Donald Miller recently wrote, “What makes a great story is one that has great characters in memorable scenes.” That is so true.

I showed a clip from “It’s A Wonderful Life” this Sunday, the scene where George Bailey runs down the streets of Bedford Falls yelling “Merry Christmas” to anyone and anything. Classic. I was surprised, though, by people’s response. Some, who had never seen the movie (which is a crime), still knew that scene from random places in our culture. That’s how powerful the story is; it’s scenes are part of American culture. Bottom line, characters and scenes are what people remember about a story.

So, what if we applied this same principle to our family? What if we worked on building memorable moments (scenes) for our spouse? Our children? Furthermore, what if we looked back on those moments, brought new light to them and started telling our family story that way. “Do you remember when…,” you might start. “…we went to that Christmas tree farm and it started snowing as we cut down our tree. And then we got back in the car and the heater was broken and the tire was flat…” You get the point.

Here’s an idea: Sit down in front of your computer and type out all the memorable scenes of your marriage and/or family for the past five years. Put a heading on each scene and describe it in your best five-sentence paragraph. Collect 8 or 10 on a couple pages, package it up however you want and then give it to your spouse as a random gift–major points, by the way.

After you’ve practice this looking backward, then go forward with more intention. Start creating memorable scenes that become a part of your family’s culture.

Personally, I just bought a “very used” popup camper. Our first outing was disastrously beautiful. And my kids can’t stop talking about it. Now, I can’t wait to make that camper a key character in the scenes of our ongoing family story.

Let the memories begin.