Show and Tell

Do you have the same memory I HAD of elementary school when show and tell was just about the most exciting thing you did?!? I always looked forward to choosing just the perfect thing from home that I could show my classmates. Yesterday, Isaiah was trying to make his show and tell selection for the week that had to start with the letter T. He took FOREVER to make a decision. He wanted to JUST the right thing to bring.

Show and Tell as a kid is exciting because you are sharing something about yourself to other people. Whether it be a crazy loud toy, or a rock, or a teddy bear (what Isaiah FINALLY decided on); you don't really care so much about what it was, you JUST wanted other people to see something that you thought was REALLY cool.

Unfortunately, I feel that we all grow out of the "show and tell" phase. At some point we stop sharing things about ourselves with other people. Maybe it's because someone told us what we thought was dumb OR we started worrying if we were right or wrong instead of just SHARING something about ourselves. We become hesitant to open ourselves up to other people in fear of getting hurt. We certainly aren't as excited anyone as a kindergartner is to share something about themselves. 

And that's what I really wanted to chat about today- Story telling. I'm not talking about sitting down and reading the Berenstain Bears together, but instead telling stories about ourselves to other people. All of us have some great stories to share with others and by sharing these stories, we can really get to know other people. We can only put ourselves "in other peoples' shoes" when we actually know where their shoes have been!  

One of my favorite stories from the Bible is Jonah and the Big Fish. (Full Story of Jonah HERE) It's one of my favorite because I can relate to it. God tells Jonah to do something. Jonah does exactly the opposite. God STILL shows love of Jonah by not letting him drown, instead Jonah gets swallowed by a BIG fish. After 3 days in the fish, Jonah gets spit out and goes to do what God asked him to do.

This story of Jonah is significant to me because I was like Jonah. I grew up feeling like I was being called to church work.Lots of people told me this and I REALLY felt that calling. BUT, I didn't WANT TO GO! So I instead went to the college to go into sports journalism. I was going to be on ESPN! Well the University of Minnesota turned out to be my GIANT fish. I got swallowed up for a year. It was horrible for me BUT God saved me through that year by helping me realize how much I needed God in my life. SO I finally decided to listen and I got spit up at Concordia St. Paul where I could go into church work.

That's just one of MANY stories I have. And you know what, YOU have interesting stories too! Don't stop sharing your stories and your life with other people. God has put the people around you in your life RIGHT now for a reason-they aren't there by accident.

Challenge yourself this week to share some of your stories while listening to stories from others. Instead of just scrolling through facebook or instagram and looking at pictures and posts- look deeper and find out what is behind them! I bet there is a good story out there just waiting to be told.