‘Storytelling’ With God

I’ve always been a storyteller.

It is literally in the job description at this point.

But I’ve realised there is a difference between telling people what happened and actually understanding the story.

Because when something first happens, you usually tell it from the emotion you’re currently sitting in.

If you’re angry, everyone is the villain.

If you’re disappointed, the whole experience was a waste of time.

If you’re excited, you might skip over every difficult part and make the journey sound easier than it really was.

Time changes the story.

Reflection changes it even more.

Sometimes you need to move away from a moment before you can understand what it was trying to teach you.

That is one of the reasons I wanted to write every day before my birthday.

I thought I was just documenting the final month of being 28.

A few thoughts.

A few Bible verses.

A little personal diary moment with you guys.

Cute.

But writing has forced me to pay attention.

And I think we move through life without paying attention more than we realise.

Something happens.

We react.

We complain.

We pray.

We move on.

Then the next thing happens.

But when you sit down to write, you have to return to the moment.

You have to ask yourself what actually happened.

Why did that hurt me?

Why did I react like that?

Why am I still thinking about it?

What was God trying to show me?

And sometimes the first answer isn’t the real answer.

You have to keep writing until you stop trying to sound wise and finally tell the truth.

Eish.

I’ve written some of these blogs while feeling clear.

Others were written while I was tired, emotional, confused or honestly just trying to make sure I didn’t abandon the challenge.

But even that tells a story.

Not every chapter of your life will feel profound while you’re living it.

Some days are just days.

Some lessons arrive quietly.

Some things only make sense when you see them sitting next to everything else.

This series has reminded me that you can experience the same moment in two different ways.

You can experience something while it is happening.

Then experience it again when you finally understand it.

That second experience can change everything.

A rejection can look different when you see where it redirected you.

A friendship ending can look different when you recognise what it taught you about yourself.

A season of waiting can look different when the thing you were waiting for finally arrives.

Even your own mistakes look different when you stop using them as evidence that you are failing and start treating them as information.

That is the art of reflection.

You stop asking, “Why did this happen to me?”

And start asking, “What does this reveal?”

About me.

About other people.

About what I value.

About what I need to change.

About where God was present, even when I couldn’t recognise Him at the time.

I also think storytelling requires honesty about what you leave out.

Because every story is edited.

We choose what people see.

We choose the beginning.

We choose the ending.

We choose which parts are funny, which parts are painful and which parts we are still not ready to speak about.

That doesn’t always mean we’re lying.

Sometimes we’re still learning the language for what happened.

Sometimes a story isn’t finished.

Sometimes God is still writing the part we are trying to explain.

And maybe wisdom is knowing when to speak and when to sit with something for a little longer.

I’m approaching the end of this challenge now.

Thirty blogs sounded very cute when I first announced it btw.

The reality was slightly different lmaooooooo.

But I’m grateful I did it.

Because I now have a record of who I was becoming.

Not just what I achieved.

Not just where I went.

Not just what looked good online.

I have a record of the questions.

The doubt.

The growth.

The tiny realisations that could have easily disappeared if I hadn’t stopped to write them down.

And when I look back at the full series, I can see connections I couldn’t see while I was living each day separately.

Maybe that is what a good story does.

It takes moments that felt random and shows you the thread between them.

It reminds you that your life is bigger than the chapter you are currently struggling through.

It allows you to look again.

And sometimes looking again is enough to change the whole story.