A Story to Tell

This week two of their friends died.

Dolores died the day after Christmas of pancreatic cancer and Janet now knew of another cancer victim.  Dolores's family in Connecticut phoned them and told them the sad news.  Such memories. Dolores and her husband Dick were good friends of Janet and Dick starting fifty years ago.  In fact both Dicks were lifeguards together at Spring Lake Park in Wyckoff, NJ.  And Dolores introduced Janet to a wonderful chocolate cake which became the Weisiger family 'birthday cake'.  Yes, wonderful memories and stories to tell.

Tom was a newer friend during the past four years.  A tall man in height and a tall man of strong Christian faith, he always blessed others with a sense of humor and a twinkle in his eye.  This week Tom graduated to heaven to be with his blessed Lord but left many to grieve his earthly absence.

Both Dolores and Tom had a story to tell and family and friends would cherish those stories.  It made Janet realize we all have a story to tell and she wondered, was she telling her story?  Would her story be told by others?  Did her story answer some of the big questions in life.....?  What is the meaning of life?  Why am I here?  What happens after I die?  Do I have a purpose in the grand scheme of things?  Is life just fun and games and then..poof!...nothing?  Yes, she knew stories are important and she had one life, one chance to fulfill her purpose.

Today communication takes various forms....talking in person, by phone, email, twitter, facebook...all about people and their lives.  But Janet knew communication also takes place through attitudes, actions, looks, facial expressions, activities.  Our lives tell stories in so many ways.  So what was she communicating?

She knew she had a wonderful story to tell and she could not ignore it.  Jesus had been real to her since 1971 but He had continued to make His presence known in subsequent years.  Had she told everyone she knew?  Did her life constantly shine with the presence of Jesus?  When did her story begin?

She remembered back to 1970.  She had been invited to sing at a huge womens' denominational meeting in Cleveland, Ohio.  The featured speaker was Millie Dienert from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.  Janet sat in the front row and after singing her solo, sat and listened carefully to Millie's story.  She still remembered how her heart was moved as Millie shared what it meant to "put God on the throne of her life".  Janet heard words about the Lord that she had never heard before.  By the end of Millie's speech, Janet had tears flowing down her face.  She approached Millie to thank her and could hardly speak, the emotion of being touched by God's spirit overflowing.  Janet left that conference convicted that her life must change so that God was "on the throne".

A few months later, in 1971, she sang at another denominational gathering and was led to attend a workshop entitled "Lay Witness Mission".  As she entered she tangibly felt an atmosphere of God's love permeating that room.  She was astounded that regular, normal church members showed such love for each other.  She found out that this change had come upon them because they had recently experienced a Lay Witness Mission in their church.  Janet got excited and without hesitation concluded that her home church had to have such a mission.  When the mission weekend took place at her own church, people from other churches came and told their stories of how their lives had been changed by Jesus.  There were so many in her church that had never heard that before.  Then during the Sunday morning worship service, those in attendance were invited to come forward and give their lives to Christ.  Janet and Dick did not hesitate.  They stepped out and knelt at the front of the sanctuary. They looked around and were amazed that three quarters of the church came forward!  A miracle!  An historical event!  All because ordinary people shared their stories of a life changing moment of surrendering their lives to Christ and putting God on the throne of their lives.

Yes, a simple, profound story.  Janet knew that she didn't control who heard her story and who responded to the Holy Spirit's call, but what was important is that the story of Jesus in her life be told again and again and again.

"And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."   I John 5:11-12

(My dear reader...what is your story?)