Okay, so you’ve heard my story. If you haven’t, click over to read it. It will take you a few minutes to get through the five posts and then a little longer than that to process, but I promise you won’t be sorry. Click here to read.
I can wait.
Then come back because I want you to understand something about story. Stories. My story. Your story.
Nothing on earth (heaven might be different?) is more powerful than when a heart that has been restored stands up to tell her story. His story.
We all have them. Even if you think you don’t, it’s a lie. Even if you think your story is
too sad
too long
too shocking
too…
I assure you, someone else has been there, had that happen, experienced the same loss, lived through the same pain. You are not alone. But you are unique. Your experiences, embedded with who you are; THAT is your story. That is what you have to tell.
(Incidentally, YOUR story infused with GOD”S story — now that’s power).
Or maybe you are in the middle of your story still. Maybe you still are figuring out where you fit in your story. Maybe you don’t want to be living in your story…
Regardless, know that when you tell your story there is power in that. Power that comes from a changed heart, a righted soul, and a lifted face.
Maybe you will tell your story
over chai tea lattes with your best friend,
on a blog,
speaking in front of 85 women at a retreat,
to thousands of people someday,
or to the ONE person who needs to hear it in order to be healed.
And here’s the kicker: my story (I trust you’ve read it by now) is not a story of lying, or cheating, or even adultery. My story is one of hope, redemption and renewal.
There is power in that.
What’s your story? Or who are you telling?
This is so true…every single one of us has a story. Thank you for being bold and brave enough to share yours. I know many lives have been touched, restored, and encouraged as a result. May we all be obedient in telling our own personal stories as we are called.
There is power in that! I applaud you again for telling your story and teaching the lesson in it and the truth sets you free.
Hi Sarah – I found your blog off of Jen Stone’s blog. Your story is full of hope and I appreciate your authenticity. It is painful to know that others can find healing while you explain your hurting but it is amazing how God can use that for good. Thank you for sharing.
Love,
Sara
This summer, I blogged about how overwhelmed I was with the Goodness of my God, is the healing and restoration He has done in me. It is not in story form (I am preserving that for the play I am writing), but a quick “Then” and “Now” as God showed me how far we have come together. Thanks for telling your story, and reminding us to tell ours.
http://spring.gouette.com/?p=210
This is my first time reading your blog and your story. I was REALLY impressed by God’s power today. I really remained speechless when i read your story. It really reflects God’s power and redeeming grace.
I will pray for you and your family that God continues giving you His strength and love for one another, and for you power to share your story for His glory forever.
Much love,
Bianca.
Sweet Sarah. Thank you for writing this today. I am still “writing” my story; moreover, He is still writing my story.
Prayers for you, and yours.
Reese
Sarah – your story gave me the confidence to begin writing again. I am still in the middle of this story…and the ending is yet unwritten. But I know who is the Author of my story. I had forgotten that, but you have helped me remember. I am still not sure how to express all I am feeling, but I am working through it. Thank you for leading with your example. I had felt so very alone before. Thank you and God Bless you for what you are doing.
your heart-words make my heart glad!
i am SO glad your story is such an important part of our story…
you, chad & your sister rock…all your stories are amazing!
love,
dad
Thank you for sharing your story. I have spoken mine in pieces, at different times to different people – fragments of my story as needed. But to tell my story as you have is a frightening thing because of the power in it. You are so right about the power of the story, especially when the Author’s hand is so clearly in it (or in my case deeply hidden within it).
I’m pretty transparent, however, I have held on to some things in fear of someone thinking that I’ve “gone too far” and I do not want to scare anyone away.
I’m for sure that I am still in the making of a story for God to use at some point.
I’m thinking about it Sarah, I’ll let you know…if you want to read it.
Thanks sweetie, you are awesome!
smooches,
Larie
I chatted with someone today who has just lost her baby (very early miscarriage) and I could relate having lost 2 of my own, the pain eases, the healing does come (eventually – my daughter would have been 15 in December and the baby I miscarried would have been 17 by now) but seeing her pain hurts me too. I can only share little bits of my story for fear of feeling overwhelmed.
I so appreciate your openness though and it has encouraged me greatly.
Stefanie – I had a miscarriage between my first and second son. My eldest is convinced it would have been a girl (i have three sons). They talk about seeing their sister in heaven some day. However, I realize that had I carried that baby to term, I would not of had my second son, he was concieved a month after my miscarriage. I feel the loss of that children and wonder, but never do I wish for it to be different. God had a purpose and a reason even in the loss of my child. I think of her heart beat – seen on the ultrasound, just a week before I lost her. Someday I will hold her in my arms. But today, I cherish my second son and know God has a reason and a purpose for him.
Another key to reading and hearing and telling our stories is to be reminded that we are all in need of forgiveness and grace and peace and mercy. You do not know the story of the person in line ahead of you, the person driving in the car in the next lane, the person in two pews back in church. We must carry each other gently, give one another the benefit of the doubt, extend mercy, and be to others the tender hands and feet and heart of Christ on Earth (St. Therese). Let us pray that our own brokeness reminds us to tread gently and to be merciful.
Peace to all.
Yours is a story of forgiveness and redemption – thank you for sharing it.
Mine is still in the process and told privately in my blog. The anonimity allows me to be real. It allows me to say the things I do not have the courage to say out loud. It contains my heart-cry. Maybe one day, I will open it up to my family and friends. Or print it out for my children. Whatever the Lord prompts me to do. But for now, I’m content to be obedient, to write and remain incognito.
And yes, you are right, we all have a story to tell. I want mine to be His story.
I have often wished that I was a writer, much like you or even Cindy Beall. I do have a story and HE is completing it in me and my husband. It has been 4 very long years in progress and many times I wanted to give up, but God gave me strength and patience. Never pray for patience, hahaha It is amazing what God will do!! I am just now beginning to see restoration in my marriage. And I also see how God is using this to touch others, some who were very close to the affair, and those who are going through similar circumstances now.
Thank you Sarah for sharing!!!
Sarah,
I have SO enjoyed your blog. It is Inspiring. You have made me see things differently. It is Beautiful….to see what God is doing & how He is moving in you AND so many others. It is courageous…of you, to open yourself up….to praise AND to criticism.
I am married to a fabulous, hot guy. And have 3 crazy adorable kids. My ex-boyfriend & I have been emailing & chatting for a year now. (700 emails to be exact!) We are very involved in our church. Last weekend, our pastor said that the Holy Spirit had laid it on his heart to tell someone to ‘stop what they were doing…..to stop the flirting & the admiration & that God would give all that your heart wants’. I KNEW who he was speaking to! I went to my new Bible study the following week & am studying Abram. How blessed he was because he had faith in God. To leave his comfort zone. Walk away with ‘nothing’….without question. Just honoring God b/c that’s what he felt he needed to do. And then b/c of his faithfulness, God rewarded him with an entire nation! As hard as it was for Abram to walk away, especially without knowing where God was leading him, God gave him even more then he could ever imagined!
So between the study & our pastor’s message, I made the choice to stop all contact. I love my husband but I also love this other man too. But I KNOW the rewards I will have b/c of my faithfulness to God. And I am SO thankful that He is the ultimate grace-lender…..mercy-giver……sin-forgiver!!! So now YOU….go enjoy YOUR rewards! Because they are out there! Way to walk in Faith with Him!! Thank you so very much for sharing your story.
Thanks for sharing Sarah!
I have always shared my story with anyone who crossed my path that I thought I could help… Over 20 years ago God woke me up out of a sound sleep in the middle of the night & told me to write a book. I didn’t know how but I told Him I would… It was really hard & I struggled for many years. We finally got our first computer 2 years ago & last Winter I sat down in front of it & figured out how to start actually writing my book on the computer… IT WAS SO MUCH EASIER!! I’m now 3/4 of the way finished & I can’t wait to get my story out there to the public… I still don’t know what I’m doing but I just sat there & prayed that God would let me just say what needed to be said. As I read over parts of it now I can’t believe that I actually wrote that stuff… I believe it’s God who’s helping me write it & that He will help me do whatever needs doing to finish it & get it published etc… I hope I can help people with my story! Pray for me & my book!
Thanks & God bless you & your family!!
You’re so right. In fact, your dang straight on with the Bible!!!
Revelation 12:11 “They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony!”
that’s kickin’
I love how your “kicker,” how your story boils down hope, redemption, and renewal. That’s the truth for all believers in Christ, no matter the details of each story.
Amen.
Our stories are so amazing sometimes…I “met” a woman through our blogs and she was going through a divorce…so I opened up to her about my story and divorce. I had though “why am I telling her all of this personal stuff?” right before I sent the email…We had similar (and somewhat rare) stories! We have become close friends…helping each other heal…I know why I have gone through what I have…it’s so that I can reach out and help…it is so amazing to me!
Isn’t this what we each do on our blogs? Some stories are told outright, like yours. Others are pieced together a sentence at a time. But we are each telling our stories here. And yet each story, though told differently essentially has the same Author.
I love what you said. You are so right in that the key to it all is knowing that everyone needs and deserves the same grace and forgiveness that none of us really deserve! I shared your story with my husband as we have had a string of a few years of our lives being consumed with some similar struggles and it has changed both of us. We are finally pulling out of the worst struggle yet that almost ended our 20yr. marriage/25yr. relationship. Our hearts were broken, our spirits even more so.
God is so good! He has swept in, just like He promises He will and He has redeemed the time lost to selfishness and the enemies attacks. My heart is filled to overflowing every day just thinking about how much He loves us and how willing He is to clean up the mess we make of our lives. I Love Him So Much!
Thank you again for sharing your story.
God Bless
As always, thanks for so vibrantly sharing your heart, Sarah. I too, love the power of story.
A really great book to help facilitate telling your story and seeing how God co-authors our stories with us is the book TO BE TOLD by Dan Allender. The workbook is excellent, too, but read the book first.
I especially love (and have practiced) the concept that Allender introduces of having “story feasts” or sharing stories in a group setting. very powerful stuff!
Sorry for the pain you’ve lived through. Wow.
I’m a strong believer that stories must be told and you do an amazing job telling yours. Good writing! I like your kicker – need to work on the thoughts and wording of mine.
According to my medical records, I should have died on May 20, 2004. I lived (obviously;) Then my DH was told they would need to amputate my left leg. (I was in a coma) Praise God, they didn’t and today I walk and run on my own two legs again!
I was okay being dubbed “miracle woman” because I knew it was because of God, not me. The first year post-accident, I told God I would tell the story of his healing power to anyone, anywhere.
But after a year of recovery and therapy, I realized I would need to live with ongoing effects – pain, limitations and scars (nasty scars, think shark bite) Then the miracles annoyed me and I was not about to tell anyone, anything! Yes, I lived, but for this? Why!? Anger/depression/suicidal thoughts/etc clouded my mind – it was ugly.
Praise God for hope. And for Psalms.
Through talking to God about the good, bad and ugly like the psalmists did – along with counseling, reading, journaling, being still, trees, etc. I found life was worth living after all, even with a “new normal.”
Now I’m ready to tell my story (I think) The physical recovery continues to be astonishing (running and biking after many docs said that it won’t happen) and the emotional and spiritual journey is an additional miracle.
I have hope again – for months, I didn’t think I would ever say that.
Now I’m writing a book, its as hard as physical therapy, but I feel a need to share to give others hope when faced with a trauma.
Thanks for your beautiful writing.
Write on!
My story is such a testament of God’s grace and healing and love, it defies comprehension.
And right now, it’s still very private. Only about four people know. Which kills me, a little, because God deserves some GLORY here. But this particular story isn’t mine alone. I don’t have sole rights. So it waits.
And — you know what? — God still gets the glory, when I remember to cover His feet with my gratitude and tears. Sometimes, the audience isn’t only an audience. I’m the participant. It’s good for me to remember that.
This is our story. Please come check it out & stay for a while.
I just stumbled (or rather was led) to this site today. My husband and I have been married almost 12 years and have 2 children. 4 months ago he told me he no longer loved me and 2 months ago he moved out of our house. He is having an affair with someone 19 years younger than me. Yet, I still love him; I’ve forgiven him even though he hasn’t asked for it. I’ve been a Christian for 28 years but have grown more in the past 2 months than those 28 years all together. I have a relationship with God that I’ve never had before. I pray every day that God will heal my marriage, that he will make my husband, Michael, turn from his sin and that his lost love for me will be rekindled and that he too will become a new man in Christ. He is a Christian too, but has strayed far, far away from a Godly path. We started out all wrong and never put God in our marriage even while attending church every Sunday. I pray daily for a second chance from God to be the Godly wife I was meant to be and for my husband to want to be my Godly mate also.
Anyway, didn’t mean to hijack the comments. Just wanted you to know this post spoke to me because I began writing my story. My story is still a work in progress, but I am faithfully writing it because I feel led by God to do so. I know that my story will have a happy ending because it will be what God wants for me. Thank you for the encouragement I needed to hear today to let me know it is important that I share my story.
Hi Penny,
First, I am so sorry for your loss and pain.. Thank you so much for sharing this here and being transparent. What courage that takes and I don’t take it lightly when someone shares like you have.
I will pray today that God begins to heal your marriage. And continue to write your story. I believe that helps in healing too.
In Grace, Sarah
Thank you for the prayers. They are greatly appreciated.
hope, redemption and renewal
AMEN.
I have read your blog before, but never clicked on your “story” til now. I thought…”Aww…I’ll read their love story.” I was thinking it was a sweet little story about you and your family. Um… surprise! I sat here and read through the whole entire thing all the way to Telling Your Story. I am so happy with how this turned out for you and your husband and those babies of yours. What a God, yes?