Most of the following came from the devotional of Ann Voskamp which she took from John Ortberg 's book, All the Places to Go. |
f you had to summarize your life in six words, what would they be?
Several years ago an online magazine asked that question. It was inspired by a possibly legendary challenge posed to Ernest Hemingway to write a six-word story that resulted in the classic “For sale: baby shoes, never worn.”
These are some of the responses given:
“One tooth, one cavity; life’s cruel.”
“Savior complex makes for many disappointments.”
“Cursed with cancer. Blessed with friends.” (This one was written not by a wise old grandmother but by a nine-year-old boy with thyroid cancer.)
The challenge of the six-word limitation is its demand to focus on what matters most, to capture briefly something of significance.
I don't normally think to much of these but with the stories of the ones that have been bravely standing up for Christ and the evaluation of my life, and how thankful I am for everything and I mean e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g , for some reason I decided to take the challenge. So these are the words that I came up with. I am sure with more pondering I would come up with another six but right off I thought of this.
farm girl.accidental missionary. South America. pure joy
These are some thoughts of people from the Bible.
Adam: “Eyes opened, but can’t find home.”
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: “King was hot. Furnace was not.”
Noah: “Hated the rain, loved the rainbow.”
Esau: “At least the stew was good.”
Esther: “Eye candy. Mordecai handy. Israel dandy.”
Mary: “Manger. Pain. Joy. Cross. Pain. Joy.”
Prodigal Son: “Bad. Sad. Dad glad. Brother mad.”
Rich Young Ruler: “Jesus called. Left sad. Still rich.”
Zacchaeus: “Climbed sycamore tree. Short, poorer, happier.”
Woman caught in adultery: “Picked up man, put down stones.”
Good Samaritan: “I came, I saw, I stopped.”
Paul: “Damascus. Blind. Suffer. Write. Change world.”
So take the challenge and let's see how many words we can get. Leave your six words in the comments below.