Sharing our stories

Then Moses went to meet his father-in-law. He bowed down and kissed him. They asked each other if all was well, and went into the tent.  Moses told his father-in-law all the Lord had done to Pharaoh and the Egyptians because of Israel. He told him about how they had suffered on the way, and how the Lord had saved them.

Jethro was glad because of all the good things the Lord had done for Israel in saving them from the hand of the Egyptians. So Jethro said, “Honor and thanks be to the Lord, Who saved you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of Pharaoh, and Who made you free from the power of Egypt. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods. It was proven when they acted in their pride against the people.” Then Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, gave a burnt gift in worship to God. And Aaron came with all the leaders of Israel to eat bread with Moses’ father-in-law before God.  Ex 18: 7-12  New Life Version (NLV)

Sometimes as I sit in church during the sermon, my mind wanders. Gasp! I know - I'm the
pastor's wife and should probably hang on every word, but alas, it's true. My mind wanders. But inevitably, when my husband begins to tell a story that's related to his topic, my ears perk up and my mind reins in those wandering thoughts.

Why? Because stories are powerful. Stories have an interactive capacity to weave us into their web so that we imagine what the character is feeling and we experience the action in our minds like a virtual computer game.

Not only do they captivate us, stories unite, connect and heal us - both through the listening and the telling. 

Remember Moses?  He had married into Jethro's family after fleeing from Egypt 40 years before the time of today's Bible passage.   So Jethro probably knew Moses' history. No doubt Moses had shared stories of  the sacrifice of Jochebed, his mother,  with his new wife's family. He probably told stories of things that happened in Pharaoh's court - maybe even recounting the trauma that caused him to stutter.  When he killed the Egyptian task master and fled, he came to Jethro and eventually became part of that family. For the second forty years of his life, Moses was healing slowly through sharing his stories with trusted friends and family until he was ready to go back to  lead his people out of Egypt.

Here in Exodus, when Jethro meets his son-in-law this time, Moses begins to tell the new stories - the stories of the suffering of his people, the victories of God, the struggles in the wilderness and the miracles of God's provision.

During the healing journey, telling the story of our lives and experiences, especially the traumatic ones, is vital to the process. It helps us to recover our voice - to have words to tell about what we've experienced. Story telling helps us integrate our painful experiences into our lives and lessens the pain the more we share it.  Telling our stories helps us to affirm the reality of what happened to us.
It also offers a chance for others to give us feedback, revealing  things to us that we may not even see yet!

Remember, when Moses encountered the burning bush in the wilderness? He had doubts about his own ability to become the deliverer and leader of his people. He was afraid and  balked, telling God he couldn't do it because he stuttered.

But as Jethro listens to these new tales, he hears what Moses may not yet realize - there is no more stuttering. His voice is now confident and strong.  Jethro listened with interest and empathy; then he was able to affirm to Moses that God had indeed done a healing work, not only for the Israelites, but for Moses too: " [God] made you free from the power of Egypt."
 

Listening to life stories blesses the hearer as well as the story teller. As Jethro listened to Moses' story, his faith increased. "Now I know that the Lord is greater than all the gods." And he worshipped God.  If there was any doubt before in Jethro's heart about the person of Almighty God, the I AM,   there wasn't any now.

What are you going through on your healing journey? And what is God doing in you?
Share that in some way, either through writing or verbally with someone you trust. We never know how our stories will affect the lives of others, but one thing is for certain - God will always use our stories to heal our hearts and to encourage others!

Giving from the heart

Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back. Luke 6:38 (NLT)

When going through difficult circumstances, it's easy for our focus to shift from the Lord to our own feelings, especially if we're experiencing fear. Fear has fangs that easily burst our bubble of faith.

When that happens, we withdraw emotionally from the Lord and others. We tend tighten the hold we have on what we've got - whether it's our finances or our possessions, or even the prayer and emotional support we normally give to others.

You know what I mean. Those days you feel so emotionally drained, you'd rather stay in bed with the covers over your head than doing something for someone else or thinking about the problems of those worse off than you.

Rather than giving to others freely we turn away from them because we're afraid we won't have anything left if we give it all.

It's a lot like the illustration of the monkey with his hand in the narrow-mouthed cookie jar. He could easily slide his hand into the jar, but when he grasped the cookie in his fist, he couldn't remove his hand from the jar. But he still refused to let the cookie go because it belonged to him. Even if he couldn't eat it himself, he still possessed a cookie. But if he let it go, he feared he wouldn't have anything at all.

Yet, the scriptures are filled with stories of those who faced dire circumstances and still shared freely with others. The widow who only had enough oil and flour to make one last meal for herself and her son is a good example. When Elijah came to her and asked her to share her last meal with him, she did it freely and God blessed her with an inexhaustible supply until the famine ended. (1 Kings 17:10-16)

Even in his darkest hours, the Lord only thought of us. In the predawn hours he spent praying in Gethsemane's garden, he loosed his hold on his physical life as he prayed, "Not my will but thine be done." As he hung on the cross dying, he prayed for forgiveness for his enemies because they didn't understand what they were doing. He gave up his life so that we might have eternal life.

To be able to loosen our fists on our possessions or on our mental and emotional resources in order to help others around us who are in need, is at the heart of the Gospel of Christ. Especially when we're going through rough patches in life ourselves, the act of giving to others with a heart of love allows the Lord to give back to us - joy during our discouragement and materially to meet our needs.

We don't give in order to get - we give because we're already been given so much! And when our hands are empty, God refills them again so we can give some more. Amen!

COWs in the craft room

“But you are God’s chosen and special people. You are a group of royal priests and a holy nation. God has brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now you must tell all the wonderful things that he has done. The Scriptures say,” 1 Peter 2:9 CEV

One of my favorite commercials these days are the California Dairy commercials. In one commercial, there is a group of girls having a play date. The moms are sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee and talking. At one point the noise from the upstairs bedroom gets out of hand so the hosting mom calls upstairs, telling them to keep the noise down. The scene flashes to the bedroom where the black and white Holstein cow is the instigator.

That commercial reminded me of an elite group I belonged to several years ago: the C-O-W Sisterhood. I'm not sure what it stood for - maybe "Crafts Or Whatever" - but I proudly wore the stamped "C-O-W" letters to church on my right arm. Whatever the letters stood for, to me, they signified a bonding time together with the young teen girls in our church.

Those girls loved crafting. Since I had a whole room full of card making tools and sewing supplies, I invited the group of giggly girls over to the house to play in my craft room.

 No rules - just be careful with the tools and put one thing back before getting another out so I didn't have a huge mess to deal with later. Every scrap of paper, every tool and every crafting supply was available to use.

What a fun time! The girls quickly busied themselves with projects and just talked all afternoon. Somehow cows became a theme of the day. When suppertime rolled around, we carried the fun into the kitchen and decorated pizzas.

All too soon it was over, but before heading off to church, we each received the "C-O-W" stamps on our right arms and promised to do it again. Of course, the ink smudged and  got on everything else, but to me, it became a symbol of bonding with the girls - a way to impact their lives with the Gospel through an afternoon of fun.

God has stamped his image on our hearts, bringing us into his elite group of chosen people. He has given us each unique gifts and talents to use to shine into the darkness of this world so that others might see his light to follow him.

What unique talents and abilities has God given you? How can you use those abilities to reach the world around you for him?