LEARNING PEOPLE’S STORIES

God made each of us unique and thus we each have our own stories that make every one of us God’s special creation!

 

He is the potter and we are the clay as He molds and shapes our lives in different ways.  It is something that makes each of us His masterpieces with no two of us being alike; something that I am in awe of.  How it fascinates me to take time to listen and learn people’s stories.

 

Photo courtesy of Rod Waddington under Creative Commons License (CC BY-SA 2.0)

 

Photo courtesy of Tal Bright under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

 

 

On a cruise with over 4,300 passengers you have the opportunity to meet many different people from all walks of life, each with different experiences and various backgrounds.  This was the case in the recent Christian music cruise I returned from.

This year I noticed how God put special people in my path; usually one particular person each day.

 

I do always enjoy hearing people’s stories and learning how God has worked in their lives through their life experiences.  I often think my life is so simple and ordinary compared to what others have experienced.  On some cruises I have been on in the past, you have a particular time and table with the same waiter and server for dinner.  That is not the case with these cruises as you can go anytime within a certain time range for dinner.  What happens then is that often you are paired up with other couples or families and sit at the same table.  Being more of an introvert, that at times, can be overwhelming and a little uncomfortable at first though I try to see what special pairings God orchestrates.

The first night of our latest cruise ended up in that exact scenario.  We ended up sitting with a couple from NC and two sisters, one from California and one from Illinois.  While some of the people were talking about their dogs, the gentleman who was at our table, in passing, quickly said something about getting a particular dog around the time his wife had a brain tumor.

Well, that sure piqued my interest though I kept debating if I should bring up that topic.  Finally, I just had to ask them about it hoping that I really did hear him correctly!  Indeed I had and I was excited to hear her story; to see what God had brought this lady through.

 

It turns out she had a picture of  the inside of her eye taken back in early 2014, at which point they saw she had a tumor that was affecting the optic nerve in her eye.  On April Fool’s Day 2014, she had a brain tumor, which thankfully was non-cancerous, removed!  The difficult part was that she could not walk for a total of 9 months due to infections that also left her with long hospital stays and losing a lot of weight for a period of time.  They battled through the days and months and today you would never know that anything had been wrong with her!  A part of her skull had to be removed so she does have to be careful not to be hit by something in her head.

She was excited to be helping at a day Mission trip on the cruise as well; a different one from the one I did.  As she said, God still has things for her to do on this earth and she is ready!  What a blessing to learn about her story with just a quick, in passing comment, that her husband made at dinner that night.  God sure is awesome!

 

 

The following day at lunch at the buffet place, I “happened” to run into a couple I met last year on the cruise while we were doing the day Mission trip.  We have been fortunate to keep in touch throughout this past year. There were so many people trying to find a place to sit that we ended up joining with a lady, Carolyn from California, that was at a table by herself.

What stories she had of God’s goodness in her life; giving her words of encouragement to make it through difficult circumstances.  She is a veteran who was discharged due to military disabilities.  It was amazing to hear the health issues she has endured yet her faith in God and His goodness shone forth.  She felt so fortunate to be on the cruise having special time with the Lord throughout it.

 

 

That evening while we were waiting in line to get into that night’s concert, I noticed a lady & her husband, a few people up from us, that I recognized from the cruise last year!  We actually had dinner together last year, at one of those combined tables that I mentioned.  It was a night we were able to see the most beautiful sunset from our table.  We both remembered each other once we started talking.  What a God moment that was…from all the people on the cruise there we were next to each other a whole year later!

She asked how my year had been and she shared some heartache that they experienced shortly after returning home from the cruise last year.  It has been a challenging year for them but they are remaining steadfast in their faith.  In passing, she mentioned a book that has been powerful in their lives this year so I came home and ordered it!  It sure is a small world sometimes; it was a blessing talking with them once again.

 

 

The following night I enjoyed a conversation with a lady behind us in the concert line again.  Come to find out she and her husband live about an 1 1/2 hr away from us!  Her story was interesting to learn about as well.  She and her husband have a connection to a pizza place in the city.

On Friday nights, they started taking pizza to the homeless in their city.   What a wonderful ministry, to bring food to the homeless, and to learn they have expanded it to include toiletries and even clothing.  They have involved more and more people to minister to these people in need especially since it is a place that gets very cold and experiences lots of snow.

 

 

Can you guess where the next night we ended up talking with another lady?  Yes, in the long concert line!  🙂 What a great place to meet people!  This lady, Veronica, was also from California, Sacramento.

She recently retired from one job, and then worked another job for about a month before deciding it was too difficult.   She is trying to figure out how God wants her to spend her time; something she will be exploring when she returned home after the cruise.  One of her gifts is being an encourager to others.

 

 

As only God can orchestrate, the last morning right before disembarking we had breakfast in the sit down dining room.  We sat with a couple and a family of four.  What are the chances the two mothers were nurses?

One used to be a Labor & Delivery nurse so I was able to share my story of volunteering in the NICU.  They both thanked me for my time of loving the littlest of ones that need that extra TLC as they know the importance of it.  The one daughter that was at the table, now a senior in high school, is actually a twin.  How wonderful it was to learn that the twins were just born at less than 2 lbs each.  Today, they are healthy and strong with no developmental delays of any kind!  What a blessing the NICU was for them.

 

 

May these thoughts encourage you to take time to engage with other people, to learn their stories, find out why they are like they are.

We are all important in God’s kingdom on earth.

 

We each have different gifts, talents yet we can all show respect and share the love of Christ with all those we meet.

See how God is working in other’s lives!

 

Continue to glorify God with your life and share your story with others.

You are an important part of the Kingdom of God!

 

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.  –1 Peter 3:15  (NIV)

Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”  –Mark 5:19  (NIV)

Give thanks to the LORD and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.  –1 Chronicles 16:8  (NLT)