Your Life Is a Sacred Story: An Introduction to Spiritual Story work

Stop me if you have heard these before:

• Everything happens for a reason!

• God doesn't close a door without opening a window!

• Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

• When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. "

Yes, we have all heard a "bumper sticker" type answer when it comes advice about how to get the most out of life.

But, has anyone ever described your life as a sacred story--woven, guided, and graced by the presence of God? What if your memories, your hopes, and your wounds are not random, but chapters filled with meaning?

Welcome to story-work aka narrative spirituality, a gentle but powerful way of exploring your life through the lens of God’s redemptive story. It’s an invitation to listen deeply, and discover how the Divine Author has been writing truth, beauty, and purpose into your life all along.

looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith...(Heb 12:2)

What Is Narrative Spirituality?

Narrative spirituality is the practice of paying attention to the stories we tell—about our past, our identity, our faith, and our future—and learning to see them as part of God’s larger narrative.

I make no secret of how much I enjoy stepping into biblical stories.

"I wrote a dissertation bout it...wanna read it...here it go..."

Instead of approaching spiritual growth only through doctrine or spiritual disciplines, narrative spirituality invites us to grow through story: the stories in Scripture, our family stories, your bodies story, the stories of our culture, and the story unfolding in our very own lives.

Why Story Matters in the Spiritual Life

Narrative spirituality helps you make sense of your life, heal and reframe painful chapters, rediscover your identity, and move into the future with intention.

Stories are important and they are everywhere. Jesus taught through stories. The Psalms are stories. Your testimony is a story. About 43% of the Bible is narrative story. I still remember the frustrating debate with my dissertation when I was told epistles could not be included during my research for biblical stories.

 All Jesus did that day was tell stories—a long storytelling afternoon. His storytelling fulfilled the prophecy: I will open my mouth and tell stories; I will bring out into the open things hidden since the world’s first day. (Matt 34-35 MSG)

Ruth, Hagar and the Samaritan woman all encountered God through the re-telling and reframing of their stories. When God enters a story, identity shifts, perspective expands, and purpose awakens. Are you ready to accept that the stories of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and Samuel (Hall of Fame in Hebrews 11) are not the only stories God wants to write? Your life is a sacred text God is still writing. Narrative spirituality gives you the tools to read it, honor it,

and live it with freedom and intention. Transformation begins when you give God the pen!