Share Your Story--Challenge #1

    I’ve told you before that my upcoming book’s title is She Won’t Shrink Back, and my goal with this blog is to inspire others to not shrink back from God’s plan for their lives. So about once a month, I’ll be giving you a #wewontshrinkback challenge.
     Are you ready? Because here is your first #wewontshrinkback challenge.


     The challenge: To share one of your life stories with someone else this week. If this sounds unimportant or weird at first, please keep reading and resist the urge to shrink back. I’m going to walk you through it.
     Some of us are just natural storytellers. My sister Rachel—anytime we have a family gathering, sitting at the dinner table or hanging out in the living room, she can draw us in with her stories. My coworker and friend Andy—he has so many stories in his back pocket, and he can pull them out during car rides or any idle moment to make us laugh and make us think. 


     But whether you feel like you are a natural storyteller or not, your peeps need to hear your stories. You know who your peeps are…

• Your children
• Your friends
• Your classmates & coworkers
• Your cousins, grandparents, nieces, etc.
• Your community (i.e., your church, your neighborhood, your school)

Please don’t make these people wait until your funeral to hear stories from your life.


            Today I read a quote by Ben Okri, Nigerian poet and novelist: “Stories can conquer fear, you know. They can make the heart bigger.”[1]
            I like to think that I’m all about conquering fears and making our hearts bigger. That’s what I hope I’m accomplishing with the stories that I share in my book. I want you to be able to experience this too.


Your Story
            So today, I’m encouraging you to choose a story from your life of 1) something NEW you have learned or 2) of something COOL or IMPORTANT that has happened to you. Then I’m asking you to write it down and share it with someone.


            Let’s narrow our search and just consider the last 3 years.
OPTION #1: In the last 3 years, what is something NEW that you have learned?

• This could be a huge insight, but it could also be fun—it doesn’t have to be super profound. If it helps, fill in the blanks to this statement (which I’m borrowing from Sarah Bessey): “I used to think ____________ but now I think _______________.”[2] 
• What led to this change of thinking? Was it a tragedy in your life or a class you took? What was the biggest factor or moment?
• Write down a few bullet points of how you felt, why it was a difficult lesson for you to learn, how does your new perspective change how you treat others or view God, etc.
• Now take 10 minutes and just write it out. Sometimes it helps to pretend like it’s an urgent email, and go ahead and email it to someone who would be willing to read and “listen” to it via email. (Don’t feel weird; I’ve done it several times.)

OPTION #2: In the last 3 years, what is something COOL or IMPORTANT that has happened to you that you don’t want to forget?

• Consider those moments where you persevered through a difficult situation, a time when a friend’s words to you were spot on, or an act of kindness you were able to receive (or give!).
• Or perhaps there’s an important milestone memory that you’d love to have written down. In the last 3 years, did you have a birth, a death, a wedding, a graduation, a job transfer, a move, etc.? (For example, my nieces and nephews love for me to tell them the stories of where I was, what I doing, who was with me… on the day they were born.[3] I’m sure your peeps would love to hear these details as well.)
• If you’re a Christian, “what was a key moment that you think God showed up in your life?”[4] How did He provide for you? Did He bring a new friend into your life? Did He give you a dream or speak to you? How has He answered a prayer?
• Now choose one memory and take 10 minutes to write it down. Again, I encourage you to think of someone safe to email it to, and send the email right away.

Your Turn
     Next week I’m going to post my “I used to think _______ but now I think ______” story, even though I have no idea yet what that might be. But that’s the thing about art and storytelling: We have to open our eyes to see the things that we usually miss.
     If you still think this is dumb or weird or too hard, read the following bible passages. In each situation, Jesus helped a person, then that person then told the story to his or her hometown “peeps,” and there were ripple effects in the town.People were amazed and believed because of the testimony that was shared. 


Mark 5:19-20: Jesus said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.


John 4:39, 42: Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” ...They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”


            Now it’s your turn. Your stories matter, so don’t shrink back!


Your challenge is this:

1. Identify a story from your life.
2. Write it down.
3. Start by sharing it with someone “safe.”
4. Then choose at least one more person that you’d like to share it with, and share it before next Tuesday!
5. If you want to invite a friend to do this challenge with you, forward this email or post this blog link to social media, tag your friend, and use the hashtag #wewontshrinkback. :)
6. Please send your story to me as well! I will choose one story to share on my blog in December!

Love,
Mary

[1] (2015). Drury, David. “Simple Steps to Sharing Your Personal Story.” Retrieved from daviddrury.com. http://www.daviddrury.com/2015/09/22/simple-steps-to-sharing-your-personal-spiritual-story/
[2] (2015). Bessey, Sarah. “I used to think ______ but now I think _______. [an #OutofSortsBook synchroblog].” http://sarahbessey.com/
[3] When Rylee was born, I was running in a track meet, and I begged my mom to take me out of school the next day to go see her. When Raegan was born, I left a little early from track practice to make it to the hospital to be there when she was born. For Kami, I was asleep in my dorm room on a Saturday at 7am when my mom called me to say that the baby was coming that day. Then I was riding in the car with my roommate Emily to her step-sister’s house when I got the call that Kami was born in that Missouri hospital. Russ was born on my 21st birthday, and after my afternoon class, I left my college campus to drive an hour to get to the hospital. For Eli, I was eating dinner at a Chinese restaurant with my friend Amy when I got the text of the photo of his little face. I was so excited that I showed his photo to our waiter! When Jozi was born, I was packing up my suitcase to drive with Mom and Sara to Kansas. I was in my bedroom when I got the text from Royce with her photo. And I cried because we hadn’t known if she would be a boy or girl, and I was so surprised she was a girl!
[4] (2015). Drury, David. “Simple Steps to Sharing Your Personal Story.” Retrieved from daviddrury.com. http://www.daviddrury.com/2015/09/22/simple-steps-to-sharing-your-personal-spiritual-story/