Changing Scenes to Words

We were newlyweds in our 60s and getting to know each other as husband and wife in middle of 2017. At the time, I did not know Faylene was a writer, but that changed after I took her on a short trip to see my dad.

Visits with my dad, who was in an assisted living facility, were usually less than an hour. It was about the length of his ability to be awake and attentive.  Visits were a full day’s drive from my home, so it was a day and a half trip. On most visits, after a short greeting, I would almost always choose a scene from the past to remind him of his importance in my upbringing, because his long-term memory was still good. I would usually relate the story to a mission story of my own, where I was influencing young people overseas by doing things with them like my dad did with me. Sometimes I showed him pictures of the children. He listened, smiled before I left, but rarely spoke.

On this visit, I introduced my wife, who greeted him warmly. After a little history about us, I got on eye-level with him to speak of another story from the past and relate that to my appreciation for him. I was only loosely aware of Faylene during this part of the conversation, but I found out she was intently observing. It seemed to be a good visit, and we left with goodbye and affection. Dad gave a small smile and a nod as we left.

A few days later she wrote a little piece about the visit. It was just a few paragraphs. As I read it, it brought me to tears. I had no idea how she could take a personal scene and communicate so well with words. I was so impressed that I sent a copy to an overseas missionary director as a sample of writing skills. They might be a blessing for that ministry. From then on, the director corresponded directly with my wife, whom she did not know well, about things that could be done with her skills.

The piece she wrote on my dad taught me a fresh lesson. I began giving closer attention to the way she presented scenes. It began to affect my devotions in the Bible as scene study began to come alive in a fresh way.

While I have not arrived, I have learned to write and present better because of her influence. It’s funny, too, that I remember the scene with my father through her writing like it was yesterday. That is the power of scenes effectively written.

Observe closely. Don’t say too much. Don’t say too little. Make ways for the reader to see the scene and be in it. It has changed my content emphasis and softened my technical writing.

The interesting thing is that the Spirit of God is the best of all communicators, presenting scene after scene in the Bible with words that bring them alive to hearts through the ages.

I have more to learn.