It’s Day 14 of the #Write31Days blog marathon and I decided to feature a few blogging friends who are sharing their life stories on the internet. Blogging is not for everyone, but it is a powerful means for telling stories to a wide audience. Often, words I’ve read on blogs I follow have been just what I needed to hear (or read) on that particular day.

Even if you’ve never considered blogging, I hope you’ll consider using your stories to connect to other people in your life. Your words have the power to heal, inspire and inform. These writers offer fine examples of how to share life stories.

 

Connie Gochenaur is a wonderful storyteller. Her devotional writing has been featured in The Upper Room. The mother of four grown daughters and Grandma to six beautiful grandchildren, she’s a transplanted city girl, now living the “Green Acres” life. She’s also writing for 31 days on the topic “belong” (read those here), but the blog post I’m directing you to is from a couple of years ago. It’s my favorite. I think you’ll love this life story about a time she wanted to bless one of her daughters.

Chocolate Cookies and Her Mama

I was browsing in a local shop the other day, trying to find some little gifts to add to a care  package I was sending off later in the day.  The shop owner watched me pick up this, set down that, and then asked if she could help me find something.  I smiled and said I didn’t really know what I was looking for…  do you have anything for a broken heart?

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Amelia Rhodes is an author, speaker, storyteller and community connector with a passion for connecting people to God and each other. She is the author of Pray A to Z: A Practical Guide to Pray for Your Community, and Isn’t it Time for a Coffee Break? Doing life together in an all-about-me kind of world. Her writing has been featured in four Chicken Soup for the Soul titles and in the international devotional The Upper Room. Amelia is the mother of two amazing children and works part-time for the North Country Trail Association. I know you’ll be touched by this very personal story.  (Visit her website here.)

When You Need Hope and Healing

I followed the ultrasound technician down the hallway, and hugged my arms to my chest in attempt to stop shivering. As we entered the small, fluorescent-lit room, she pointed me to the bed along the wall. Last time I did this, there was a baby in my belly. This time, a lump in my breast…..

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Traci Rhoades lives in southwest Michigan, “somewhere in a triangular section connecting Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids with all things Lake Michigan.” She and her husband and parent one daughter, two dogs, two cats and eleven chickens. She enjoys watching sports, reading, cooking and all things Bible study, and she tells beautiful stories and writes lovely poetry. Her blog is called Traces of Faith: Country Girl Goes to Church. That about sums up what you’ll get when you visit her there. She’s currently writing her first book. I think you’ll enjoy this essay in honor of her 43rd birthday.

43 Things I Love — A Birthday Celebration

When I was a little girl, there was a TV show called Thirty-Something. I remember wondering why anyone would want to watch a show about old people? Let me assure you, one of the things I love to do is laugh at myself. Most of the time. Well, today I turn 43, and I’ve decided to share with you 43 things I love. No matter the number, I’m always happy about my birthday – because celebration!

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Perhaps today is a good time to start capturing some of your life stories to share with others. It’s never too late — or too soon. If you haven’t already receive my free e-book Do Tell! subscribe today and I’ll drop it in your e-mail box.

I’m closing this collection with an essay I wrote five years ago about a Christmas “miracle”.

I’ll Take This Christmas Miracle

In this season of Miracles, would God do less than deliver when asked? Even on a day when life is spinning wild with errands, with that mad rush toward a day for Celebration. Even when it’s only a worried mother asking that the search for what is lost might have a good ending.

 

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Life stories knit us together, whether to family or to others who just need to know they are not alone. In these 31 days of October, I’ll be exploring the importance of STORY. You can read all 31 days by following the links under “31 Days of Story”. And, you can read blogs from other writers taking the #Write31Days challenge by visiting the website here.

Tomorrow: Stories recorded for us in scripture