Embracing My Story

by Beth Vogt @BethVogt

My friend, Sherrinda, recommended the book The Artisan Soul by Erwin Raphael McManus. (I’m not going to comment on his wonderful middle name—Raphael—at this point. But I mean … really … Raphael.)

One thing Sherrinda said was how she was underlining the book like crazy.

So I bought the book … and I am doing the same thing. McManus’s book just breathes truth to my thirsty soul.

Today’s quote is one of those truths:

Our story is what we have to offer the world. 

McManus goes on to write:

“I wish I had a different story than the one I just lived through, but I am so grateful for the story that has made me who I am today.

Even the pain. Even the wound.

The sadness was real.

The brokeness deep.

The scars mine.

It’s my story.

It’s who I am.

It’s how I’m becoming.”

Today more than ever, I am embracing my story. Is it the beautiful fairy tale I longed for growing up? No. But it is my story … and as I allow God to soak it in his lavish grace—rather than steep it my efforts—it’s becoming something beautiful. Something worth sharing. 

Like McManus I can say:

The sadness was real.

The brokeness deep.

The scars mine.

It’s my story. 

And the healing is just as real. Just as deep.

Because God is real.

In Your Words: How are you embracing your story? How are you offering it to the world? 

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Inspiring quotes for writers - @BethVogt on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Beth K. Vogt is a nonfiction author and editor who said she'd never write fiction. She's the wife of an Air Force family physician (now in solo practice) who said she'd never marry a doctor—or anyone in the military. She's a mom of four who said she'd never have kids. Now Beth believes God's best often waits behind the doors marked "Never." A women's fiction novelist, Beth's first novel for Tyndale House Publishers, Things I Never Told You, releases May 2018.

Beth is a 2016 Christy Award winner, a 2016 ACFW Carol Award winner, and a 2015 RITA® finalist. Her 2014 novel, Somebody Like You, was one of Publishers Weekly's Best Books of 2014. A November Bride was part of the Year of Wedding series by Zondervan. Having authored nine contemporary romance novels or novellas, Beth believes there's more to happily-ever-after than the fairy tales tell us.

An established magazine writer and former editor of the leadership magazine for MOPS International, Beth blogs for Novel Rocket and also enjoys speaking to writers' groups and mentoring other writers. She lives in Colorado with her husband, Rob, who has adjusted to discussing the lives of imaginary people, and their youngest daughter, Christa, who loves to play volleyball and enjoys writing her own stories. Connect with Beth at  bethvogt.com.