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Be Prepared

I have a precious childhood memory of me in the back seat of my parents VW bug with my nose pressed against the glass as the Washington DC suburb of Arlington Virginia rolls by. My father is driving and my mother is in the front passenger seat. 

My mind is racing over something that happened the day before. And as I process the event, I begin to form sentence after sentence, with all the accompanying dialogue, as I ponder the best way to tell the “story” to my mother. Who at that time was my biggest fan.

Fast forward several years and I’m married to Tim. And one day he brings home our first personal computer, a Commodore 64. As he takes it out of the box and sets it on the table, he says, “Honey, I love all your stories. Please write them down.” Then for the rest of his life, he continues to shove the latest and greatest computer under my dancing fingers. 

I understand I’m a gifted story teller. But you must know, I don’t rest lightly on that gift. I study writing and I listen to critique. When I’m done typing, I read every word out loud, over and over as I pick them apart just like I did when I was a kid. 

What if I told you, as Christians, we are all supposed to be story tellers. Maybe not to the degree I am, but perhaps we shouldn’t rely completely on others to tell the greatest story we carry in our hearts. The one that tells how we came to the decision to follow Jesus.

I believe Peter’s directive in 1 Peter 3:15 commands us to ALWAYS have a story prepared to give a reason for the hope within us. As the world around us falls darker and darker, and Christianity gets attacked on all sides, our hope becomes the greatest tool we have to share the gospel.

I hear your sighs, and all the excuses. I hear you say you don’t know how to tell a compelling story, or you’re not good at it, or…STOP! Think about this, we don’t hesitate today to pull up a YouTube video to learn how to do just about anything we want to. And to our surprise, many of those tasks are often easier than we ever imagined. So why not use the same tools to learn how to tell a great story of hope? 

Do you need to boost your hope? Well, deeply reflecting on what Jesus has done in your life is the best place to start. So, get out your keyboard and write those moments down. Then get on line and learn basic story telling skills. 

Here’s a few of my favorite sites:

2014 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here's an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 2,500 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 42 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

I Knew Him Intimately

DSC00985A few weeks ago, I was putting together a photo collage of my granddaughter Juliette to post on facebook for her fourteenth birthday. As this picture popped up on my screen, I was first drawn to Jules’ image. All our grandchildren loved their Papa’s toys, and it was always a treat when he took them for a motorcycle ride. It was a perfect choice to add to my collection.

But for some reason, I became fixated on the image of Tim. I enlarged the picture and slowly absorbed every inch. I noticed how his thumb was resting on the “start” button. How focused he was on what he’s doing, and not on the photo being taken. And doggone it, there had to be one of those blasted cigarettes dangling from his lips.

The picture made me realize how well I knew every inch of that man. The way he pushed his sunglasses on the top of his head. How that vein in the crease of his elbow always protruded. And all those lines on his face – I could map each one. Then I laughed out loud remembering how much I loved the tiny little white hairs that covered his earlobes.Tim Barbados

On and on I went marveling at how intimately I knew Tim. And how there’s not just emotional or sexual intimacy, but physical intimacy as well. And how grateful I am to have experienced all those levels with him.

“You have searched me Lord, and you know me,” the Psalmist says. “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place…”

Oh, how many times have I read that without fully grasping its meaning? How easily I brush aside the reality that God does know how many hairs are on my head. How interesting that an ordinary picture of Tim could provide such a vivid image of how well God knows me.

I will never get over the loss of Tim. And maybe I’m not supposed to. For I believe, God did not create us for temporal relationships, but for ones that never end. And in that eternity, we were to know and be known by all. Including our God.

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