Intersections

Posted by: Mike Willoughby | September 14, 2010

Story-Telling

My family enjoys a rich heritage of story-telling passed down at least from my Grandparents’ generation. I have no doubt that the tradition of relating the lore of my family actually extends back generations before. Much of my connectedness to my family comes from the countless stories that my grandparents on both sides of my family told me when I was young. My Grandpa Willoughby, my Grandpa Craig and my Grandpa Yeager (yes, three Grandpas – I am blessed) were expert story-tellers and through their well-crafted family tales, I was exposed to a tapestry of American frontier history, farm and ranch ethic and family victories and defeats. Most importantly, they exposed me to a vibrant faith – not the kind of faith that is like a family crest over the mantle – but the kind of faith that colors your existence and permeates your identity. I am a product of that rich heritage.

Story-telling has always been part of God’s plan for passing heritage and faith from one generation to the next. The prophet Joel writes in Joel 1:3,

Hear this, you elders;
   give ear, all inhabitants of the land!
Has such a thing happened in your days,
   or in the days of your fathers?
Tell your children of it,
   and let your children tell their children,
   and their children to another generation.

The elders in my family were serious about this responsibility to make sure the children knew about praise-worthy deeds of the Lord that had impacted their lives and the lives of their fathers. That responsibility passed down to my parents who have upheld the tradition by re-telling the stories to my children along with the new stories of praise-worthy and not so praise-worthy deeds of their father and uncle. As with my grandparents, my parents relate the stories of the “good ole days” when they were raising their family and the various deeds and misdeeds of their children packaged with the inevitable “moral of the story.” This most frequently happens around the dinner table during family gatherings in what my friend Richard Beasley calls “teachable moments.” Teachable moments are those everyday occurrences where you can catch your kids off-guard and teach them a lesson when they’re not expecting it. I’m sure my kids aren’t expecting a lesson in respect for authority or the consequences of sin when they hear the story when their Nano almost killed her oldest son for sneaking off to the Seven-Eleven against direct orders. However, amidst the funny story of kid torture, the moral lesson is present. I think this is what Moses had in mind when he wrote these instructions in Deuteronomy 6:4-9,

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

My kids probably cringe at the thought, but even now Kristal and I are preparing to receive the story-telling baton from our parents and we relish the thought of passing our active faith on to the next generation. Just think how much fun our grandkids will have as they learn about honesty while hearing the “Dr. Pepper on the carpet story” or the “BB gun and the tractor window story” from their Grandfather. They will learn about God’s providential care when they hear the “Dr. Phil and the mustang story” and they will learn about perseverance through trial when they hear about the “JV junior year story” from their Grandmother. When we walk, when we talk, when we lie down – that is our commitment to the next generation.

Join me in making that commitment. You have stories to tell!

Until next week,

Meet me at the intersection!