Tell Me a Story: How sharing can make a difference

Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to their children, and their children to the next generation.

—Joel 1:3

One of my least favorite chores is dusting, so I usually put it off until I absolutely must do it. I was at that point a few days before Thanksgiving. I knew I had to get my house in order before my daughter, Rebekah, and her family arrived. I removed objects from the top of my dresser, including the mother-daughter figurine that Rebekah had given me for Christmas a couple years back. As I wiped the statuette, I read the engraving on the back: tell me a story.

It seemed a message aimed directly at me. Lately I had been thinking about my writing and how I had been putting it off, like the dusting, not because I dislike it (I enjoy it!), but because other things had gotten in the way. I knew I couldn’t put it off any longer. This was a confirmation.

An idea struck. What if I challenged myself to write one story for each day of the Advent season? Could I do it? Could I allow the words to flow from my brain to my fingertips without stopping to “workshop” word choice and placement? I wanted to try. I wanted to honor the Savior with my words without getting hung up on perfectionism.

When Rebekah arrived, I told her my idea.

“Do you think you have enough stories?” she asked.

“Of course,” I said without hesitation. I had been keeping a list of holiday devotion ideas for years. It was time to give these stories a voice.

Throughout the ages, God’s people passed down stories of His faithfulness, His miraculous provision, and His wondrous works. Stories were told and retold.

In Psalm 40:5 King David offers praise, “Lord, my God, You have done great things: marvelous works and your thoughts toward us. There is no one who compares to you! I will try to recite your actions, even though there are too many to number.”

If King David could try to recite God’s marvelous works, even though there are too many to count, certainly I could try to come up with 25 stories to glorify God this holiday season.

What about you? It doesn’t matter whether you’re a writer or not. Can you recount God’s wondrous work in your life? Could you share that with your children or grandchildren?

Deuteronomy 6:7 admonishes us to share God-stories with our children, to “talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.”

Basically, we are to have conversations about God throughout our normal everyday life. Who knows, it just may be our story that God uses to instill faith in a child or lead another to Christ.

Some have said, “Your story could be the key to unlock someone else’s prison. Don’t be afraid to share it.”

In the process of sharing, we also help ourselves. Recalling how God came through for us in the past encourages us in the present.

This holiday season won’t you join me in telling a story? We can begin with the old, old story of the Savior’s birth. As the familiar carol urges, “Go, tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere. Go, tell it on the mountain that Jesus Christ is born.”

Thank You, God, for your marvelous works! If I were to recite them, there would be too many to count. Help me to tell the stories you want me to share, stories that point others to the manger. Glory to God in the highest! Amen!