What is your story?

A close friend of mine just finished her radiation treatment following an 8 month battle with breast cancer. First, praise God that maybe, just maybe, the hardest times are in the past for her. Second, my friend has an AWESOME blog. She was my inspiration for starting my very own blog (which you are reading right now). Blogs aren't the only thing that Angie and I share however. We also share the same blood: we are both Italian! If nothing else, this means, we both like to eat a lot and we laugh at the thought of serving "Ragu" with our pasta. Oh, and we get a good suntan come summertime!

Anyway, without further adieu, I do actually have a post I'd like to share with you. It has been modified some, but you can read it in it's original format at What's your story? by guest blogger nat. While you're there check out the blog....it's pretty cool.
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I once listened to a sermon by Rob Bell, pastor of Mars Hill Church in Grand Rapids, MI. The sermon was entitled, “My Father is a Wandering Aramean.” The sermon was on Deuteronomy 26 and speaks about a time when the Israelites are freed from Egypt and have wandered through the desert and have finally reached the rich land that God promised them. In his sermon, Rob Bell commented that God knows man’s tendency to forget Him and to forget the way He had provided for them. For this reason, God told Moses and all his people, when you enter into the land of milk and honey declare, “My father was a wandering Aramean.” Essentially, he is reminding the Israelites that life wasn’t always easy. The road to the promised land was really really hard. There was a lot of pain and suffering in the Israelites’ story. Nevertheless, God did not abandon His people in the desert. He kept his promise and delivered them from hard times and troubles into a rich and prosperous land.

God makes the same promise to each one of us. God is a faithful God; He keeps his promises. One day there will be no pain or suffering. One day there will be no cancer, no addictions, no poverty. He is everything that we need. It would be so easy to just forget the pain and suffering in our stories. However, I don’t think we can ever be fully happy or fully ourselves if we separate ourselves from our pasts. Furthermore, it would be so easy to think that we made it through the desert by our own efforts. When life is good, when life is easy, we don’t think we need God as much. But, I believe that we will need God that much more. Like the saying goes, without suffering, we would know no joy.

So, I ask you, what is your story? Why do you believe what you believe? What deserts have you wandered through before reaching the place where you are now? More importantly, how did God keep His promise and remain faithful to you? Maybe you’re still wandering. Or maybe you haven’t had to go through any deserts. Whatever the case, I truly believe we each have a story. How is your father a wandering Aramean? What event(s) have shaped you into who you are today?

What is your story?