The Gift of Your Story

It’s Easter time! The celebration of the most important event the world has known. More than 2000 years ago, the Son of God lovingly, agonizingly laid down His life for you and me. Three days later, He broke the bands of death in a glorious resurrection, assuring all of us the gift of resurrection as well. He lives today and invites us to partake of His living truths, repent, and become His followers.

I am so grateful for the beautiful message of the New Testament. Ordinary people had sublime experiences, and wrote them down. They wrote about the miracles, the surprises, the difficulties, the adoration and abandonment, their mistakes, their successes, their eyewitness accounts, and the accounts of others. They testified in distinctive ways about the reality of Jesus Christ and their experiences with Him. I cannot overstate how these accounts have changed the world and the billions of people who have read them.

While relatively few people had the chance to physically walk with Christ during his ministry, His presence in my life has convinced me that He walks with, visits with, and comforts all who turn to Him. I have stories of my life with Christ, my discouragements, my successes; His many gifts of patience, insight, and love that have changed me and changed the lives of those around me. Certainly, I must record my own testament of Jesus Christ.

A couple of years ago, my daughter gave me a lovely gift—a blank book full of questions I could fill in about my life. Last year, another daughter gave a similar gift to my husband: a writing prompt is emailed weekly, and his responses will be printed into a book at the end of the year.

These are lovely, thoughtful gifts, but sadly, the book I was given remains on my shelf, untouched, and the emailed questions are set aside for “when we have more time.” We are both retired. Hmmm.

Recently, however, something happened that may push us to change: my 99-year-old father-in-law passed away. He slipped sweetly and easily into the next world as he slept. He had experienced an eventful life: he had been a radio operator during WWII and had been a part of occupying forces in Germany after the war. He had built his own home and been a faithful clerk at church for over 20 years. During the months he lived with us, I envisioned asking him many questions about his life and filling in gaps in his history. But he was elderly, and often tired, and I didn’t want to push him, so those interviews didn’t happen. When he passed, I felt a great sorrow that his interesting life story was lost.

Imagine my delight when we discovered letters—from his soldiering days, from his courtship, to his grandchildren, sharing stories of his life. We found journals and reflective writings about his faith. He had left us many of his stories, after all.

To share these precious documents with all his loved ones, we can use the “Memories” feature available on familysearch.org. This free genealogical website allows people to post pictures, documents, even short sound files of loved ones. Here I can see my deceased uncle’s wedding photos, my mother’s death certificate, hear part of my grandmother’s funeral. A perfect place to share some of my father-in-law’s thoughts about God.

I have written before about St. Therese of Lisieux, the young nun Mother Teresa chose to be named after. This young woman died of tuberculosis in an obscure nunnery in France at the age of 24. During the final year of her life, confined to the convent infirmary, her prioress instructed Therese to write her life story. Obediently, Therese did, finishing a manuscript titled “Story of a Soul,” published posthumously.

The daily struggles of this young woman’s humble efforts to become Christlike touched a chord in her readers. Therese wrote about learning to control her temper, showing patience and kindness in the face of annoyance and frustration, and Christ’s assistance as she worked to repent. Her “little way” of following Christ gave significant meaning to many lives, and caused a push for her canonization. Less than 30 years after her death, the Catholic church granted this honor. Her testament of her walk with Christ, though far from Galilee, was real, and life-changing to her and to her readers in the century following her death.

What about the story of your soul, of my soul? What stories can we share about our lives, our frustrations, our joys? What walks with Christ can we share with those we love? When I pass, as will we all, will I have shared the times He helped me walk on water, and then pulled me from the deep when I lost my focus? Will they know that I knew Him, loved Him, and felt His love daily?

Spencer Kimball once advised: “Get a notebook, a journal that will last through all time, and maybe the angels may quote from it for eternity. Begin today and write in it your goings and comings, your deepest thoughts, your achievements and your failures, your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your testimonies.” At this time of gift giving, let us give a most precious gift: the story of our walks with God.

Kristin Fry is rejoicing in the promise of spring. She is grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.