It’s Friday! And, we’re all writing on one word: Tell. Join us at Katie’s…you’ll be so glad you did!
We have a friend who is a teller of stories. The same stories. Over and over again.
And, we always laugh. Over and over again.
Because those stories aren’t just words. They’re part of who our friend is. They are him. And we love his stories because we love him.
In the same way, my kids ask me to tell my stories. Over and over again.
“Tell us about the time you had a snake in your bathroom.”
“Tell us about the impala that fell out of the tree.”
“But, I’ve told you that story before,” I say.
“Tell us again…”
Because it’s not just in the telling but in the retelling that stories become part of who we are. And, they become part of those who love us, too.
I sat at a funeral this week and listened as a sweet friend told stories of her grandmother, passing the stories on to the next generation and to all of us who were listening. And, because her grandmother had influenced my life by her influence on her children, those stories instantly became part of me in the most beautiful way. I’ve thought of their impact and its reach – around the world and back and right here to me.
And, I realize that our stories must be told. And retold. Maybe not to arenas full of people or even blogs with many followers but to each other. Because so often the telling does the tying.
We sit, coffee in hand, and share our stories, and while we do, our stories knit our lives and hearts together. And when we tell them again, the ties only bind stronger.
So, tell. Tell someone. The stories of God’s goodness. The stories of your faith. Even when it falters. Let others into the story he’s writing of you.
This makes me smile as I remember the times my kids have asked me to tell my stories and their stories. You are right in how it ties us together.
Thank you for making me smile as I consider the sweetness of telling and telling again.
I’m visiting from FMF.
This is such a wonderful story about story telling… Tell! I had used the anecdotal story telling of Native Americans in my FMF blog piece for today so this really struck a cord. Great Post! Have a happy weekend.
Love seeing all these posts about telling stories! My family did not tell many stories growing up but my husband’s did. My children ask for stories, and we tell them, over and over again. And yes. We always laugh. Visiting from FMF
What a wonderful take on TELL. I had an epiphany several years ago when my mom’s second husband died and no one had any happy stories to tell except my mom. He forgot to make stories with his son and grandkids, so there seemed to be no stories to tell. It was my eye-opener! My kids love to hear their baby stories over and over. Great post!
My adult kids call these “mom’s war stories” But they always wanted me to tell them again and again. Visiting , not onlly from FMF but Zippi’s…………..
http://smidgensbitsandsnippets.blogspot.com/
Great post! So true and so like God whose chose to tell gospel through stories.
your post came up when checking for my book “Telling the Gospel Through Story” – because Marsha had used nearly those exact words.
Lots of stories here http://www.storyingthescriptures.com