Donald Miller and the power of Story

I heard Donald Miller for the first time about three years ago at the Catalyst Conference. I was really impressed with his conversational style of speaking, and his ability to break subjects down to their core. After hearing him that first time, I read his book, Blue Like Jazz. That book really made me reconsider some of my core beliefs about what it means to be a Christ follower. It was a really good stretch for me. I still have a very different outlook than he does on a number of issues, but I appreciate the perspective that he brings.

Last week at the Echo conference, I had an opportunity to hear him speak again. He talked about how he has been studying writing for movies and television, and that his study of developing a story has changed his perspective on life. When he looked at his own life, he realized that his story wouldn't make a compelling movie. He talked about how the bible is full of compelling stories, and that all great stories have some common elements. The first element is a character; a character who wants something and is willing to overcome conflict to get it. He then talked about the fact that we are all characters in our own stories that are yet to be written.

There are some characteristics of a character that will cause us to cheer for him or boo him. One is that the character is not what he thinks or feels, but what he does. He gave an example from the latest Rocky movie, where Rocky starts off by befriending a single mom, rescuing a dog, and basically showing that he is a good human being. In a good story, the hero can't think more of himself than others, if he does he will cease to be the hero. In a good story, the hero always wants something. But it's not very satisfying unless what he or she wants is impressive. For instance, a movie about a guy who wants a new car wouldn't be that great. In fact, the best stories are the ones where the hero wants something, and if he doesn't get it, people will die. In our own life story, we should ask the question...what are we living for and what will happen if we don't get it?

Once the hero's motives are clear, and we know what he is going after, that's when the conflict usually begins. The moment when conflict gets so bad that the character thinks they're not going to make it, that's when the story is just starting to get good. As Christians, we have implied for a long time that if you are living for Christ, your life will be happy and carefree. But the truth is, that doesn't really line up with the stories of the bible. As I look back on my own life, I realize that the times that I have changed for the better have come through pain. When we go through periods where it seems like we're not going to make it, we need to remember that our story is just starting to get good. Maybe the pain or conflict in our own stories is just paving the way for us to achieve what we're striving for. In the bible, James 1:2-4 says, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." As we write the stories of our lives, we need to understand that pain and conflict will come. But if we keep in mind what we are trying to accomplish, and trust God to be the source of our strength, then God will use our lives to create a powerful story that will speak of His character.

Catching Up

Have you ever had the feeling that no matter how hard you try, you just can't seem to get caught up? Lately I've been feeling that way. Like a greyhound chasing a fake rabbit around a circle. Well, that's the best excuse I can come up with for not posting in a month. I've been nudged by the only two people who read this blog to get with it, so here's what's been going on in my life recently.

Back on July 31, two significant things happened. My parents celebrated their 48th wedding anniversary (Yay!!!) and my daughter Samantha got her tonsils out (boo!!!). My parents are still together so I think the anniversary went well. The surgery went well too, and Samantha was a real trooper. When we got home that afternoon, Anne started to get a fever. I checked her temperature and it was almost 102! The next day, she went to the doctor and was diagnosed with pneumonia! Sami's recovery went well, but she was in a lot of pain. Her doctor told us that he doesn't know why some kids experience pain and others don't, but that it happens. Anne's recovery has been slow. It has taken a long time to get her energy back and is still suffering through coughing fits. She is beginning to feel better, but still isn't 100%.

We got another bit of unexpected news when we learned that my mom (who had a double mastectomy last year) had a small lump removed and it was shown to have cancer. We were really unprepared to hear this. As a family, we have been so glad that my mom's recovery has gone so well. Even though it's been a long process, she has been feeling better and looking forward to living cancer free. We weren't sure what this was going to mean. Was she going to have more treatments and start all over again? A PET scan was scheduled to see if there was any more cancer in her body. When the results came back there was good news, NO CANCER! We were very relieved and were so glad to hear the news. We don't know if she will have to do any preventative treatments or not, but at least we know that she is cancer free! Thank God!

One more bit of craziness to add...the girls had to go to the dentist on Monday. The dentist came out and told Anne that Samantha (poor girl) needed to have EIGHT teeth pulled! For some reason, they were not coming out on their own and her permanent teeth didn't have room to come in. But the dentist said that he couldn't do that many at once. We figured if we didn't do them all at once, we may not get her back to the dentist to get the others out. :) He said he would see how it goes and how she was feeling. After he took the first four out, he gave her the option to come back later, or get the others out. She told him to go ahead and take them out, so he did. The dentist had never taken out that many teeth at once on a child before. Samantha came through it with no problems and didn't really have any pain either. I think she was glad to get it over with!

That's a little bit of what the last month has been like, and I didn't even mention what has been going on at the church (which has continued to grow and do well). Maybe I'll give an update on that later.

Just remember...even if you don't hear from me every day, we're still friends!

Power

Last Monday, a construction worker was digging with a backhoe on our property preparing the foundation for our new church addition. I don't know if he just wasn't paying attention or if he didn't see the warning flags, but he got a jolt when he hit the main electrical feed to our building. Fortunately, he wasn't injured, but the damage to the power line had been done. The construction superintendent told us that they had to turn off our electricity while they got the line fixed and the office would be without power for the rest of the day and even the next morning. As the lights went dark we started to realize how dependent we are on electricity. Since there was no power to our email server, no one would be getting email. Since the phones have to be plugged in to work, nobody could talk on them. The offering from the day before couldn't be processed because it had to be done on the computer. Basically, the day was over. Everyone went home because we couldn't do much without power.

It occured to me that electrical power is something we often take for granted. In the U.S. our power supply is pretty stable and we don't wonder if a light is going to come on when we flip the switch, we just know that it will. As I was sitting in the dark that day in my office, I realized that there is another power that I often take for granted. Acts 1:8 says "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere..." As a Christian, I have access to the greatest power in history, and I truly believe that Jesus can make a difference in the everyone's life, but because I have become so accustomed to His presence in my life, I sometimes lose the awe and wonder that I should have. It wasn't always this way...

I Kings Chapter 8 tells the story of Solomon dedicating the Temple. The priests brought the Ark of the Lord's Covenant into the inner sanctuary of the Temple-the Most Holy place. When the priests came out of the Most Holy place, a thick cloud filled the Temple. The priests could not even continue their service, they were so overwhelmed at the Lord's presence. Clearly, they understood that God had chosen to inhabit His Temple and they had nothing but reverence and awe for the power that represented.

Now, because of Christ's sacrifice, I have the opportunity to pray to a God who is present and not distant. I have the opportunity to access power beyond all description.

God forgive me for taking you for granted. Thank you for your presence in my life. Give me the power that I need to live for you daily, and to tell everyone about your love. Amen.

Trip Recap

I wanted to take some time to reflect on how blessed I feel to have had the opportunity to go on vacation. The five of us in our family had some much needed “together time,” and we were able to connect and catch up with a lot of our extended family and friends. I’m grateful that I work in an environment that values families and allows me to take off of work to recharge my batteries. I won’t bore you with every detail, but I thought I’d share some of the highlights of our trip. So far, we have traveled 2000 miles, and by the time my family drives home at the end of the week (aided by my wife’s parents) we will have logged more than 3100 miles on the Odyssey. By the way, the Odyssey drove great with no problems! As I mentioned before, our family loves road trips and this was no exception. The first night we had the opportunity to stay with Anne's brother's family in Little Rock. Their boys are growing up fast! Then it was on to Bardstown KY. My sister's in-laws were very gracious and hosted us in their "hill house."


We met up with my sister's family and her in-laws, my parents, some friends from Colorado, and Anne's parents came in later in the week. The views from the house are incredible! It's is such a great location and the Kentucky hills are really beautiful.

While we were at the house, the girls enjoyed fishing for the first time.



There is an amphitheater in Bardstown where we saw "Stephen Foster-the musical". Stephen Foster was a famous songwriter in the 19th century who wrote "My Old Kentucky Home", "Suwanee River", "Oh Susanna" and a bunch of other songs that are a part of our heritage. The girls dressed up in period costumes and got a picture with the performers.



We went to a July 4th parade in Springfield, KY and made quite a splash with our fashionable hats. In fact, this picture ended up in the local paper.



I had fun driving an RTV all over the hills!



I Can't wait to do it all again!

Break's Over

My vacation has ended and I’m reminded of a joke that my friend Rick in Nashville told me a long time ago…

A certain man died and went to hell. (That could happen, the rest of this, probably not.) At the entrance to hell, he was met by a demon who told him, “Welcome to hell, you must now choose between any of the three doors in front of you to choose your place of eternal torment.” Behind the first door was people screaming and wailing while flames burned all around them. “Ouch” the man thought. Behind the second door snakes and rodents climbed all over the people in the room. “EEww.” He had always been afraid of snakes. As the demon opened the third door, a bad odor hit the man’s nose. The people inside were standing in manure up to their waists, but they were sipping coffee out of nice cups. The man thought,”Well the smell is awful, but I think I can get used to it. Besides, it beats getting burned or having snakes crawl on me, and I do enjoy coffee!” He told the demon, “If I have to choose, I’ll take this door.” “Great,” the demon replied. “Enjoy your eternal torment.” As he waded into the room, he wondered to himself where he might find the coffee maker. At that moment, a loud voice boomed over the intercom and said, “Okay everybody, break’s over. Back on your heads!”

VACATION!!

Today we are starting our vacation!! We are packed and ready to go. We are going to be seeing all of our family as we make stops in Little Rock AR, Bardstown KY, and then on to Tampa. By the time it's all said and done we will put 3,000 miles on the Odyssey. It's a good thing our kids like to travel. In fact, they love getting in the van and going on the road. My mom says they must have got the traveling gene from her. My daughter Morgan told me, "My friends think I'm crazy, but I looove road trips!"

Vacation here we come!!!!

Another Way to Get Here-MarkLunsford.net

Today I realized something that was so obvious, I can't believe it's taken me this long to figure it out. When I started this blog, I didn't know if it's something I would really keep up, so I set it up with a regular blogspot address. The problem has been, it's not very easy to remember. In fact, when I start to tell someone, they almost always stop me and say, "Wait, can you write that down for me?" It just doesn't roll off the tongue...God dash Life dash Stuff dot blogspot dot com. Ten syllables!! Well, starting today there is another way to get to the site. MarkLunsford.net That's it! How easy is that! Now when I want to tell someone how to find me on this here world wide interweb, all I have to say is MarkLunsford.net. So if you're ever in a conversation with someone and it goes like, "Hey you remember that Mark guy?" "Yeah, I think he has a blog or something?" "Oh yeah, how can I find it?" "I don't know, why don't you just try MarkLunsford.net?" Guess what, that person will actaully find me! :) Now, If you already subscribe to God. Life. Stuff. you don't have to change anything. You'll still continue to receive updates whenever they're posted. And if someone goes to the trouble of typing in those dashes and spots they'll still find me too. This will just make it easier for people to find this site in the future.