Why tell a story like the one Andy and I tell?
A story that's about all the things we did wrong.
A story that highlights our mistakes, our bad motivations, our broken marriage?
Dirty old chains, Canton First Monday Market. My photographer went to college. I had to take this myself.
Because here's what I think:
If we don't tell the truth about what He redeems us from, we minimize His power, His grace, His love, his capacity to go beyond anything we would ever dare to ask, think, or believe.
If we don't admit and talk about how broken we have been, there is no way we can celebrate HOW GOOD HE IS.
Because, see, I don't think that only "the heathen" need to be saved.
I think I need to be saved.
I think you need to be saved.
I think we are all in so much trouble, every single day.
I think I am always just about 10 minutes away from my life going completely to hell all over again.
I can do bad all by myself: I think all human beings have that much capacity for destructive creativity.
Or bad can get done to me, in all the ways I dread--but most often, in ways that I never even considered being anxious over.
(Did you see the little boy on Humans of New York yesterday? Q: "What are you worried about the most?" A: "Getting a lobotomy." He looked to be about 10, and already a creative genius with the anxiety. He is my people.)
Without the Love that NEVER lets us go, we are all up crap creek without a paddle.
But with God, there is light when all I have is darkness.
There is hope when I can't hope.
There is more than I would ever dare to ask, think, or even dream.
Because God redeems.
"They were saved by the Blood of the Lamb"--we know this is true.
But listen to the next part: "and the word of their testimony." (Revelation 12:11)
Somehow, telling our story is a saving grace. I don't understand that, really.
But it makes our stories more than just words on a page or noise in a room. It makes our stories a sacred trust.
We have been given this gift of this one life, this one story.
It matters.
It counts.
May each of us speak, with the voice we are given.
May we speak and never stop speaking.
What is the word of YOUR testimony?