First things first – have you written (or recorded) it yet?
What’s the “it”? Your faith story. How did you come to know the Lord, accept the Lord as your Savior, and what are the details around that?
Oh, I hear you – you’ve “told” them (the family, close friends, someone). OK, you have to have somewhere in your life played the “telephone” game. It may go by other names, but essentially in a group of people lined up or sitting in a circle, one person is given a sentence in a way that only that person knows the content (written slip of paper or a whispered saying of it by the person starting the game).
That person turns to the next and whispers the sentence to that person. In turn, each person whispers the sentence to the next until the last person is reached. The last person speaks out loud the “sentence” that was passed to them. SURPRISE! Rarely does the sentence get through anywhere close to the same words and meaning that it started with when the first person whispered it to be passed along. Don’t believe me? Just try it the next time you have a handful or more people willing to “give it a go”.
And that is dealing with just one sentence – not a whole story. If you think you have shared your faith story sufficiently that your children, or grandchildren, or other family actually heard it and remember it correctly, I challenge you. Go to them and ask them what they remember you telling them about your faith story. If they get all the important details correct, without your prompting – sing Hallelujah! A miracle has occurred. (yes, I am being a bit facetious!)
According to a widespread claim used for teaching recommendations, students remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, 30% of what they see, and 50% of what they see and hear. The source of this info (and other sources) also admit there is no truly empirical evidence for the percentages and ordering. Absolutely no retention was cited at the 100% level. And the passage of time….well, you get my drift!
Hopefully, you also recognize why I am knocking on your door with regard to this subject. If it is not written down, recorded in a way that can be viewed, heard or read, any story or event will not get accurately passed to others, much less generations beyond ours.
And what does scripture say about that? I often camp on Deuteronomy 6, especially the sections where the author (Moses) emphasizes the “commandments” which I understand to be the “commands, decrees and laws the Lord your God directed” Moses to teach the Israelites (see verse 1). He says he is teaching them to observe these “so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the Lord your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.”
Just in case it was not clear, he re-states it in verse 20 when he says “In the future, when your son asks you, ‘What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?’ tell him: We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.” He goes on to describe the “miraculous signs and wonders –great and terrible”. His last reminder in the chapter is to obey these decrees and to fear the Lord “so that we might always prosper and be kept alive, as is the case today….if we are careful to obey all this law…that will be our righteousness.”
Would you like to be seen as “righteous” in God’s eyes? That probably refers to a true, personal relationship with the Lord which manifests itself in the daily lives of God’s people. Have you ever equated that with your responsibility to pass along your own ‘faith story’? And do you really think just sharing a few stories and pieces and parts verbally to your family member is going to preserve it? Will it be shared in an intact and correct way?
So, if you think putting your faith story down in a form that can be preserved is going to be such a big project that you just immediately dismiss it, consider this. You could record it and if you are a bit tech savvy, like using talk-to-text, that is a quick way to get something put into a written format. No matter if it is well-organized, grammatically correct, or even flows well. It is preserved!
And then you are at the point of what my title to this blog referenced – “Will They Find It?”
Have you done a will, a trust, a pre-paid burial plan or even just have a pedigree chart or other type of document with family genealogy on it?
If these items are in a box (of any type of sturdiness) in your basement, attic, or storage space, will whomever cleans out your house after you leave this earth take the time to search through all your boxes and storage and “find” the important items? I hate to tell you how often that DOES NOT happen.
A bit better option is something we have done with the actual written documents (will, power of attorney, pre-paid burial plan). We have put them in a drawer of an antique secretary bookcase/desk to which we have directed each of our children to go upon our leaving earth. Also added are current passwords to our computers etc – for their convenience. But included for their assistance are instructions of what requests we have for services, for distribution of particular pieces of furniture or other details important to us.
THIS is where your Faith Story should be as well, in a written format preferably (because a recording may not be in a playable mode). OK, truth is — this is STILL NOT the BEST PLACE!
Yes, I am a proponent of permanent online storage via FOREVER because it is accessible for 100+ years to any member of the family (even if one family member pitched all the boxes, paper and physical items upon cleaning out the family home – or the family home burns or has a destructive weather event). I do say to keep the physical originals – but don’t stop there.
You can put your will, trust, power of attorney, birth certificate — all kinds of documents changed into a digitized format — in this permanent online storage that you own (not rent) so that it is not disappearing if someone does not keep paying a subscription. Yes, this is my preferred method along with making 2 or more of the children “account managers” and educating them on how to access the online account with all the genealogy and end-of-life materials. Permanent storage that I describe here? Better than a fireproof safe – trust me!!
Your ”call to action” – yes, I will pare it down to a non-intimidating size! Set a timer for 30 minutes, get in front of your writing preference (handwritten or computer typed) and pretend your great-great-grandchild just asked you, “How did you get to know the Lord and what was your relationship with Him during your life?” Print it out, put it in your special “drawer” or location where your family members will find it or my favorite action for you, put it into your FOREVER permanent storage where your family members (who are account managers) will definitely find it!!
Ooops, are you telling me your faith story is not interesting? Wrong. Just ask yourself if you would like to have the faith story of your great-great-grandparent. Right! So – go back to the Call to Action, ok?
Just hit “reply” and let me hear from you!
