Dare To Live Your Story

by Lucinda Secrest McDowell

This is the full text of an article published in Woman to Woman Winter 2007 issue. There is a box on the Women's Ministries Homepage you may use to subscribe.

"We can serve within who God made us to be;
We can live out the dream He’s put in our hearts."
Keri Wyatt Kent in Listen

When I was eight years old I landed the role of a lifetime. I was asked to be the, ahem, PRINCESS in our third grade production of "The Frog Prince." And before you ask, yes, I did have to kiss the frog. Nonetheless, I was over the moon when casting was
announced. What little girl doesn't want to be a Princess? The previous year, in second grade, I had merely played one of the many elves in "The Shoemaker and the Elves." Frog or no frog, this Princess gig had to be better than that. Just think of the costume possibilities alone...

Not only did I get to wear a rhinestone tiara, but Mama remade an old ball gown with a huge white net skirt covered with silver sequins into my princess costume. I sang at least two solos, the lyrics of which I remember to this day. I was, as they say, in my element.

Today, remembering this childhood event, I can make at least three observations that reveal to me not only the person I was, but also the story I was to live out in years to come:

1. I was perfectly at ease on stage with a microphone in front of an audience of hundreds. (Amazingly enough, I have spent most of my adult life as a professional speaker to large groups of people.)
2. Being part of communicating a story with a moral or lesson was meaningful to me and I loved doing it. (As an author, I share the truth and hope of God’s Word and how it practically applies to our lives today.)
3. Having the lead role gave me a sense of achievement which, in turn, made me feel worthy, therefore I deliberately began pursuing more achievements. (One of my greatest spiritual and emotional struggles as an adult has been the need to be released from striving too much and finding my worth in doing rather than being.)

We all play roles in life. Some are roles of our choosing, those we have envisioned from the time we could dream of our futures and picture ourselves there (bride, brain surgeon, country music singer – you fill in the blanks). Other roles are those we never would have auditioned for and would just as well have passed over (prodigal daughter, divorcee, and cancer survivor.)

But God doesn’t want His children just to play roles, like putting on one hat one day and another the next. He loved us so much that He chose to create each of us in the image of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to infuse us with unique gifts and abilities that, when offered back to Him, would be used to help further His Kingdom here on earth. Yep, we are a Big Deal to Him and therefore we are cast in the role of a lifetime, one that truly matters: beloved servant of the most high God.

It’s a brand new year! Will you accept your unique role? Will you dare to live Your Story? You know you want to. You’ve been living one life while longing for another and things aren't getting any better, are they? You’re immersed in small stories and wonder why you can't find meaning in your madness. Just keeping rules and embracing a system of beliefs is not enough any more. And you’re really tired of kissing frogs...

As I finished teaching an adult class at church this week, the two reflection questions in the book's lesson seemed appropriate to pass on to you, dear New England sisters in Christ: "What gift have you left unopened that you would like to give to God to redeem and use for His glory?" and "What do you want to begin doing today in order to come as close as you can to realizing the full potential of what God intends for your life?"

I'm currently praying and journaling my own answers to those questions and I hope you will do the same. Let's dare to LIVE our stories to the glory of God and believe that we have an important role in God's Kingdom Story. "He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it." I Thessalonians 5.24

Lucinda Secrest McDowell (Wethersfield CT) writes and speaks through her ministry Encouraging Words that Transform. A storyteller at heart, "Princess Lucinda," daughter of the King of Kings, has signed a contract to write her seventh book.

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