Sharing Your Story.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about how God works in the lives of all people, in the entire world - all at the same time. I remember sitting in a large crowd at a conference in college, and God stirring up things in my heart during worship and the messages from great speakers. And I remember thinking that he was doing the same things in the hearts and minds of every other person in that room of 1600 people. It's simply mind-boggling.

Everyone has a story to tell. I truly believe that God has been at work in the lives of everyone in the world, at one point or another. Not everyone takes the time to notice he's there. But some do, and recognize the way he intervenes.

I love what Shauna Niequist has to say about our stories:

"I bet God has done something in your life that would make our hair stand on end if you told us about it. I bet the story God has written in your life and your home gives voice and breath and arms and legs to the gospel every bit as much as a church sermon ever did. Preaching is important, certainly. But it can't be the only way we allow God's story to be told in our midst."

It is fitting that this idea that we need to tell our stories to the people around us closes out Shauna's book "Bittersweet," as it is a collection of ways that God has worked in her life. She is a fantastic story teller, even when the stories are hard to share.

Not all of us will write books or blogs, but we do all have a story to tell. And we have a responsibility to tell it. Shauna goes on to write about the obstacles we encounter when we try to tell our stories:

"When I worked at a church a few years ago, it was my job to help people tell their stories on Sunday mornings at our gatherings. And a funny thing happened. When we were at the coffee shop, and it was just me and them and their story, their story came out in fits and starts, unvarnished and raw. We cried and laughed and every time I was amazed at what God had done in this person's life.

And then almost every time, when they arrive [at church] on Sunday, they looked a little less like themselves. They were kind of a distant, polished, fancy version of themselves, and sounded a lot less like themselves. They stopped believing that their story was enough, and they started saying all the phrases and quoting all the verses we've all heard a thousand times, turning them from sacred songs into platitudes and cliches... We dilute the beauty of the gospel story when we divorce it from our lives, our worlds, the words and images that God is writing right now on our souls."

Vulnerability is hard. I'm an internal processor, a delicate balance of thinker/feeler, an introvert; it's hard for me to describe how I'm feeling sometimes, or even how I've seen God work in a situation. But there are these times when I can't help but share what I've seen or thought or felt or experienced. I guess that's why I started this blog a million years ago. (Ok, fine, eight years ago).

No matter how eloquent or elegant or effortless you speak (or don't speak), we need to share our stories. Shauna continues: "Let's stop acting as if religious professionals are the only ones who have a right and a responsibility to tell God's story. If you are a person of faith, it is your responsibility to tell God's story, in every way you can, every form, every medium, every moment."

I'd love to keep on typing out the rest of the chapter for you to read here, because it's just so good. But I'll refrain because I've probably made my point. Well, almost. Just one last thing. We tell our stories, not because they are about us and how great we are, but that they point to the someone in our lives that our stories are really about. Our stories fit into a larger story - one that God started a long time ago, and is continuing today through us. Don't be afraid to share your story with the people around you.

Global Missions: Students reaching Students.

See below for a sneak peak into the world of Cru Global Missions (formerly WSN). Students of the world, reaching students of the world. Changed lives, changing lives.

(Works best if you watching it full screen).