What is your story?

Faith & Inspiration

By Charles Towne

It is highly unlikely that you will ever know what it is like to sky dive unless you strap on a parachute and step out of a perfectly good plane several thousand feet in the air. Only then will you be able to describe that initial sense of terror, and tell of the question you were screaming to yourself of what in the name of all that is holy are you doing, or be able to experience what the wind feels like in your face, or how it sounds as it whistles in your ears, or the sense of weightlessness as you plummet toward earth. Only then will you be able to describe the sheer and absolute panic of those first few moments of free fall. And then the exhilaration and joy when you are standing on earth again, realizing that you are still alive and not a grease spot! Only after you've actually jumped out of the plane will you be able to reckon with the insane rush of wanting to do it all over again!

This is story!

Yes! This is story!

And, whether you know it or not, let me tell you, you do have a story!

So many don’t believe they have a story, or if they do, they believe it is a story that others wouldn’t be interested in. But that's not true - they do have a story to tell. Oh my goodness, yes they do! And you do... and I do... we all have a story, and our stories are worth telling.

Life is full of "story".

My life has been full of stories, and I am sure yours has as well. And if for some reason, in looking back you're not seeing any, then it is high time you started living!

Perhaps sky diving isn’t your thing. So let's go swimming with sharks, or chasing tornado’s or... something!

My mother’s life was filled with “story”. Take her 79 year-long marriage to my father. 79 years is a long time! Nearly eight decades, over three quarters of a century; plenty of time for joy and sadness, laughter and tears, happiness and grief, birthings and deaths. And in her 95 years of living, she saw it all. Dad was 19 and mama was 16 when they were married, so yeah, plenty of time for “story”. Plenty of time.

Seven babies; two died very young. A lot of story.

Dad homesteaded two islands on the Fox River in Illinois, and they lived there for many years until relocating to Wisconsin much later.

Stories? I should say so. Many stories.

Mama didn’t call them stories, though. Huh uh. She always referred to her life experiences as “happenings”. And boy, did she have happenings.

Now, my question to you is this: What sort of “happenings” have you lived? Enjoyed? Regretted? Laughed and cried about, or would like to have a do over?

My advice to you is get interested in life. I mean, real living! Yes! Get interested in life! Get interested in people, and things, and causes, and dreams, aspirations, hopes, wishes and whatever else crumbles your cookie.

Live! Don’t just exist. Live! Only then does it matter. Otherwise, all you are doing is sucking air, and that isn’t living.

There are experiences waiting to be lived that are unique to you, for you, because there is only one you.

Only a woman can experience child birth, and even that, I am sure, is different in each and every case.

When mama gave birth to my brother, Steve, she was home alone, standing at the sink washing dishes, when her water broke. She said that she waddled in to the bedroom, laid down on the bed, and her little Apple Blossom, (that’s what she called him when he was little), just popped out like a watermelon seed, it was that easy. Then, overflowing with joy, she cleaned the baby boy up, and when papa came home from work, not only was supper waiting, but he had another son waiting too!

That, my friend, is story.

What is your story? How have you lived? What brings you joy... or heartache... in remembering? Those moments are story. And more life - and story - are waiting to be experienced deeply, fully, right here, right now.

So go, live your moments, and write a little more of your story with every breath, and laugh, and tear, and moment lived, more fully than ever before.

YOUR PRAYER AND YOUR STORY

Dear Papa God, show me life, and show it to me more abundantly. Let me live my dreams, and realize life as if there is no tomorrow. Let me suck the marrow out of the bones of life, touch the untouchable, see the un-seeable, hear the laughter and joy of angels, and hear your voice saying, “WELL DONE MY GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT!" As one of your kids. let me live my life to the umth degree of joy so that others will crave what I have and pursue it too; not because I am deserving, but because You are eternally loving! In Jesus' wonderful name I ask it, Amen

Charles Towne is first and foremost a Christian. An octogenarian, author, journalist, wildlife photographer, naturalist, caregiver, and survivor, his life has been and continues to be, a never-ending adventure filled with possibilities never imagined. He has adopted the philosophy that to Live fully, laugh uproariously, love passionately, and learn like there is no tomorrow, is a formula for a long and joy-filled life.