I recently did a blog titled “The Price of Busy” that was written as I sat in hospice in-patient with my friend who had started (but not finished) my Life Story photobook course. She had several pages created, beautiful pages with lovely photos – but sadly, no identification or stories attached.
I bemoaned the busyness of life that steals away our focus and time. We will wish we had spent it on saving key elements of a life story in a way that our kids, grandkids and descendants would be blessed. Leaving a legacy. But ‘busyness’ becomes a barrier.
Luckily, I left her Life Story photos and pages collections that were in the right place on her computer (as my course taught her) and went snooping into the rest of her laptop. I found the Master Outline I gave my students where they put in what events and details will be highlighted in each category. She COMPLETED that task!! Hurray!! In fact, she drifted into some brief stories and details there that I can add to her Life Story section.
Encouraged to snoop more, I realized there was an external hard drive in the equipment sack her daughters had brought me in the hospice. Plugged it in. Scanned down the row of folders with brief names. One said “milestones”. AHA! That is one of my Life Story Script categories!
I opened it – treasure trove! There was a letter to her youngest child upon her graduation from high school, a story of earlier medical events that hospitalized her adding various key parts of her life choices that impacted, and finally, a rich story written within the first year of her cancer diagnosis (the final medical villain she faced).
In that rich story, beautifully written and expressive of her heart’s deepest desires and thoughts, she also gave thumbnail sketches of the 3 precious daughters as they absorbed the impact of her cancer diagnosis. She captured their character and attributes which enriched her life beyond measure. Wouldn’t you like to have what your parent would write about you? Or what your great-grandparent wrote about your grandparent? Ahh –a blessing.
Unfolding even more significantly was how the daughters responded to a part of my friend’s written story. It focused on a hawk that appeared in the view of her hospital window many years ago when diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension – a true sign of the presence and gift of peace that God was walking with her through this time. And a testimony to her life of faith. The hawk became an image for her as she fought the cancer in more recent years – more than a messenger of encouragement and support as she felt a story was about to be told to her by her heavenly father.
Her words: “My heart was eager and yearning to hear from Him because I knew that what He had to say would give me hope and the courage to face what may lay ahead of me. I also knew that when God speaks to me, He always gives me more than I could have dreamed. I am always stunned by God’s love for me, and my heart is always filled with overwhelming awe and gratitude that He cares so much for ME.”
The story, the tribute to her, the sharing by her grown children at her service – all was enriched by her story of the hawk and how the Lord used it to encourage her. Plus her daughters honored her by getting a simple tattoo of a line-drawn hawk on their wrists. The hawk symbol will be placed on her gravestone along with a QR code that shares the story of the hawk.
A legacy – of strength of faith in the face of adversity.
Yep, I am turning the tables on you (just to keep the focus off me as I am hastily writing a few more stories now for my Life Story book) – what will your family have to remember you? Faith story? Milestones? Someone else’s memory of you because you left them nothing?
And what if they don’t go snooping in the far corners of your external hard drive looking for them? Best not count on that happening – trust me. I have too many stories told to me that confirm they won’t.
My challenge – write one simple story today – whatever comes to mind when you hear the question “what is a milestone of significance in your life?” And put that story where it WILL be found.
