What's My Story?

About 15 years ago I embarked on my first missions trip to Russia. I was 15, my parents knew my heart and knew how deeply I wanted to go. The opportunity came out of the blue the summer before and I had the most wonderful joy of getting to go with basically my "other" father, Dave Noel. Of course, all of mom and dad's fears subsided knowing that I would be traveling with Dave. I was the youngest one going on the trip, but I'd been praying to go to Russia for quite some time and it was the perfect opportunity. Growing up in a small town in Oklahoma, I'd never flown. This would be my first time and I'd be alone. I was brave and fearless then. My only concern at this point in my life was "what's my story?" What do I share? My identity as a Christian, a young girl doing the "right" things had been with me since the age of 5. A very young beginning and up until about 12 years ago, that was my story. I've heard this so many times from my friends who grew up in church like me. What am I going to share? I don't have some major conversion story, but the funny thing is that when I was in Russia, it wasn't about my story...it wasn't about me at all. And... here I am 15 years later, about to embark on a trip to Africa in six weeks. Similar journey, a trip that's been on my heart for years, an opportunity only God could have carved out for me, but my story, it's different. I'm a much different person than I was that May heading on my first flight. I've had experiences that have shaped me, changed me, an encounter with the savior I lost sight of and a story of a sweet rescue that has brought me out of the depths of despair. So, in a lot of ways I have a "story" now, but what I've come to realize is that it never was my story, it's His! It's not more relevant now at 30, with my tale of wandering rebellion, than it was at 15, innocent and bright eyed. It's just exactly as He intended it to be...it's about my redeeming savior.
I guess it took me 15 years to see that sharing my story isn't what sharing the gospel is about at all. It's about love. God's love that transcends all borders, cultures, experiences, failures, achievements and most of all... a love that transcends all "stories."