction and enthusiasm, but then something happened and turned your world upside down, and maybe you questioned God and doubted your decision to go where He pointed you.

What do you need to remember today?

Think back on your conversations with God—and write about them.

Remember how He confirmed His direction for your life—and write about it.

Remember what you committed to Him, and remember the Bible verses that inspired you to make that commitment—and write about all that.

Remember your joy in setting out—and write about it.

Remember all the ways God walked hand in hand with you when you stumbled through rough spots, through dread-filled times, through your anguish—and write about it.

Remember raising your hands in surrender to God, trusting Him for His best outcome for your life—and write about it.

And remember the ways He brought you to a new and good place—and write about all of that.

And take joy in your writing!

Tuesday Tidbit

Here's your 15 seconds of inspiration

for this week's Tuesday Tidbit:

Writing your memoir for your kids and grandkids

and great-grandkids

might remain in "less noticeable spheres"

but know this:

Writing your memoir for them is a holy calling.

Devote your best gifts there.

Memoirists want to be noticed, right?

Let’s be honest: Memoirists want recognition for not only our struggles and victories, but also for the effort we put into writing and publishing our stories.

Memoirists dream of book signings, TV interviews, newspaper reviews, blog tours, and speaking engagements. We seek affirmation, admiration, and applause.

But if we are serious God-followers, is public acclaim our primary goal?

In her Bible study, Gideon, Priscilla Shirer helps clarify the answer for anyone called to a “spotlight” ministry—not to just writing, but also to music, drama, leading Bible study, teaching, preaching, blogging, speaking, and so many others.

Abraham, the founding father of the Jewish faith and nation, led God’s people to the promised land. He inspires us still today as the father of all who believe and live by faith (Romans 4:11-12, 16; Galatians 3:7, 9, 29).

God promised Abraham descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, as countless as the sand on the seashore (Genesis 13:14-17; 22:17-18). God also promised that all nations on earth would be blessed through Abraham (Genesis 18:18).

Simply put, Abraham was a giant among the heroes of faith.

Priscilla points out that before Abraham would see God’s promises fulfilled, before he would become a celebrity in the realms of faith and obedience and leadership, he had to concentrate on something not so much in the spotlight.    

God said He had chosen Abraham to teach his children, family, and household to obey Him, to live the way God desired, to live in ways that are right and fair. “Then,” God said, “then I, the Lord, will do for Abraham what I have promised him” (Genesis 18:19, NIRV; emphasis mine).

In other words, God told Abraham to focus on his own children and household prior to getting involved in the world-changing stuff recorded in history.

Gideon had a similar experience. God told him to save Israel from the seven years of severe oppression they’d endured from the Midianites. God said, “Go! I’m sending you, and I’ll be with you” (Judges 6:14-16).

Gideon probably envisioned himself setting out to save a prominent nation. Maybe he dreamed of getting his name recorded in history books. After all, God called him a “mighty warrior” (Judges 6:12). Instead, God told him to start at home.

God told Gideon, like He told Abraham, to focus on his family before getting involved in the world-changing stuff recorded in history. (See Judges 6:25.)

Similarly, Priscilla challenges us to focus on people closest to us and to listen for what God is asking us to do with and for them.

“Choosing to do our primary work in the smaller, less noticeable spheres and devote our best gifts there is often a foreign thought to us,” writes Priscilla.

Our “innermost circles are often the ones that offer the least amount of recognition,” she says. “This is why so many people try to circumvent them.” (Gideon; emphasis mine) 

Ouch. Priscilla nailed it, didn’t she?

She continues, “God had strategically set Gideon in this family, in this tribe, and in this valley for a reason. He fully intended to call and equip Gideon to affect his closest relationships before moving on to something and someone else.”

Isn’t that an affirmation of what Spiritual Memoirs 101 is all about?

“Always remember what you’ve seen God do for you,

and be sure to tell your children and grandchildren!”

Deuteronomy 4:9

My God and King,

… Let each generation tell its children

of your mighty acts;

let them proclaim your power.

Psalm 145:1, 4 (NLT)

Love the Lord your God with all your heart

and with all your soul and with all your strength.

These commands I give you today are to be upon your hearts.

Impress them upon your children.

Talk about them when you sit at home

and when you walk along the road,

when you lie down and when you get up.

Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them to your foreheads.

Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Deuteronomy 6:5-9 (NIV)

God might indeed call you to a prominent ministry in which you’re acclaimed for your memoir.

God might call you to book signings, TV interviews, newspaper reviews, blog tours, and speaking engagements.

Perhaps God is calling you to that larger ministry in the same way He called Abraham and Gideon: to start with those closest to you, to nurture them toward becoming people after God’s own heart.

Priscilla’s charge caught my attention. I need to make changes. I want to cut back on activities (like Facebook) that distract me from what really matters—in this case, compiling God-and-me stories for my kids and grandkids.

From two professional circles I’ve been urged to get involved in Pinterest, but now I wonder if that, too, wouldn’t distract me from focusing on those closest to me. I’m praying for God to lead me.

What about you? 

God has strategically placed you in your family, in your tribe, and in your "valley" for a reason.

Have you pinpointed your most important audience and activities? What changes do you need to make so you can focus on what really matters?

Your memoir can have an outcome beyond your expectations

The Bible’s characters “may not have realized the privilege and certainly didn’t know the eternal impact they would make,” writes Priscilla Shirer in her Bible study, Jonah.

“How could they have known that their names would go down in God’s Word to encourage us millennia later?”

Realize the truth of what Priscilla says here:

“Like those holy heroes, you’ve got an outcome you can’t make out.…” and:

“The fog of your life’s journey will clog your spiritual sight.…”

(Let me interrupt Priscilla here. That fog she refers to—that’s a holy fog. It keeps us from navel-gazing and pride. By God’s grace, He dims our self-absorbed vision in a blessed fog!)

OK, back to Priscilla and this important point of today’s blog post:

“In future generations, your story will be the one that encourages someone else to follow hard after God.”

Read that again and believe it:

“In future generations,

your story will be the one

that encourages someone else

to follow hard after God.”

Priscilla’s insights here suggest two ideas for your memoir:

First, which Bible characters have impacted your life? Abraham? Moses? Ruth? Joseph? David? Esther? Peter?

What did they say that helped define your life’s choices?

What did they do that changed your life’s direction?

Include vignettes in your memoir illustrating why and how those Biblical characters have inspired you, influenced you, and shaped you into the person you are today.

Then do an about face. God has used other people’s stories to encourage you, teach you, admonish, and inspire, and now it’s your turn to pass on the blessings: Turn from the past and look toward the future.

Your stories are important.

“I’ve seen it happen.… A lost human being

feels like they’re the only one

who has ever felt this much pain.

They don’t know how to reach out for help

but then, inside of a story …

they see every emotion or secret

or hope-for happy ending

that they’ve ever kept bottled up inside, acted out,

and they start to believe—maybe there’s more.…”

(Martha Carr, Just Keep Writing)

Do you see your writing as a privilege?

Do you realize the impact your memoir can make?

“Have you ever considered,” Priscilla asks, “that just as the previous stories encourage us along the way, yours will encourage someone else?”

God can use your words to help readers experience God’s grace, cling to hope, remain strong in their faith, and delight in God’s love.

Write your stories!