Last semester in CGA, I was in Story Track. I didn’t really know what I was going to write about going into the semester. We were given some guidelines on what the topic should be about.
After some time thinking and pondering over what my topic should be, I made a decision. And I was excited about it! I was going to write about overcoming some of the deep-seated issues I had lived with most of my life, and how I had overcome them. It was going to be a victorious story!
As we got into the writing, my favorite parts to write about were the small steps I had taken to overcome my issues. Yet I was told time and time again that these were great, and some of them are good to include. But that’s not really what your audience wants to read. They want to read about the difficult stuff, the deep stuff – that’s where they’ll connect and want to turn the page.
There’s a reason those things are so difficult. It is hard to think about them, none the less write about them, especially when you feel like you have already moved past them. It doesn’t feel victorious. In fact, it feels the opposite of that. I felt myself being dragged back into my old tendencies. But at the same time, I was fighting to be the person I had become, the one the Lord had created me to be (and I had finally accepted).
No one wants to revisit the times in their lives that made them feel heartbroken, unwanted, with no direction in life. You want to talk about and celebrate the victories, much like I did.
However, it is important to write your story out. Yes, you!
You have a story, and it is important. It will touch another’s life in a way you may not even be able to imagine. But more importantly, it will bring more clarity to things in your life you might not have understood before. And it will bring a new layer of healing to those difficult and deep things you experienced in your life. It doesn’t mean everything will be perfect. You will find places that you have truly overcome, and learn where there is still room to grow. And there is always room to grow, to learn where the Lord has been with you in the past, and where He is calling you now.
For some, writing out your story may lead to publishing a book. For others it may mean writing in a journal and sharing with only a few close family and friends.
Whatever it looks like for you, just do it! I want you to know something very important.
You have a beautiful story, no matter how many bumps, bruises and storms you’ve been through. And you never know who will be encouraged by your story, or who might encourage you along the process. It is a process, and it will be hard. But it will be so worth it in the end!
