Through the years I have spent a lot of time thinking about what I am and who God wants me to be. I most often lived in an interesting places, not quite bound to reality. I lived in a place that seemed different from those around me. As a child I could tell something was different but not always what. I was fascinated about things few would say were real. When I watched movies like Bambi or The Jungle Book, I saw them come to life. Images became emotions and I got caught up in those emotions.

Then I began to wonder. I wondered if I could go to these places I saw. I started to try. I started to play outside with my brothers and see if I could reach the places I saw in the movies I watched and books I read. It was wondrous. My imagination began to come to life. Mere sticks became magnificent weapons. Our back yard became great cities floating miles from the surface of the earth or great woods inhabited with huge human made forts that were populated by armies of children.  I began to experience stories through these weapons and environments. The stories were epic, they were full of adventure, triumph, and tragedy. I was beginning to realize my gift.

Through the adventures I saw on-screen and experienced in the back yard, I began to realize that I had stories in my head that needed to be heard. I began to understand part of what my God wanted me to do. I began to understand what my Vision truly was.

I am a story-teller. I will not limit my calling to just this, but I would not be angry if my only gift in life was the ability to tell stories.  For I truly believe that stories can change lives. Stories are not real in the strictest sense of the word, and they often are thought of as only entertainment. I am not against stories being thought of as entertainment and I can not help but admit that a story is, at least to some account, fiction and not something you can physically smell, taste, or feel.

I would argue however, that stories are more than just entertainment.  Perhaps they were never meant to connect with your physical feelings, but they are meant to connect with your emotional feelings. I feel that stories can affect your deepest emotions and move your spirit, to act.

My God has shown me some magnificent stories and he moves my spirit to show others. It is my calling. Images come to me at night and through out the day. Some are just seedlings.  Others are more fully developed.  For example, I see images of ordinary people fighting for freedom in the darkest of times. I see an image of a broke and uneducated man who has a dedication to a dream and is able to light up the world through the gifts he has been given. And, I see an image of a little child finally standing up to a world that has done its best to knock her down. Being a story-teller, is a great gift indeed.

The power however, comes from what others do with the story.

When the Story moves you to act, will you listen?