Since I haven’t been blogging as much lately, I have quite a few stories I could share. I have never really seen myself as a good storyteller, but here recently I have had several people tell me that I am pretty good at telling stories. This is really encouraging for me, because I think people love to hear stories. Stories are what give me fuel to do what I do in student ministry. To really know if I’m helping make an impact in a student’s life, I want to hear a story. Stories are what drive millions of people to spend a ridiculous amount of money at a movie theater. People love to hear stories.
Right now I have so many stories I could tell you about. I could tell you about how I went to an old folks home with a couple of other college-age students and sang Christmas carols. While we were singing in the Alzheimer’s wing, one of the ladies stood up right in front of us. I honestly thought she was just going to walk out (because 100% of the guys that went were tone-deaf…myself included…I am a guy. I promise) because it was so horrible. Instead she just stared at us for a couple of minutes.
I could tell you all about my flight home from Indiana to Kansas for Christmas. I was pretty scared to fly by myself for the first time. Also, I barely made my flight in Atlanta by three minutes because my first flight from Louisville was 30 minutes delayed. When I finally got on the plane, I sat next to a retired colonel. We talked the entire flight to Kansas City. Turns out he has two grandchildren who play competitive baseball for a team that I used to play against when I was their age. I hated that team, but I didn’t tell him that. We also talked about family and my upcoming trip to Kenya. During our whole conversation I could see an affair brewing in the seats in front of us. There was a lady who was talking to some guy she just met on the plane. She was talking about how on the weekends she goes out and has fun while her husband just stays at home. You could tell the guy she was talking to really wanted something to come out of this conversation on the plane. Maybe it was how he was listening so intently or how he grabbed her and sat her right down on his lap while she was getting up to go the bathroom. I’m not sure what gave away his intentions. Maybe it was him yelling “lap dance.” I’ll never know for sure what those two were thinking or planning to do, but I’m sure her boring husband who patiently waits at home for his wife to come home wouldn’t like it.
Another story I could share with you could be about a gothic girl named Kendra. I met Kendra a long time ago in middle school. She always wore black with a dog-like collar around her neck. She was in my science class in 8th grade, and I had decided to start talking to her about Jesus. I remember one time, we were making marshmallow castles for some reason in class, and she named her castle, “Satan’s Fortress.” Kendra was something else. Slowly, I would start bringing up Jesus in conversation, and she would quickly talked about how she hated Him and that she was an atheist. I can distinctly remember one time when we were talking about God, and she lashed out on me. She said, “If you ever bring up God again, I will scratch your eyeballs out.” So I pulled an Elijah, and ran away. I don’t know where she went to high school, but I never saw her again after middle school. …until yesterday. My mom and I were at the grocery store getting stuff for our Christmas dinner, and we stopped by the coffee shack that was inside the store. I asked for a hot chocolate, and guess who is there to make my hot chocolate…Santa Claus…not really. It was Kendra. She was dressed normal. No dog collar or black eye shadow. As I am writing this, I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t ask her how she was doing. I didn’t really say anything to her besides, “Please” and “thank you.” But I didn’t bring up God, and I didn’t get my eyeballs scratched out.
I could tell you all of these stories, because people love to hear stories. The question is, “Are you living a good story?” If you don’t have any good stories to tell, get out and make one! If you have to go fly on an airplane to make a good story, go do it (but I’m not paying for your ticket)!
I love all you guys and have a great Christmas with family and friends!
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