First Baptist Church of Herndon

A story for another time.

Linda Soller | Jul 07, 2014

I snore. There, I’ve said it to anyone who happens to be listening. It’s a bit irritating, but there isn’t much I can do about it. It offers some challenges for me, and for those in the same room trying to sleep. It isn’t like I asked my dad to please pass along the genes that would let me snore, but it allows for some funny stories, or so it seems.  It’s not my intent to focus on the snoring, what I really want to talk about are the stories themselves. You know the ones I mean. Those spontaneous stories that seem to live on years later. The ones every generation knows, like the one about how Uncle Harry was showing off at a picnic and fell into the pond, and how he learned his lesson not to show off. Or the one where Cousin Sally swore she didn’t need an alarm clock until the day she woke so late she ran off to work in her pajamas. She got an alarm clock that night after work. Then there are the horrible stories where people you know die because someone was driving drunk. Do I even need to repeat the lesson learned from those? Stories can provide visual images through words. Stories can teach us life lessons while perpetuating memories. 

The Bible is full of stories that teach us lessons. Some, like Daniel in the lions’ den, are in your face type lessons. Faith in God is powerful. Some, like Naomi and Ruth, are more subtle and broader in scope. The women faced adversity together, they shared family love and loyalty, they relied on friends and relatives when assistance was offered, and their faith in God got them through their difficult times. What is shared by both of the stories I just mentioned are the difficult times. Adversity runs throughout the Bible, because we were never promised we would have a life without challenges or heart ache. It is one thing to know you will face problems, and it’s quite another to be able to pull from a story’s guidance and face the problems.

This month in our Drop-In class we are going to talk about some favorite stories. They will certainly be stories that people have heard before, maybe many times before. The difference is that the class will be hearing them now, and relating to the lessons in present time. Let’s face it, sometimes we need to be told what to do more than once.  As we go through life our perspective changes. If a story you have heard before teaches you something new, then it’s a great story. Stories are just one aspect of the Bible that makes it so valuable to people of all ages.

My daughter and I were in a church we had never visited before. On both sides of the large sanctuary were truly beautiful stained glass windows. As we walked down the aisle to the front of the church we realized the windows told a story. We strolled back up the aisle stating the part of the story illustrated by each of the towering windows.  It was a memorable trip, in part because of the beautiful windows, but more importantly because we knew the story. Depicted in colorful glass, was John the Baptist, the birth of Jesus through his death, and his resurrection. We were so glad we had taken the time to go inside. We also brought home another story of moving the white noise fan to try and cover up my snoring, but that is a story for another time.

Have a great week!  :o)    Linda