A see-through story

First it was the IF:Gathering asking me, "If God is real, then what?" What could we dream, do, live? What could be possible in our lives? Then a few weeks later the Storyline Conference with "What kind of story are you really living?" Who are you, and what do you really want?

Doesn't it just seem like the story in our hearts doesn't match the one where bills must be paid and jobs worked and children and homes cared for? Doesn't it seem like the story writes us rather than the other way around?

I don't know yet exactly how to match up the story in my heart with the real story I am living. Lately I've been given a lot to think about. I hope to share it here, hash it out with you, figure out what our stories mean.

Today is the beginning of Lent. I never used to do Lent. Didn't even know what it was, really. But over the last couple of years Lent has become very important to me, and this year even more so.

Lent is a deliberate thing. It's a slowing and a stilling, an act of setting oneself apart in some way in order to see Jesus. To enter again into His story, thereby finding ourselves.

One Storyline speaker said, "Make your story translucent so others can see themselves through it."

Isn't that what Jesus did, wading into our muck and entering into the mess with us, living a see-through life that pointed directly to God?

We keep trudging along with our eyes to the ground, just trying to survive and keep our stories going forward. We forget that our stories are not our own. We forget that Jesus, He IS the story, and He's made us a part of it, and when we live His story with Him, it fills with meaning. And the more transparent our stories are, the more they invite others to tell their stories too.

Your story matters. Do you know what it is? What will the world miss if you don't tell it? During this season of Lent, why not enter into His story more fully and deeply? Who knows, in living His story, you might just find your own.