Hear Stories!

Really try it. I have heard some of the most interesting stories this way. Some

people will pour their life out to you in a matter of minutes if they see you care

enough to listen. I was most amazed when a lonely teenager sat next to me at

a church harvest event. He had wandered in on his way home from work. He

came for the free and cheap food. Table were all taken. My table must have

looked safest because I was the only one at it. He sat down and proceeded to

tell me his life story. I don't know how to talk to teenagers I'm a toddler person.

I guess he needed to get some stuff out. Sometimes you really don't need to

talk. Sometimes it's much more effective to shut up and listen. I've been

privileged to hear life stories of so many people- chronically ill, homeless,

people struggling with addiction, parents working to reunify with their children,

missionaries, seniors, people on the verge of homelessness, those struggling

with depression, lonely people who suffered so much loss. I come home and

share stories with my kids. I always say, "I don't know why they told me all

that." Kevin recently told me, "it's because you listen and they can tell you

care." Just got me thinking... How often do we miss the gift of hearing life

stories? Why? The most common excuse I hear: "That person is weird. Why

would they tell all their personal business to a complete stranger?" My

rebuttal: A. Maybe they don't have anyone in their life to talk to. Maybe they

don't have anyone in their life that shows concern and love for them. Why

question? They saw something good in you. Something that caused them to

try opening up to you. B. Another thing to consider is you could be that

person's last hope. They may be hanging by a thread looking for even the

tiniest amount of hope. My therapist recently told me she once had a client

who went to the grocery story feeling hopeless and deeply depressed. He

planned to go home and kill himself. A customer in the store made a special

point of greeting him with a smile and a "hello." He attributes that to saving his

life that day. You never know what a simple act may do. Stories like that

happen way more often than you know. C. I promise you if a stranger decides

to pour their life story out to you it's important. Yes, maybe it is a little weird.

However, you've been chosen. Tag you're it. Love and learn or leave and lose.

If you choose to stay I promise doing so will equally bless you. Slow down and

take in a story every so often. It's a gift that isn't often freely given.