One Cold December Day, Story No. 1

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Inspired by the testimonies of others and the invitation given to me a few weeks ago to share my own, I have created this space on my blog to share My Story. Here is the introduction and an invitation to read along as I share My Life's Stories to give a Testimony of God's Goodness. Along the way, I hope you will also be inspired and equipped to start recording your story. 

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The Call to Remember 

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There is great power in remembering. There can also come great hurt in remembering. Why do we forget some moments and remember others? Why should we work to never forget somethings and also work at forgetting others? In what ways is our faith impacted by our ability to remember? 

Before I set before you the first part of My Story, I hope to inspire you to consider the power that awaits your soul when you choose to see remembering as a spiritual act of worship. An act that isn't optional, but instead a command with a promise. An act of worship that will woo your heart to believe again, hope again, trust again, and delight in a heavenly Father who pursues your admiration through the ways he has predestined your story to speak of his glory and love. 

I don't know if you are like me--forgetful! I get frustrated with my inability to remember things. I forget my grocery lists at home. I forget to make dentist appointments. Sometimes I even forget to put on deodorant. This forgetfulness also finds its way into my life of faith. I get particularly frustrated when I forget to remember who God is, who I am, and how the people and circumstances he puts in my life transform me. And that his sovereign love has redeemed all the moments of all my days.

This obstacle of forgetfulness is not a new struggle for humanity. The story of the Israelites found Joshua 4 shows us that God knows that his people have a hard time remembering his love and provision for them. It also shows that the stories of his love and provision are to be passed from generation to generation, and that we are to build up “stones of remembrance” for ourselves and those who will come after us to remind us of the times God has been highly inventive in changing our circumstances or our hearts. Because he knows we will forget, he commands that we set up physical reminders.

What then does it look like for you and me to apply this command to our lives? 

I don’t know that 12 stones stacked in a pile is the answer. But it might be for those of you who are into landscaping. For me, the first step is taking the time to force myself to remember and reflect. I am a runner and a mom of four, so the best place for me to do this is either out on the road or with a cup of coffee prior to my kids waking in the morning. Being silent before the Lord lets him take my thoughts and soul on little mini journeys down memory lane. The second step is setting aside time periodically to write down a few of the thousands of thoughts that have gone through my head during my minutes of running and morning stillness. Most recently, it has been forcing myself out of bed before dawn to write the story of my life into "stones" that reflect pivotal moments in my life but more importantly reveal the hand of a mighty God being in control of it all. 

In order to set up these "stones" of My Story in an efficient and effective format, I have adapted each them to fit some of the Pixar Storytelling rules. This was so fun! I highly recommend it. Using this predetermined format helped me organize my ideas, and also helped me to stay true to focussing on ending each part of my story with a truth about who God is. 

As you read the "stones" of my testimony, my greatest desire is that you see bits and pieces of the following:

1. Evidence of how my life’s story is, to me, the most powerful weapon in sharing the reason for my hope (1 Peter 3:15). No one else's story has the power to convince me God is real as much as my own story.
2. Redemption and grace  are woven throughout the fallenness and brokenness. My faith isn't built on mountaintop experiences or torn apart down in the valleys. 
3. People, places, and experiences of my life are markers of the amazing and powerful work God is doing on this earth, right now! ​
4. I am using these words to help myself remember to believe every word that I have written is true. These are my stones, set up for all the people who see them to believe that the hand of God is mighty to save and he is worthy to be feared and adored. 
5. You can do this too! You can write out your story in little snippets that show the mighty saving grace of God. 

There is great power in remembering, even the hardest of experiences hold within them a truth that could set another person's soul free to believe God is who he says he is. When we take the time to remember our past, we open the door of insight. We extend an invitation to the Holy Spirit to come in and turn our soul's eyes toward all that we have been given in Christ. In the looking back and recording of our stories we just might discover evidence we haven't seen before of God's faithfulness, pursuit, and promises. The result will likely impact both our present and our future by ushering in new hope, unexplainable peace, and unshakeable trust in God's sovereignty over our lives.  

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Pixar-Style Testimony
One Cold December Day, Story No.1 

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• Once upon a time, there was a young carpenter and farmer's daughter who fell in love. And despite their lack of knowledge of Christ’s salvation and his invitation to relationship, they began to build a home and family that would one day consist of four adults who loved the Lord, who would marry spouses who loved the Lord, and would provide a total of 18 grandchildren.
• Every day, they worked hard trying to make ends meet. Neither of them was a stranger to the necessity of hard work for survival and on principle. Neither had known monetary wealth or fancy living. Yet, both were rich in relationships--the husband having 12 siblings, and the wife having 8.
• One very cold day in December, with great complications and a near-death experience, they welcomed into the world their oldest, a son--Justin David, they named him.
• Because of that, they had now begun a family and the course of natural family planning had begun. But when the wife found out just three months later that she was pregnant again, fear seized her as she considered that it could very well cost her her life. Yet, she carried that safely for baby nine months.
• Because of that, on another very cold day (not quite 1 year later), their oldest daughter was born. Healthy, no complications but the name chosen for her before birth didn’t fit. For days they searched for just the right name.
• Until finally, it was found. Jaclyn Marie, that would be this child’s name. She would always be their second-born, but the first girl. She would be followed by a still-born brother, a healthy brother, and a healthy born-in-Alaska sister, who would complete the family because the mother could bear no more children safely. Jaclyn would grow up to love the Lord, admire her parents, and live every day grateful for the gift of home that was provided for her on a little farm on the “outskirts” of New York Mills, MN. Population 1,000: Memories and people who impacted her life, countless. ​

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​Stay tuned. . . Next week: The Stars on Summer Nights, Story No. 2

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Photo credit: Abby & Brandon
Event: Go & See Retreat Spring 2019 
Location: Lake Darling Resort, Alexandria, MN
Caption: Jaclyn helping her daughter learn to start writing her own story. 

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Previous Posts in "My Story" 

. . .Doesn't Begin With Me

Most of Life . . . In-between