Living a Good Story

I feel like I spend most of my time summarizing something Donald Miller already said. I also feel like this is a pretty good use of my time. In his book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Miller contemplates the structure of a story and how it relates to real life. I love thinking of life as a story for a few reasons:
1. I'm an English major. . . I pay (ok, fine. . . my parents pay) a lot of money to study stories and how they work. If you start to see life as a story, the ability to understand story structure suddenly becomes a lot more important. Understanding character motivation becomes a lot more useful. And paying for a piece of paper to hang in a frame on the wall that says "Bachelor of Arts in English" seems a lot less pointless.
2. If I live in a story, that means there is an author. Someone is carefully crafting the story in and around me. Someone who can see how the story is going to end up. Someone with some control. Now I realize (as Miller points out) that characters in a story don't always do what the author wants. I've written some fiction and sometimes I am completely surprised by what my own characters decide to get themselves into. But that leads me to my next point:
3. There is an audience. Stories don't exist in a vacuum. Someone has to watch that movie, read that book, or act that play. Someone out there is enjoying what I do. Someone out there cares. Now, I also keep a personal journal. (You know, for the things that just shouldn't be posted on the Internet. . . ) And I have realized that when I write in that journal, I suffer from an affliction I am going to call "Anne Frank Syndrome." For some reason, I think that sometime in the future. . . someone is going to read my journal and decide it must be published. And millions of people will read it. And I will be famous. (I guess I probably write this blog for the same reason.) The point is: I love the idea of an audience. God takes delight in watching me.

Well, if life is a story, then right now, I am living a really good story. The biggest problem I have (besides the fact that if I don't do laundry tomorrow, I will be wearing dirty clothes to class on Monday) is remembering to thank the Author for writing me such a great part to play. God has been working in my life. Putting together pieces of plans and making me meet the right people and be in the right place at the right time. And when everything works out, I just smile and take credit. But I cannot take any credit for the good in my life. It is all Him. But the best part is knowing. . . no matter where things go from here, this story ends with me meeting my Author.