Some of you might have seen the video on my website of me sharing my life story, and you might have wondered why I felt the need to ‘rewrite’ my story, or even what my new story means.  In this post I will try and explain the process behind rewriting my story, my reasons for doing so, as well as explaining the meaning behind my story.  

The truth is that rewriting my story was never something I considered, I didn’t know that it was an option or that it was something that could help me redefine my future. It was not until I was challenged by my life coach to think about how I would rewrite my story that I realised this was something I had the ability to do.  

My coach gave me some points to consider during this process; the story was supposed to have a beginning, a turnaround point, as well as an ending that reflected what I wanted my reality as well as my future to be. I had to picture the people I wanted to help and work with, as well as the fruit I wanted to see in my ministry.

I grew up believing that I had to play the hand I was dealt, and that there was nothing I could do to change the direction of my future. But that is only true if your only focus is on the past.  We all know that we cannot go back and change what happened to us in the past, or even the decisions we made.  I cannot change where I grew up, or how I was raised, what opportunities I had, or even the things I was taught about God.

But what I know now is that if you can change your mind set about your past and what it means for you, you can also change your future. I can choose how my future will be, what influence I will have, and what legacy I will leave behind.

And this is what I tried to do by rewriting my story. From an early age I wanted greatness in my life. Not necessarily in the sense of having a lot of money, or being famous, or any of the superficial ways in which society measures success. But I knew I wanted a life that meant something, a life in which I lived up to my full potential. For me greatness has always been about the legacy you leave behind when leaving this earth.

Looking back at my childhood, there was certainly nothing great or extraordinary about my life. When I speak about coming from the land of average, I am talking about a place where people are not reaching their dreams and possibilities. From a young age it is as if I was aware that God had created ALL of us for greatness, and that most people were not living up to the potential that He had placed inside of them. 

This caused a major battle on the inside of me for most of my adult life. The knowledge that we are all called for greatness, yet not seeing the people around me living as if they have great potential inside of them. Constantly wanting to escape from this land of average, yet facing the disapproval of others when my desire for change challenged their comfort.  

But as I grew older I could no longer quiet the voice inside me saying that I had been created to rule and reign in God’s image, and that I am meant to mirror something of what is possible through Him to the rest of the world. The voice saying that my Creator is good and kind and loving and forgiving, unlike the image of God that I grew up with as child who was always waiting to punish those who disobey Him and His laws. 

A very challenging part of this process was to accept and embrace that I am called to do something, and that my influence extends to certain people. Once I was able to accept that, I had to identify what spiritual and physical gifts I carry, and then to believe that I had the power and authority to help those people to walk in their gifts and callings, because what I receive and embrace I can also share and pass on.

Writing my story was a process of capturing on paper an internal struggle that I needed to settle in my mind.  And then to take up that different mindset of accepting that we are ALL called to walk and live in God’s Kingdom of extraordinary love and freedom. In this Kingdom God reigns as the King, and He loves all of us enough to call us His bride, a bride who can rule and reign as an equal heir to all the spiritual gifts and riches of His Kingdom.

I realised through this exercise, that the most important character trait of the King is that He loves us. He loved us enough that He gave His son as a ransom for all, and if I want to represent Him, my most outstanding character trait should also be love. Love is what qualifies me, nothing else.

In his famous book, Good to Great, Jim Collins wrote:

“Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice.”