I was in transition. I knew it. An empty nest, retirement, a move to a new community and the tumult of me and my sisters not only losing our mother but also selling the family home were only the outward manifestations of it.  Emotionally, I felt weary. Spiritually, I felt restless. Some things that once contributed to my joy seemed to lose their shine and purpose. One of my creative outlets, Facebook, felt less and less familiar. When I wrote to a Phoenix friend that I was thinking of leaving the social media scene, her reply was, “Leaving fb for you would not shock me. You have a lovely way of brightening the spirit of any page,  but it doesn’t really seem like your style.”  I love her candor, but it shook me ‘cause she was right. Something had to change.

Changes were on their way as a result of a surgical procedure that I had in April 2019; the event, the subject of a conversation, which in turn, led to some admonishment I sorely needed and humbly received from an unexpected source. Truth is, though I needed Believers to pray with me through this scary new development, I was reticent to ask certain people who were going through what I considered were much bigger tests of faith (and shining in glorious ways, I will add) to pray for me. I mean, c’mon… CANCER?! I didn’t feel I had the right to ask for prayer from someone walking THAT journey.

But some people have a way of asking, “So, how are you doing?” in a way that unravels us. For those few friends and family members who have that effect on me, I am truly grateful.  Where would I be but still hiding in shadows or flying under the radar as was my childhood way, had God not sent those folks to intervene at every pivotal point  in my life.  It was this kind of friend, this particular woman of God, undergoing chemo for cancer, who among other things, gently and gracefully reminded me that the needs of all God’s children are important to Him. Comparisons should be nonexistent in the Kingdom of God we all share a part in…

Why, I wondered have I always been so reticent to share my needs with others? My candid and caring friend in Phoenix didn’t seem to have that problem. In a recent email I wrote, “I love the way you tell your story.” and those last three words resonated with me. Tell your story…three words my mind would not let go. The distraction was compounded by the fact that I would hear them when I least expected them… at our church’s cafe, when I overheard a woman emphatically tell another, “Tell your story!”, in my daily devotionals, reading God’s Word, and in pulpit messages and teachings.

It wasn’t until I woke up one morning with a song on my mind.   I mentioned the chorus to my husband, but something about the words seemed to be wrong. Time to GOOGLE. I was only vaguely familiar with it, so I looked up the few words I had in my brain before my introduction-to-the-day coffee and I learned that the song was an All Sons And Daughters song. Instead of singing the words, “His Love is higher than the rising sun”, I SHOULD have been singing, “His NAME is higher than the rising sun.”. Intrigued and wanting to hear the entire song, I dug a little deeper and found a YouTube video of the recording. I didn’t get too far into listening  before the words of the first verse hit me square between the eyes…

“Praise Him all you sinners,

Sing, oh sing, you weary;

Oh, praise Him all you children of God;

We lift high His glory,

Shown throughout our stories,

We praise Him as the children of God…”

I took and held a deep breath, then exhaled. The rumblings of an idea ruminating within me for weeks suddenly rose to another status. Had God used a song, one I barely knew, as another way to speak His good future into my life? I felt euphoric… then the dread of fear nearly overwhelmed me. I wanted this whole ‘Tell Your Story’ idea to end right there and then.  I sent a private message to a friend who had been going through her own transition with the changes that come from an international move, a new job, and career. I asked her to tell me what she thought of an idea of having a ‘page’ on Facebook called ‘Tell Your Story’. She gave the idea a thumbs up….wrote back, in fact, “BRILLIANT!”. My ‘Tell Your Story’ story plot had just thickened!

Since then, STILL hemming and hawing about stepping out and actually promoting the page. The weight of not knowing exactly what it should look like and generally overthinking the whole process (Big surprise there for folks who know me, right?) was holding me back.  I knew two Bible verses, Acts 1:8 and Revelation 12:11, would be the foundational verses upon which I would begin to build the page, but after that, what would happen from the launch onward, only walking with a faithful God would reveal.

And God very well might walk me right back ‘to the garden’ – His creation. Growing up in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State, as a teenager, God began to open the eyes of my heart to Him through the beauty of nature.  What a witness for His glory! Nature still inspires me, though I worship the Creator instead of creation that I once idolized.  The line “…and the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known.” from the old Gospel song “In The Garden”, comes to mind as I write this paragraph. It so describes the ministry of God’s Holy Spirit to me “…as He tells me, I am His own.”.  I’m sure you’ll find photos of God’s creation amidst the posts. They will hopefully help tell my story and be a witness for His glory.

A lot has happened since those long ago days living in the Adirondacks. God led me on a path He called me to walk – one of service and ministry in several churches as a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none-musician. No longer an up-front minister of music but still deeply moved as a worshipper of His amazing grace, you may see some links to some song that has set my heart to dancing in celebration of all I have and am because of Him. They, too, will hopefully help to tell my story and be a witness for His glory.

A few years ago, I came across some photo editing apps and now do some original captioning of photos, using both original thoughts and Bible verses a photo might call to mind. Those bits of inspiration will hopefully help tell my story and be a witness for His glory.

I usually keep my ‘id’ well hidden, but from time to time I’ll share my geeky sense of humor. Those lighter moments will hopefully help tell my story and be a witness for His glory.

I’m a dog, turtle, horse lover (in that order) but don’t have any pets, and my hobbies are few. I am a long-time quilter and just the perseverance to finish a project could help tell my story and be a witness for His glory.

You may not see many photos of the people I love, but as a mom of two grown sons, a Grammie, and the ‘better-half’ (so I’ve been told by the other half) of a marriage made in Heaven since 1979, know that all those who I call family and hold dear to me have helped to shape me as a woman and continue to do so. I don’t have to look very far to find inspiration in any one of them.  Their loving influence will hopefully help tell my story and be a witness for His glory.

I also hope to share contributions from those who have followed me to Tell Your Story. So many of you have been a witness for His glory by the posts you’ve shared and have inspired me by what you are doing to tell your story, too.

The rest of what I might share will have to be a surprise to you. It will be to me, too, but as sure as the sun rises and sets each day, God is always up to something! Pray that I have eyes to see who He is in the everyday every day.  Whatever you see or read here, I pray will inspire you  to be a witness for His glory. Tell your story.