New Blogging Adventure

For whatever reason and through a variety of different circumstances and venues over the past several weeks, I have been toying with the idea of occasionally inviting a friend or family member to write a post on my blog. There are just so many people that have so many cool stories to share. God is at work and I feel compelled to open up my blog to share stories about others and their encounters with God. How they're growing. What they're learning. Ways they see God at work. Messes redeemed.

Just a week ago tonight (Thursday) we had the incredible privilege of watching, via email, as God did HIS thing in the life of some dear friends of ours and an encounter they had with a homeless woman. After watching this particular story unfold I just felt like the whole world needed to hear their story. It was POWERFUL. So Saturday I contacted my friend because I was desperate for her to share her amazing story. And she said she would.

And then Sunday's sermon dove-tailed beautifully into what I had been thinking about doing with my blog. It was sort of the confirmation that yes, indeed, I need to share stories of Jesus at work. The sermon title: The Story Collector.  Hmmmm. I drove away from church thinking, "Yep, I want to listen to, collect, and tell other people's stories. So that God gets all the props."

I have this unique opportunity - my blog - and I want to use it for bigger things. More than just telling my story, or my family's story, although I see rich value in sharing those things. I see my blog as my journal to capture these days, these moments, so that some day my kids will look back and see our lives. Our story. Their story. The raw. The hard. The good. The God moments. The silly. And everything in between. And hopefully by telling our story, it encourages you in living out your story.

Everywhere I turn I keep hearing "story". Maybe it's the catchphrase of Christendom these days. It's certainly a buzz word and I think that's great. I think God is in the business of using our stories to touch other people. To tell His bigger story about how crazy He is for us. How He wants to swoop down into our lives and love and give hope and shower peace and a whole lot of other things.

I keep hearing, over and over again, stories from friends about how they met God in their despair, saw God answer their prayers, experienced God in powerful ways, felt God's presence. And I want others to hear those stories, too.

As Pastor Eric challenged us near the end of his sermon on Sunday, "Figure out how to tell other people's stories." It's as if he was saying, "Um, Alysa, you've been wondering how to use your blog? Be a story collector. Tell other people's stories."

And so, it is with GREAT excitement that tomorrow night I will share the first of hopefully many guest posts. My friend has emailed her story and you are in for a treat. You'll probably cry. You will be moved. And hopefully that movement is one step closer to God. That's her heart's desire, and mine, too!
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