Is Your Life Story Movie Material?

            The email asked “Is your story movie material?” I have often thought it was, and lately I’ve had some people encouraging me to “write my story.” So I decided to attend a screenwriting group to learn how to create a screenplay. Fortunately, there were others like myself at the meeting who had never attempted this kind of writing so the leader of the group gave us what appeared to be an ‘easy” assignment. He said, “Write the first page of your screenplay for next month’s meeting.”

The first page. The dramatic opening. How would I draw people in?

As it turned out, this assignment was more difficult than I thought it would be. Would my first scene be the tragic premature death of my physician father while playing polo, two months before I was born? Would it be my birth, when my grieving mother was unable to look at me when my father’s doctor cronies, who delivered me, announced I looked just like my dad? So much so, my grandmother named me “William” after him? Or would I start with something lighter, like my mom and dad’s first date? It was one of the few memories my mother would share with me about my father.  It was a blind date and he showed up at her house driving a Jaguar, wearing a sequin tie.  She told me that initially, she thought my flashy father was a “sissy.” She obviously got over that.

What is the opening scene in your screen play? Was it a tragic start like mine? Or did the plot thicken as you grew up?

I am thankful the turning point of this screenplay will be a lot easier to identify. What could have been a sad tale is truly a love story about how God reached down into my life and drew me to Him. This screenplay will provide a message of hope, that no matter how difficult your life is, God desires to give you a beautiful future in eternity with him. He also gives you the strength to get through the “bad scenes” in your life.

1 John 3:1 says, How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!

My earthly father might die in the opening scene but it opened the door for my heavenly father to become the hero in my life. I can’t wait to get past the first page so I can write about Him!

What about you? If you had to produce a screenplay of your life, where would God enter in?

How could your story encourage others?