The Most Boring Story Ever Told. Or is it?

As part of my role at school this year, I am serving as the curriculum leader for writing.  In meeting with one of the grade levels we were discussing how students can quickly draft a story and take it in an one of a number of directions based on the bend of the story they wish to tell or the emotion they wish to evoke from the reader.  That got my wheels turning and below you will see the "flashdraft" for our story of trying to become parents.

A man and woman met, fell in love, and got married.  One day they decided they were ready to share this love with a child, so they began trying to become parents.  They waited and waited and waited for their child to arrive.   No one could tell them why their child had yet to arrive, how their child would arrive or if their child would ever arrive.  So they prayed and waited and waited and prayed.  To be continued...

Not exactly a page turner, is it?  However, after careful consideration there may be another layer to this story that is easy to overlook initially.

A man and woman met, fell in love, and got married.  One day they decided they were ready to share this love with a child, so they began trying to become parents.  At the same time they slowly but surely began to work on other goals.  She followed through on her dream of "starting her own school" when she became the elementary principal of a brand new grassroots charter school.  He followed through on his passion for technology by going back and earning a second degree .  Then by taking a job for a company he respects, doing a job that grows his talents, and also allows him to work a traditional schedule for the first time in over a decade.  Together they traveled to Europe which had been a life long goal for them both and planned and went on other trips to new destinations.  They individually grew in their faith and had a chance to better get to know themselves.  They also had a chance to grow in their marriage and their ability to support one another in the good times as well as the times that aren't so good.  They pursued favorite hobbies and discovered new favorites.  They began to develop new goals and plans beyond the ones involving growing their family.  They learned that even when life doesn't turn out quite the way you thought, that life truly is about the journey rather than the destination and that each leg of the journey brings with it a mix of experiences that help shape who we are whether it's who we thought we were going to be or not.


Still might not be a page turner, but more aptly describes this period of time for what it truly has been...a chance to become the people we were meant to be in this place in time.