Story Time

I am not one to watch a lot of TV, but I have recently discovered a new reality show that I am really enjoying called Undercover Boss. I have seen three episodes of it, and I am really intrigued. In case you haven't seen it, the premise is this: The head of a company goes "undercover" for a week within his company and works several of the different jobs in the company during the course of the week. In doing so, he gets a chance to see aspects within the company that he often wouldn't during his day to day work in the office. He sees the policies in action, the employees at work, the difficulty of the jobs...And something else occurs as well. By being "among the people," he begins to see that the employees are real people with real stories. In the episodes I've watched, there have been some pretty powerful stories. A man whose daughter had died, a lady working as many hours as possible to provide for her family, a man who is trying to be the dad his dad never was to him.

As I've watched, it has struck me time and again how important our stories really are, and how important it is to find out other people's stories. Our church is currently going through a series titled, "What's Your Story?" Upon first hearing about it, I don't think I fully got the significance of it. I became a Christian at a young age and oftentimes have felt like I don't have much of a story. However, God has taught me in the past several years that we ALL have a story, and that any story involving Christ in our life is a story of great value. By watching Undercover Boss, it has been impressed on my heart again and again how easy it is for us to get so absorbed in our own lives (in the show this is portrayed with the boss not knowing about the actual work going on) that we fail to notice the people around us.

Our pastor likes to remind us, "You've never locked eyes with someone for whom Christ did not die." Look around you today. Who can you share your story with--and whose story can you hear? There are people all around us longing to know someone loves them and cares about them. By taking the time to see and hear those around us, we can introduce them to Someone who will never leave them nor forsake them, who will never let them down. So, what's your story--and are you going to keep it locked away inside or are you going to share it with the world?


*You can post your story at www.10000stories.org.