When you share your story (if you ever do) with others… where do you start?

Do you begin with childhood? Or you’re favorite memory? Or you’re darkest moment? Or somewhere else?

Now, thinking about those who are Christians reading this… where do you start your story (or testimony for those in the older generation …)?

The reason I ask is because I had a great conversation with Pieter here at YFC and he said something about our stories that made me think.

Why do we always start our stories/testimonies with the bad part (ex: God saved me from drugs, alcohol addiction, sexual addiction, depression, bad times, etc…). That is a big piece if that is truly where God met us, but what did God do yesterday? last week? the last year? the last five years? or so on? If we can’t see how God has made a difference yesterday, then has it been a life change and life relationship – or is it just fire insurance that helped you behave better for awhile. Not minimizing change, getting out of a bad situation and all that – just does your relationship go beyond that to include your whole life? (paraphrase)

I know my story always seems to start with all my crap and things I’ve done wrong… it got me thinking.

You’re thoughts?

One Response to “Where do you start when sharing your story…?”

1. Josh
   November 14th, 2009 @ 7:13 am

   I suppose so. I mean, the “bad stuff” is what makes our stories sort of interesting, right? Fairy tales are always told in the midst of conflict or in the middle of the wrong being righted. We’re always told that they lived happily ever after, but who cares about those mundane day-in-day-out parts of Cinderella and Prince Charming’s relationship? I think your question also asks what makes our lives narratives in the first place? Most don’t live in happily-ever-after situations (ha, and if you it probably means you’re sort of boring to hear about…) so what do we or God do that makes it a story worth hearing? Personally, I think what the church has done in light of God’s departure in the ascension of Christ is pretty interesting BECAUSE it has done both good and bad, because it’s a mixed bag of a narrative, and even more so that its still unfolding before our eyes.

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