Story within a Story

The other day I picked up Donald Miller's A Thousand Miles In A Million Years.
This was my first book by him and I wanted to share some thoughts.

One part that struck me was this idea of "living out our story" and "what story are we writing for our lives". He gave a great example of a Dad who was disheartened with his daughter's choice of boyfriend and the pot he found in her room. He didn't know what to do. Then this idea that came that he needed to help "re-write his daughter's story" for her to live out. He found a project in Mexico where some people were needing $25, 000 to build an orphanage. Even though he couldn't personally afford to finance it, he committed his family to this project and raising funds for these kids. At first his wife and daughter thought he was crazy, but after a few days had a change of heart. His daughter wanted to take a trip to Mexico as a family to meet the orphans and take pictures so that she could make a website and generate funds. They did. This was the turning point for his family. The daughter became a "hero" and found a self worth she didn't realize she had before. So this boyfriend no longer fit in her " life script" and he was gone, along with the negative influences he brought her. This family realized they had a story to play within God's BIGGER story of life around them.

Chris and I had a "Fake Valentines Day" dinner date on Monday and we talked about this idea of life story and BIGGER story. We then spent some time just imagining scenes we want to see for our scipt this year. IF we were going to create scenes for a movie, what would we like to see in 2010 documentary on our lives? It generated some good imagination and discussion. I like it when books do that. I plan to read some more Donald Miller just for that reason.