Life In Six Words

My soul doth magnify the Lord. Luke 1:46
Six words filled with purpose.

It has always baffled me a little how easy it was for Mary to accept the words of the angel of the Lord when he came to her and told her she would carry the Messiah. God had a purpose for her and in her acceptance of His plan she became obedient to the will of God for her life.

Six words. The birth of the six word memoir, as the story goes, was in a small café where Earnest Hemmingway received a challenge to write a complete story with a plot, character, and conflict using only six words. Either the giver of the challenge did not fully grasp the creativity of the man to whom he gave his challenge or he genuinely believed it couldn’t be done. Hemmingway’s response was both brilliant and sad. “For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.”

Piggybacking on this idea Ferscheler and Smith put together a book entitled “Not Quite What I Was Planning: Six Word Memoirs By Writers Famous and Obscure. Kind of a fun idea that has become a challenge for many. I first heard of this exercise in the early 2000’s and over the years have come up with a number of memoirs. I’d like to think they are all original, but either way, they all reflect my mindset at the time.

Somewhere something has gone terribly wrong (2003)

Smiling lips. Cheerful laugh. Sad eyes. (2004)

Promises made. Promises broken. Empty home. (2005)

Left Indiana to save my life. (2006)

Broken home. Pain in every moment. (2007)

Three children, three mouths, must provide. (2008)

Choices made young, consequences for life. (2009)

Maybe one day they will understand. (2010)

Found escape. Living day to day. (2011)

Pulled in wrong direction. But God. (2012)

Danced in field. Tripped and fell. (2013)

Truth gnaws at the reality rope. (2014)

Hope died. Found love. Hope anew. (2015)

Found my life back in Indiana. (2016)

Desiring to make a difference today. (2017)

I wonder what my six word memoir will be in another year? In five years? When my life comes to an end? I know what I would want it to be.

Beautiful life. Godly woman. Helped many.

Please follow and like us: