We all love
stories of life experiences. We love to sit around the table with family and
friends, or even those we’ve just met, and listen to events from their past. As
a teenager, I remember sitting at a small table for the very German “coffee and
cake” time at an elderly lady’s house. The Germans I knew rarely spoke about
their memories from the war, but on this day, this precious woman was telling
us about her childhood in the first half of the 1940s. I just sat there fascinated,
asking questions and mostly listening. Stories take us to times and places
we’ve never been, and in the telling of them, we are drawn in. We get a glimpse
of the person sitting across from us, what has made them the person they are,
and sometimes the stories inspire us in the way we live our lives as well. There
are various types of life stories – the ones that make us laugh until we cry,
the sad stories that grieve our hearts, and the tales of events gone incredibly
right, where things turn out beautifully in the end.
Back in the
fall, my middle school English students read the autobiography of Booker T.
Washington. His book was full of tales of his past, unique experiences that
shaped the man he became. He would often tell a story and then go on to say
what he learned as a result of that experience. Following this book, I gave my
students the assignment to interview a relative about an event in his or her
life that in some way changed him or her. It could be a joyful event like the
adoption of a child, something difficult like a wartime experience, or
something sad like the loss of a loved one. But the interview was not just
supposed to cover questions about the event itself, but also what life lesson
had been learned from this event. When I read my students’ papers, some of them
brought tears to my eyes as I encountered the joys, the challenges, and the
heartaches of these precious relatives, but above all, as I saw how God had
carried them through the events and what they learned as a result. It was clear
to me that my students were impacted by these tales. Perhaps they’d heard the
stories before, but so often, that’s where the stories stop – with the story
itself; however, to hear what God did and how He changed the person involved is
where the true gold of the story lies.
There was
the story of the dad who battles debilitating migraines who has learned that
earth does not hold all joy and whose longing for heaven has increased
dramatically. I read about a mom who was diagnosed with cancer at age 16 and
who learned to trust God through chemotherapy, fears, and missing out on all
the typical teenage experiences. Tears came to my eyes as I read about a
grandfather who was going to have to leave college due to lack of funds, when
someone anonymously paid for his tuition. It was the next year at college that
the grandfather gave his life to ministry and is still in the pastorate today
as a result of the anonymous donor. One day he called up a former college
friend who was dying, only to find out from that man’s wife that this friend
had been the anonymous donor and had taken extra jobs to pay for this man’s
tuition. The grandfather learned about generosity and God’s sovereignty.
Another of my student’s wrote about his father who as a teenager got into an argument
with his stepdad before school one day. His stepfather was tragically killed in
a car accident that very day before he ever had a chance to make it right. That dad told his son, my student, that he
learned that you never know what a day holds and so you need to make things
right quickly while you have the chance. These are just four of the thirty-five
stories I read, but they all held stories and lessons in which God’s
fingerprints were seen. I was encouraged and challenged in the reading of them.
We are quick
sometimes to tell our stories, but are we also quick to point out what God
taught us and how He changed us? These are the truths that the next generations
need to hear. Tell your stories, moms and grandmothers. Let your children and
grandchildren know how God has cared for your family. Tell your stories, Sunday
School teachers, Awana, and youth group leaders. Many of the children in your
groups will remember them and be encouraged by them for years to come. Tell
your stories, women of all ages, one to another. May we hear how God has been
faithful in your life so that we too can trust that He will be faithful in ours
when we’re going through a difficult testing. After all, your story is not just
a story; it is a display of God’s faithfulness in keeping His promise to “cause
all things to work together for good, to those who love God, to those who are
called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).
So come on
over. I’ll have coffee brewing and hot water for tea in the kettle. Tell me
your story.
--Amy O'Rear
