My Story

A few weeks ago my pastor asked if I would share my story, and the hope I've found through it, with our church. Always eager to allow God to use my past to offer others hope, I said yes.

The problem is it is hard to mine into the depths of the traumatic events of my life to share with others (the divorces, depression, and violent episodes that marked my home), but it is worth it when I get to the second layer of my story. The one where God came and found me as an 11-year-old girl, told me He loved me so much that He sent His Son to come and die on my behalf, and that He wanted to cover me with love and grace and make me His. From that moment on my Heavenly Father provided small group leaders, youth pastors, friends and a church to love, care for, and provide a safe place for me.

As I prepared to share my story, I struggled to keep the heaviness of my past from weighing me down. The Friday before I was to speak, God reminded me that the hope of my story is not just for those who will hear it, but also for me.

God not only came and found me in my youth, but he held my hand and never let me go. When I went away to college I met Joel. We became good friends and then one weekend second semester my freshman year our eyes were opened and we were crazy about each other. It was wonderful and terrifying and overwhelming to fall in love so young, so deeply, so completely.

I grew up never believing that love could last a lifetime. In my experience there was no happily ever after. That was reserved for fairy tales and novels. So after a month or two of dating Joel, loving and being loved for the first time in my life, and being so gloriously happy I didn't know what to do with myself, I told Joel we needed to break up.

I told him that I was too happy, I loved him too much, it had to end sometime, and it would be less painful to do it now than later.

He said no. (I didn't know you could say no when someone tried to break up with you.)

He said we weren't going to break up now, being happy and in love were not good reasons to break up, and he didn't think we would break up - ever.

That was just crazy talk to me, but he seemed so confident, and I really didn't want our relationship to end, so I trusted him.

A year later he asked me to marry him. A few years after that we said our vows. And we have now been married for over 18 years and have four kids together.

When I shared that part of my story on Sunday morning, they applauded. They cheered in both services. It was completely unexpected. I was sharing my story to offer them hope in their hardship, but I was blessed in return as they rejoiced with me in the miraculous work God has done in my life.

That is the blessing of sharing our stories with one another. As we allow each other into our stories, we can offer comfort for the hard times and rejoice in the moments when God's hand is evident.

And we remember that we are all still contributing to the Greatest Story Ever Told.