1 Wish!

This is a spoken word piece that is actually on Prison of Stained Glass

Stranger Than Fiction (2 of 2)

Part 1

I've always known that God is the Author of my story; the Author and the Finisher. Now I want Him to be everything in between as well. But as I give every single detail over to Him I'm reminded just how important our individual stories are.

The other night I was at a Bible Study with a couple of my friends. Actually it was just three of us and we were breaking down Ephesians chapter 4. Great and timely discussion that stirred so much inside of me. My buddy Noe read a passage from the book Crazy Love that I don't think I'll forget for a while. In fact, I'm thinking about purchasing a copy of the book even though I don't have a whole lot of free time to read it. I was reminded of the magnitude of God and how minuscule I am in comparison. Also the magnitude of eternity and how minuscule my life span is in comparison. It makes all my fighting, complaining, selfishness, pride, and envy seem stupid.

The reality is that my story, your story, our stories, are all a part of an even bigger story. Each individual story is like a paragraph on the page of a book that has millions of pages. Think Adam & Eve, Abraham, Moses, Joseph, Rahab, Elijah, Daniel, Hosea, Mary, Peter, John, Paul, Barnabas, etc. And then think of Joan of Arc, Constantine, Napolean, Shakespeare, Martin Luther, John Calvin, Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, George Washington, Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth, Mahatma Ghandi, Adolf Hitler, Dr King, Mother Theresa, etc. Trillions more have walked on the face of this planet and they all have their stories. And imagine all these stories are all in the same book.

God is not only the author of the book; He is also the subject. The book is about Him. Every story, including mine and yours, points back to Him. Every detail; your career, public service, ministry, and yes even your romance is written for the ultimate purpose to bring Glory to our God.

God pays so much attention to us; sometimes He makes us feel like we are the only ones on this planet that matter. His love for us is so strong and extravagant that it doesnt seem possible for Him to love everybody else the same way. But He does. While you're trying to get God to make our lives the greatest story ever told, remember the story isnt even about you. Nor is it about me. It's beyond us. Beyond our time. Beyond time, period. He exists beyond the limits of time. The big story, the big picture, is about Him. The Creator of this universe. Remember that.

Stranger than Fiction (part 1 of 2)

Labor Day 2009.
A day spent grading assignments at home left me with an evening wanting to do something adventurous. So I found myself walking around Borders bookstore with my iPod in my ear browsing the Religious section and at the same time doing a lot of thinking. Thinking about my life - past, present, and future - reminded me of the movie Stranger Than Fiction. Its been over a year since I watched it so I might be a little off on the details but travel with my thoughts for a minute.



The movie stars Will Ferrell and Dustin Hoffman among others. Ferrell's character finds out that his life is actually a book being written by some author battling writer's block. He starts hearing a voice (the author's) narrating his daily activities and thinks he's losing his mind. The author has no clue she's actually writing the true story of a man but everything she rights about him comes to pass. His once boring life became a world of interest when he falls in love with a woman. You can imagine his hurt when he finds out the author is going to kill his character (him) before the book ends. He somehow finds out where the author works and shows up at her office trying to change her mind.

Now let's imagine our lives as books or stories in a book. If you could get the author to change anything what would you change? What (or who) would you remove from or add into your life? Ever feel like whoever was doing the writing was going through writer's block? I was thinking about this when I saw a book at Borders. A line on the cover of the book said something that got my attention. It said "...letting God write your romance...". Now there's many ways I would like the romance in my life to read. I remember the night I watched the movie; I was experiencing the end of a relationship I really didn't want to end. Gosh, I wished I could have run into an office building and begged my author to rewrite my story so that this person wouldn't leave. I had said and done all the right things that I knew how to. How could she leave after I gave hear my heart. She had me doing stuff for her I had never done for anybody else (and probably will never do for anybody now). But I still couldn't make her stay. I tried to write out my story but couldn't get it to end the way I wanted.

Truth is we all want to write our story. We want to be at the author's typewriter and punch at the keys that tell our story. Our success story. Our career story. Our family story. Our romance story. It's really hard to be still and live out the life someone else is writing. But the most beautiful romance is the one written by the Author of life Himself. His plan for your life story is so much more beautiful than any "boy meets girl" story you can imagine. Better than any "rags to riches" tale you can come up with in your head. You may not see it now but just wait till He's done with it. Oh how He wants to inspire many with your life story. He knows exactly how. After all, He's been doing it for a while. Since the beginning of time to be exact. He knows why he/she walked out of your life. He knows why you are where you are right now; doing what you're doing. It's all part of the wonderful beautiful story He's writing. And only He knows how it ends.

Every time I try to "make things happen", it doesn't. Or it does for a minute but then ends in a disaster. So I'm done fighting Him. I'm done trying to re-write or finish my story. I'm done trying to figure out why, or when, or how. My romance. My career. My legacy. My life. I want it all to rest like playdoh in His Hands. Like a still blank page. And let Him write away.

"God, You started this story. And I'm going to let You finish it. "

In case you are wondering, Will Ferrell's character in the movie doesn't die at the end of the book after all. The author wrote him getting into a really bad accident but he recovered and lived happily ever after (whatever that means) with the love of his life.

(part 2 coming later this week)

Strange Land

I was talking to a friend of mine, who happens to be Mexican-American, the other day and she shared with me some of the struggles she had growing up. She was raised in the U.S. but never totally felt American. She was always reminded that she didnt totally fit in no matter how much she tried. She did all she knew to do to look American, talk American, act American, be American. But she couldnt shake the Mexican in her and never quite felt 'American' enough. She just couldnt fit in.

Originating from a foreign culture myself, I definitely can relate. I went through my years of identity crisis. Every now and then I'm reminded I'm still a foreigner; I dont quite fit in. I feel the same with music. It's like the music i'm totally feeling is despised by the majority. The songs I feel should be hits are slept on while the radio plays tunes that hurt my ears. It's like nobody hears what I hear. I just can't fit in.

My beliefs in Jesus Christ make me even more foreign. I don't have to say or do much different to be treated differently or rejected because of my beliefs. Sometimes its the stereotypes and generalizations about us Believers that leave us left out. Rejected. It's like nobody sees what I see. I just can't fit in. Don't get me wrong, I'm not ashamed of my past (my heritage) and defintely not ashamed of my future (my Faith) but my present sure does feel strange

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