"Return home and tell how much God has done for you." - Luke 8:39

I decided to do a little light reading this morning. I'm house-sitting at my Aunt and Uncle's house and Aunt Diane always has an abundance of books around to read. Here's an excerpt from "Walking with God" by John Eldredge.

When Ernest Hemingway wrote Green Hills of Africa in 1953, he felt he was taking a worthy risk: "[I have] attempted to write an absolutely true book to see whether the shape of a country and the pattern of a months action can, if truly presented, compete with the work of the imagination." How much more valuable might this be if we could share with one another the stories of our true encounters with God - not the mountaintop ones - but the everyday encounters, as they are lived out over a year.

I started thinking about this and how powerful it could be - in my own life and in the lives of those around me. I believe I am most overcome with humility and awe when I look back over recent events in my life to see God's hand in everything - even the minute details. I believe God calls us to do this and I don't do it enough. How powerful and moving would it be if I did this daily? On a grand scale, I think in pausing to see my daily encounters with God and to write them out, I will be able to better discern the voice of God and have an intimacy with Him unlike anything I've ever experienced. Additionally, how much more of an impact would it have on my life, on my outlook, on my attitude?

Now having a daily relationship with the Lord is not a new concept to me. I've heard and experienced the benefits of that my entire life. But I'm coming at it from a different angle - to actually take note of his presence and where I think He is moving and what He is showing me - and to tell others about it. Seeing and hearing about God from others is uplifting. I don't think our culture - even in Christian circles - encourages this enough. Sure, there are Christian leaders who write books or blogs and tweet and tell others about Christ and the many wonderful works of God, but they are essentially being paid to do this. They have made a living out of crusading for Christ. Don't get me wrong, I am not lessening their impact. I am thankful for them and the effect on my life, and I am not saying that they wouldn't be doing this if they hadn't developed a career around doing so. I am merely pointing out that as a culture, we don't talk about the everyday little things that God does in our lives. And it is DAILY. I certainly don't. I talk about the life-altering things. I talk about the major mile-stones and give credit to God. I talk about the sermon I heard at church and the effect it had on me. But I don't talk about the "everyday" enough. If I'm being honest, I don't even acknowledge the glory and power of God, or the daily outpourings of His love to myself on a daily basis.

Each of our lives is a story to be told. God is the author and He is in the details. And as Ernest Hemingway hinted, it's more powerful and worthy of being told than anything the imagination could produce. And we should be talking about these things. To each other. Not holding them in and tucking them away, checking them off in your mind as personal growth. We are a community and the body of Christ, and hearing of each others encounters with God encourages us all to grow and moves us into a deeper intimacy with our Creator, which is ultimately why we were created and what we are commanded to do.

³⁶"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" ³⁷Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' ⁴⁰All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." - Matthew 22:26-40

So this is my quest: to share my daily stories of my true encounters with God.

I believe this quote from Frederick Buechner is poignant:

There is something more than a little disconcerting about writing your autobiography. When people have occasionally asked me what I am working on, I have found it impossible to tell them without an inward blush. As if anybody cares or should care...

Bud I do it anyway. I do it because it seems to me that no matter who you are, and no matter how eloquent or otherwise, if you tell your own story with sufficient candor and concreteness, it will be an interesting story and in some sense a universal story...

If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that he speaks to us largely through what happens to us, so what I have done in this book... is to listen back over what has happened to me - as I hope my readers may be moved to listen back over what has happened to them - for the sound, above all else of his voice ... [For] his word to us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling. (Now and Then)