Changing Seasons

September 24, 2016September 24, 20162 Comments

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…” – Ecclesiastes 3:1 (ESV)

If you’ve ever lived in a part of the world where there aren’t four seasons, you may have a different appreciation for the change of seasons than those who have walked through life with spring, summer, autumn and winter as perennial companions. Some parts of the world have two seasons – the muddy season and the dusty season. While these places have their own unique (and appreciated) beauties, some people may miss the gentle falling snow that melts into flower beds that are warmed by summer sun and covered by crunchy, color-coated leaves.

The seasons not only add beauty and variety to our lives but also remind us that life has seasons.

Sometimes we step into a new life season smiling. Other times we drag our feet and hold onto the vestiges of yesterday like an oak tree keeping its leaves while all the other trees let theirs fly.

I’m doing a little of both right now. However, the truth remains:

There is a season for posting to one’s blog routinely, and there is a season for rearranging goals to make room for new things.

I think I need to transition into that rearranging season, so I may be posting a couple of times a month in this new season instead of every week. It’s not that I lost my love for sharing ideas or have run out of ideas. I especially still love getting good notes from readers. Beyond that, the thought of missing a week after (I think) 83 consecutive weeks is rather deflating. But life is fuller with other things these days. I hope you’ll still keep up with “A Storyful Life” in this new season. Who knows? Maybe I’ll surprise myself and get a post up most weeks anyway. 🙂

Labor of Love

September 17, 2016September 17, 2016Leave a comment

A year ago, I met one of my favorite authors. The evening involved driving in rain so torrential I prayed a good part of the way home. However, it also involved showers of blessings.

Me and one of my favorite authors, Robin Jones Gunn

For a story-loving heart, what could be better than stories of how God is using stories to change lives and – we hope and pray – those lives to change communities and those communities to change nations? The evening also included shared time with a special friend, international yummies, and, yes, oh, yes, a sweet little conversation with that favorite author of mine.

Now today I’m preparing a little note to post in the mail to that author. When it reaches her after a journey of thousands of miles, I hope she gets a smile on her face and a little glimmer of a reward for her labor of love.

Labor of love. Something I’ve learned from my Christian writer friends is that what they do is a labor of love. Love for words. Love for their characters. And even more, love for Christ and His truth and love for the millions of readers out there who need a little love.

These loves fuel these writers through the sleep-short days, the pouring out of themselves on paper that may sit on an acquisitions editor’s desk for months, the reading for work not pleasure, the struggling for just the right word, the cutting out of the beloved scenes that don’t serve the story, the researching for accuracy, the aching of rejection, the perusing of contracts, the downsides of success, the handling of budgets.

Yes, all of this – all of this for love.

In a glass-dimly way this may reflect for us the love that God showed His children by sending His Son Jesus to earth and that He continues to show us each and every day.

What wondrous love is this, O my soul, O my soul!

What wondrous love is this, O my soul!

What wondrous love is this that caused the Lord of bliss

to bear the dreadful curse for my soul, for my soul,

to bear the dreadful curse for my soul?

~”What Wondrous Love Is This?” (Anonymous)

Apparently, National Author Day (US) isn’t until November 1, but considering what authors go through to craft the stories we enjoy, why not take a few minutes this weekend and send a snail-mail note, email or Facebook message to one of your favorite authors. Thank them for their work and let them know what you love about their stories. Maybe your encouragement will lead to a whole new tale…

If you would like to learn about the work of Media Associates International and how you can help train writers around the world to share God’s love and truth, visit their website.

Woven

May 7, 2016May 7, 20162 Comments

She grew up on a farm in Kentucky, one of seven and a pastor’s daughter. Like her mother, she read (almost) everything she found. She also taught others to read, traveled the world with her family, and somehow passed on her love of books to her son.

She, too, grew up on a farm, but her farm was in Nebraska and her heritage was strongly Dutch. From the handful of books her family owned, she cherished the book of poems. She dreamed of being a nurse, a teacher or even a missionary. Maybe that had something to do with how she raised her daughter.

She grew up the daughter of a sailor, moving often. She came to love reading, especially one little book about a girl in Mexico. She worked hard to learn Spanish and dreamed of starting a school in Latin America. That’s why she went to Mexico for college.

She was “old” in her village in Mexico, at least as the college girls saw her. Yet she possessed two things they yearned for: care and wisdom. These she gave with love, the kind of love she’d learned about from one Book in particular.

She grew up in Mexico, the daughter of a pastor. Then she married a Guatemalan and moved to Guatemala. They started a Christian school. She treasured the words of hymns and became known for her jokes and her stories.

She grew up in Guatemala where she attended a Christian school. She became a missionary to her own people. Though she never had children of her own, she became like a spiritual mother to many, including the missionary kids. She is still busy sharing God’s Story.

She grew up the daughter of a librarian, raised on books and good grammar. While she came to realize that she wasn’t a writer herself, she continued to savor stories and could appreciate a good author when she found one. She also set about encouraging aspiring authors by providing a venue for them to connect to “real” writers.

She was born in Guatemala, the daughter of a bookworm and a teacher, with Dutch blood in her veins and dreams of being a writer in her heart. Maybe that’s why she listened well when she met the author with her story of WWII Dutch heroism.

All of these women have played roles in my life. Some are related to me. Others are not. But each of them is connected in a special way to me and to my mother.

Some of these women were biological mothers to people in my story. Others were spiritual mothers. Both roles are precious and often undervalued.

Each of these women has had a “storyful” life, a life defined by not only the love of reading, writing and telling stories but also the love of the Author of Time, Jesus. This is the warp and woof of our lives that binds us together.

Our lives are woven together like a Guatemalan tapestry. Little details stand our like brightly colored strands. My life would certainly look different without even one of these threads! My mother’s life would also look different.

On this day, I thank God for each one of these women whose lives are woven together with mine, and I would like to honor them. Most of all, I’m grateful for and love my mother. It’s through her that many of these women’s lives are intertwined with mine.

I Love to Tell the Story

March 26, 2016March 26, 2016Leave a comment

I remember my mom singing a song to little-girl me at night. It was called “I Love to Tell the Story”. Somehow it became a bit prophetic about my life. (Maybe we should think more about the songs we sing to our wee ones!)

I love good stories. I love both to receive them and to tell them. That’s why I started “A Storyful Life”. But when push comes to shove, there is actually only one story I really love to tell.

This story I love to tell contains the components of a well-crafted tale.

1. A compelling desire
2. A relatable Hero
3. A convincing foe
4. An intense story arc (That is, the inciting incident, challenges and successes, “all-hope-is-lost moment” and glorious upswing with solid resolution mixed with enough mystery to be real.)
5. Tight action
6. Life-like dialogue
7. Worthwhile themes (sacrifice, love, loyalty, etc.)

To me this story is made all the better because it is true. As they say, truth is stranger than fiction.

Maybe another reason why I love this story is because I am part of it. My Dad read about it to me in a book one night, and I later decided I wanted a part in it for myself.

So here I am all these years later with this story that remains the compelling desire of my heart. If I could tell only one more story, this would be it.

What is the story I love to tell?

It’s the story of Easter.

1. The compelling desire is of God Almighty for His holiness to be satisfied and His wayward people to be brought into eternal fellowship with Him.
2. The relatable Hero is the Lord Jesus Christ Who humbled Himself to become a man and is acquainted with our griefs. He was tempted like we are…and yet He never gave in to the temptation. Thus, He became the only One Who didn’t deserve the price for sin, but He still took on the ransom of the world.
3. The convincing foe is that “roaring lion” the Devil. We know he’s convincing because he has tried to devour us.
4. The intense story arc starts in a garden, covers miles and millenia with ups and downs, and returns to a garden. In the garden, the arc plummets until it reaches the “all-hope-is-lost” moment – the Cross where the Hero dies a tortuous, undeserved death for His people. Surely it seems the Villain has triumphed. Here comes the glorious upswing: the tomb is empty, there are eye witnesses, and the Hero triumphs as He sits at the right hand of God Almighty!

As for the tight action, the life-like dialogue and the worthwhile themes, you can check the story out for yourself.

Yes, this is the story I love to tell. No matter what other stories I share, I hope they all point toward this Great Story.

So how did that song go that my Mom used to sing to me?

I love to tell the story of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love.
I love to tell the story, because I know ’tis true;
It satisfies my longings as nothing else can do.

Refrain
I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory,
To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

I love to tell the story; more wonderful it seems
Than all the golden fancies of all our golden dreams.
I love to tell the story, it did so much for me;
And that is just the reason I tell it now to thee.

I love to tell the story; ’tis pleasant to repeat
What seems, each time I tell it, more wonderfully sweet.
I love to tell the story, for some have never heard
The message of salvation from God’s own holy Word.

I love to tell the story, for those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.
And when, in scenes of glory, I sing the new, new song,
’Twill be the old, old story that I have loved so long.
-“I Love to Tell the Story”

Happy Easter/Resurrection Day to all! I hope and pray you, too, will love (and love to tell) this story.

Twenty-Four Roses

February 27, 2016February 27, 20161 Comment

This weekend I am getting to share in a very special anniversary celebration complete with twenty-four roses.

Twenty-three of the roses represent twenty-three years since a very special day and the work of God we have witnessed during that time. It’s definitely one of those Psalm 118:23 moments.

This is the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. (Psalms 118:23, ESV)

The twenty-fourth rose represents hopes and prayers for the future as we watch God’s story continue unfolding like the petals of a rosebud.

I am also celebrating a much smaller anniversary this weekend – my first year of blogging on “A Storyful Life” is now complete! It’s been a sweet year of pouring words and bits of my life into now 53 posts. What a lot has happened in the days since my frist post called “Endings“! Know that I’m thankful for each one of you who has shared this adventure with me, and I’m looking forward to another year full of stories, letters, poems and interesting characters!

Made New

April 11, 2015April 11, 2015Leave a comment

Ever wonder where your favorite story was written? Tolkien used his stately desk, Laura Ingalls Wilder enjoyed her farmhouse nook and Robin Jones Gunn loves her Hawaiian nest. And me? Well, I wouldn’t claim to stand amongst writers like them, but I can still show you the corner of the world where I often pen letters, jot journal entries or scribble story plots.

First I have to share its story. A writing cabinet with three shelves, a cupboard, a mirror and a fold-down desk stood in my (living) Grandma’s childhood home and later served one of her sisters. It was well used and loved like many pieces that saw the Great Depression. This past fall, it was given to me. The glass door was long gone, but the mirror was still there. I especially loved the cubbies above the desk! After spending a few days hearing tales about the world this cabinet watched, I knew I wanted to do something special with it. However, before anything else, it needed some work.

My family pitched in to refresh this heirloom piece. Cleaning, shellacking, sanding, painting, repairing…It took a fair amount of TLC. Was all the work worth it? See for yourself!

Ready for a makeover

Voile!

A close-up of the cubbies

Pretty darling, isn’t it? The brown paint represents the hard work of past generations who put down roots. The green represents growth and new life. I like to think this cabinet got a fresh start. In some ways, it’s like it’s a whole new creation.

It makes me think of what God does for His children. He makes us new. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV). It’s like He gets out His brushes, paints, sandpaper and cleaning cloths and gives a cobwebby, musty, chipped, scratched heart a makeover. Sure, there will still be some rough edges or the paint will need a touch up, but where it counts the Master Carpenter gives His workmanship a fresh start.

That’s a theme that rambles through my head when I come to my little writing desk.

“Finish, then, thy new creation; Pure and spotless let us be. Let us see thy great salvation Perfectly restored in thee; Changed from glory into glory, Till in heav’n we take our place, Till we cast our crowns before thee, Lost in wonder, love and praise.”

~”Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” by Charles Welsey (Trinity Hymnal, #460)

P.S.

My Grandma who went to heaven earlier this year told me that there was a cabinet nearly identical to this one in her childhood home as well. Her minister father kept his sermons organized on the shelves. You can imagine the “made new” cabinet is even dearer to me now.

	astoryfullife on A Life of Loves
	astoryfullife on A Life of Loves
	Judy Snider on A Life of Loves
	Albert L Greenwood on A Life of Loves
	astoryfullife on Grace Victorious: The Story of…

Kristen Hardin Author

Where Words are Woven with Warmth

Tag: a writer’s life

Changing Seasons

Labor of Love

Woven

I Love to Tell the Story

Twenty-Four Roses

Made New

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: