Dear Ladies, Your Story Matters

Dear ladies,

There is something that you need to know…YOUR STORY MATTERS.

Yes, you.

You, working two jobs to make ends meet, keeping your kids feed. You, caring for an aging, sick parent while working a full-time job. You, fighting some sort of addiction. You, mentoring youth-at-risk.

You, changing diapers, cleaning up puke, and doing laundry. You, facing the prospect of divorce. You, who spent years caring for a terminally ill husband.

You, missionary in your own hometown, helping migrant workers. You, struggling to care for a person with mental illness. You, in the fight of your life against cancer.

You, struggling with a defiant teenager. You, empty nester, raising grand-children. You, hanging on by a thread, one step forward, two steps back.

Maybe, you think your story isn’t interesting…or life changing…or nobody would make your life story into a movie. I am here to tell you that you are flat-out wrong! I used an exclamation point because I want to pay attention to this one:

Wherever you are in life…YOUR STORY MATTERS.

When we share our story with others it can become very a powerful thing, creating a community of women who care.

I want to introduce you to a woman who knows the power of sharing ones story.

Her name is Aliyah Jacobs and she has compiled an e-book entitled Windows Across Oceans. This collection of inspiring stories is “Written by women, who dare to care”.

“Dare to care” is the key words here because all the women in this e-book are daring to tell their story, right where they are.

* * * * * *

I am blessed to have been chosen by Aliyah to tell my story too. It’s a reminder that we are all growing in faith, trying to find who we are going to be in this world.

My story is entitled, Discovering Yourself.

Sometimes when I get frustrated, questioning the point of my life and where I am going, I remind myself of a few things.

One, it’s not my vision of my life…it’s HIS. Second, whatever I am doing, it matters to someone. Big or small. It matters.

Excerpt from my story:

I grew up in as small town in Missouri. As the John Mellencamp song goes, “Educated in a small town; Taught the fear of Jesus in a small town…”

Fearing Jesus? Yes, the church I attended, the same Religion my mother, and her mother, and her mother’s mother all attended, was strict on teaching about sin, but short of the love of Christ. Doomsday was quickly approaching, there was no time to waste.

Follow the rules, be good, and don’t rock the boat. God was to be feared. The Book of Revelations was driven home. I was taught to believe in Christ but not to know His love for me.

I was the good girl out of fear. Fear of not being liked, accepted. Fear of going to hell. Fear of not being loved.

But, I was brave a few times.

When I was old enough to leave that misguided ideology behind, I did. I left the church and never looked back. I went to art school. I believed He had no room for me. I tried to live life “my way” with minimal results. Depression and anxiety gripped me for many years. I was lost.

I moved from that small town with little opportunity to the big city where the world was waiting. I dreamed of big things, grand adventures, and changing the world.

Little did I know He would change me.

Look, not all of us will have our name printed in history books or have Sandra Bullock portray us on the big screen.

“No, I am a woman of Christ who is doing what He has planned for me. His plan may not be my-name-in-lights kind. It may be a simple plan, share His love and compassion with other.” (excerpt Discovering Yourself)

“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.” 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 NLT

So, do you want to read about these women who dare to care? Good. This is where you click to get the e-book, Windows Across Oceans. It’s just $5. Five bucks, the price of a grande coffee. Also, the money goes to charity that helps other women. Women helping women. That’s a small price to pay in exchange to read these women’s stories.

Because, just like you, their story matters.

LINKING UP with brave and inspirational women, who tell their story everyday. Holley Gerth’s Coffee for Your Heart and Bonnie at Faith Barista. Jennifer Dukes Lee is also giving away an inspirational book. Please click over to read what these women are doing, and maybe find other kindred spirits in the link up. Also linking up at Literacy Musing Monday’s with Mary-andering Creativity with family friendly books review and links.