Telling Stories

 And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’  then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the LORD, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’ ” Then the people bowed down and worshiped. (Exodus 12:26-27) 

        Today is International Children's Book Day and the birthday of Hans Christian Anderson. If you read the Bible, you'll find God repeatedly commands His people to share with their children and grandchildren what God did for them. Telling children good stories that will help them grow up to do what is right is just part of being a good parent. Sadly, I've heard two heart-breaking responses too often.

            The first is that people don't want to influence their children in one direction or another. It's a bad response because it's a lie. By "not influencing" you are influencing at the very time when the influence has its greatest impact. Most people choose to "not influence" by withholding information and isolating the child away from others for fear of contamination. It's also a bad response because it is inconsistent with the rest of the child's training. One doesn't "not influence" a child with regard to good hygiene, good manners, education, food, potty-training, safety or even walking. Why would one "not influence" a child with regard to something as important as their soul and eternity?

          Fortunately, that sort of irresponsibility is not generally practiced among Christians. The other sad response is more universal. I've used both versions many times. Years ago I was at a motivational meeting and the man in the front of the room said, "Someday, you'll be up here telling your story." I got in my car after the meeting and cried all the way home. I told God, "I don't have a story." God corrected me that night by bringing to mind the story of my life at that time that didn't seem to be a story to me. He's shown me over the years since that I was both right and wrong. I don't have A story. I have lots of stories. Some are true. Some are imaginary.

         The other response that I hear is "Oh, they wouldn't want to hear my story." The implication is that "my story" is boring and unimportant. I've been told this when I asked to hear someone's story in my genealogical research. When this happens, I usually  mention someone like my ancestor Colonel George Palmer Ransom. He spent most of his life as a farmer and soldier. For the most part, those are not really "story worthy" professions, but he is honored in my family because of the stories that are known about him.  Our lives are boring to us because we know them, but within those boring lives are priceless tales if we are willing to look. This is why I encourage people to write stories about their lives and to keep journals.

      It's true that kids who aren't brought up hearing family stories are likely to find  stories that we find boring and tell poorly to be boring as well. All the more reason to start practicing telling or start writing them down now. You'll get better at telling them and someday, they may be interested again. If we don't record the things God is doing in our live and teaching us, we are cheating ourselves and the next generation of that treasure.

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On The Calendar
International Children's Book Day

Birthday of
Hans Christian Anderson, Frederick August Bartholdi, Emile Zola