Tell Us Your Story

After living out of suitcases and traveling every three or four days, it is nice to settle into one apartment for about 4 weeks. Instead of learning a new connection to the internet every few days, we can exploit the same connection day after day! Beijing seems almost familiar compared to where we were in August. During that whole month, we only spent the last 5 days in a city that I had been in before. And much of where we went was new to Nancy as well.

Since landing in Beijing Monday afternoon, we have been connecting with numerous old friends and former students. Each one has a story to tell, if not several stories. Some of the stories are full of fun and adventure, some contain fear or foreboding. But everyone loves to tell his story to a good listener. Especially welcome is the good listener who knew part of the story but not the recent developments.

And even some who are complete strangers perceive that in us they have found someone who will help them carry the heavy parts of their own story. We have been surprised on several occasions when people we have just met immediately begin to pour out their stories as if a switch were suddenly turned on.

One person had teammates suddenly depart, leaving them with unexpected responsibility. Another person had fallen in love and was considering marriage. Someone else had just received two pieces of very difficult news in one day: a dear friend was diagnosed with cancer and she herself was asked by her employer to drop everything and move to a distant city on short notice.

Wherever we go, we find that people have a need to talk to someone who understands. And wherever we go, we find that God has showed up in marvelous ways. We are collecting more stories for Volume One of our proposed book series, Not Coincidentally. Maybe you have a contribution to make, as well. Where and when were you depending on God to show up and then saw him do so, incontrovertibly? Write it down and send it to us! We look forward to entering into your story, too.