Echoing Themes...Yes, Lord, I Am Listening

I have noticed over the last few months that one of ways the Lord speaks to me is through repeated themes. I posted on here earlier about how the story of Joseph became a focus in several aspects of my life:  book club, personal book study, youth trip...that's when I began to slow down and wait on Him.  Or could it be that I have to hear something several times, be totally immersed within a topic before I clearly learn what He's teaching me?  Or am I just continually being taught to wait...and listen...and pray...and read...and wait.

My Newest Theme

It's happening again...this time with the word story.  I noticed it at last month's WMU meeting when I opened our periodical and read The Story Lives On, WMU's theme for this year. In BIG letters.  As if a voice said, "Tammy, I need your attention."  Now, that may not be that grand within itself...although I sure felt the effect of the words, except...please read on...this wording echoes so closely the theme in my English 11 classes that we had had begun the week before...Everyone Has a Story:  What's Yours?  I actually did a double-take, for I had just been absorbed in the echo of the story of Joseph and the pit and becoming familiar with the echo of His voice, teaching me more about Him, teaching me more about myself.  Was a new emphasis starting?  Hummm....

Then, at the WMU breakfast hosted by our church's association group, I listened as Kaye Miller, a former president of WMU and a resident of our state, discuss this theme, stating again that everyone has a story, everyone has a testimony.  I so enjoyed listening to her story, of her being raised in Thailand and the loss and regaining of her friend there.  (Yes, I later bought her book Called to Love:  Stories of Compassion, Faith, and God's Amazing Grace, just waiting on Amazon to deliver it to my door!)

This "story" continued last week, as I was perusing the books at Wal-Mart, there, just released, was Jodi Picoult's new novel The Storyteller.  I read the back cover and decided to buy it...full price...brand new.  (This is something I rarely do...always looking for a bargain on half.com...or I choose to wait until book's price drops.)  I have not had a chance to read this novel, but I am bumping to my next read.  That's right...should our Lord want to speak to me via this book, I want to hear/read what he has to say! (Click here to read, in the author's voice, why she wrote The Storyteller.)

Tonight, we had our monthly WMU meeting and were blessed to hear the story of an 83-year-old Christian lady share her testimony and her love for our Lord and Savior, concluding her time by reading a poem that she had written just for tonight's event.  (By the way, she is participating in the MyOneWord Challenge...her word is joyous, and I do believe that the Lord is honoring her word!)

Just as the meeting concluded, I recommended another person to tell her story next month.  These testimonies...or stories....are such a blessing.  The Lord did bless us with vocal cords, a tongue, lips...yes, he meant for us to use them for Him!

Am I Crazy?

Maybe.  Crazy for Him!  While He chooses to speak to me this manner, I will listen, learn, and grow.  Should He choose to never to speak to me again in quite this way, I am blessed for these two experiences, and, therefore, I encourage you to pause and become more in tune with topics you hear and see being repeated within your life. A reason may exist, a Heavenly reason, for this repetition occurring.  You will know, for that still, small voice still speaks to you...and to me.

Blessings!