My Life’s Blurb

Last year, I read a devotional called The One Year LifeVerse Devotional (compiled by Jay K. Payleitner). It was a really neat devotional. Each day’s devotion started with a verse of scripture, followed with a few paragraphs written by someone to explain what that verse means to them. The devotion ended with a small blurb about who that person is. For example, one says: “Cindy Hinkle, author of Star of Wonder and other published works, is wife to Andrew and mother to Michael, Peter, and Jessica.” Another one says: “Anna DeRosa, a native of Guatemala who has been a United States resident for more than forty years, was saved on June 14, 1998.” One simply says: “Duane Truman lives in Davenport, Iowa.”

These blurbs are kind of overly simplified resumes, with maybe a hint of an obituary. They’re a list of a person’s life’s work in the smallest amount of space possible. They got me thinking: what would my blurb say? I could go the fact route, like this:

Elizabeth is married to Dan and the mother of Katie and Jackson. She grew up in Georgia before being transplanted to Missouri. She works in ministry through the local church.

It’s true, right? The facts are facts and they tell about life. But they don’t speak much about living. What if I wrote about the first time God spoke directly into my heart? What if I wrote about the heartbreak and healing I’ve endured? Or what if I laid out the worst of myself, and let it all hang out? Here’s what I’d really like to say:

Elizabeth is, first and foremost, a messed up, broken person: a lonely orphan, a faulty wife, an impatient mother, and a demanding friend. Thankfully, that’s not the end of the story. God wooed her into a life of unity with Him and gave her a second chance. She has become a disciple of grace, and a lifelong learner of His ways. She struggles daily to use her passion for His glory.

Is that too real? Is it too in-your-face? And, really, who’s going to be calling my number and asking me to write a devotion anyway? But it is something I ponder, wondering what my life’s work will amount to in the end. I hope it points to growing and living, and not just a resume. Mostly, I hope it points to Him.