Come close, listen to a story.

The title of this Blog is from a Phil Wickham song, which I love. The story he tells is that of Christ dying on the cross. A great story and perhaps I am trumping my own blog...

I love telling stories. I'm actually ok at it, I usually am just relaying something that happened to me or better yet, retelling a story I've heard.
This past weekend at my church we heard the rest of a story from a very special lady who worked at our church up until very recently as a receptionist and actually still fills in there in that role on a semi regular basis. Her name is Kathy Fairley and she has lived an amazing life. She is so humble that you need to literally pull the story from her.
I've known her for quite a few years and still only know a lot because of her being interviewed or from other people. This hero was the daughter of missionaries and became a prisoner of war in China. She lived in that camp for several years as a young girl separated from her parents. She was in the same camp as Erich Liddell, the famous missionary from the movie,"Chariots of Fire". She survived that and grew up to marry a man who she served with as a missionary in Africa.

My point is that, if you met Kathy, you would never think to listen to a story she might tell. Not being mean, but regular, busy folks just don't stop and listen to a story from someone who is elderly. Kathy wouldn't ever stop you and beg you to listen to her, it's not her manner, but I had this thought... a lot of the older folks wouldn't do that and what a waste. What a travesty that the younger generation aren't listening. This also got me to remembering times from my own past...

When I was 18, I worked in a grain elevator in Prescott, Washington. It was a great job. It was long hours, but it paid well and it was pretty big coup to get. I was going into my sophomore year at Central Washington University. I was on the Cross Country team and pretty serious about training. I awoke each morning at 5:30 and ran 2 miles. I got to work at 7:00 and worked until the elevators closed at 8:00 and then I ran home (4 miles). That was a 7 day work week unless it rained. If it rained, we only did 8-5. This history gives you some insight into my mind frame...

During harvest, times could be super busy with wheat trucks rolling in steadily or the down times where we got nothing. During those down times we passed time in various ways. I quickly found that I had a friend. His name was Merle Brown. He was like 80. It seemed like it at the time, but as I play out the numbers, he was probably more like 75. Merle would come and "Tell Story" to me. I enjoyed him, he was a cute little grandpa and I listened and, quite frankly.... I was bored, so he was fine. After a few weeks, he realized my training regime. He noticed that I was running home and started asking me questions. I told him how I was training for my college team. I thought he'd pat me on the head and say what a good job, etc etc. As I listened to his story, turns out that he ran really fast in college, like almost a 4 minute mile. Totally blew me away. Just goes to show that you might judge someone or not really listen or ... the scenario can go on and on. I love that I have my Merle Brown story. Merle passed away several years ago, but I love that he passed along to me his story. I feel honored that he trusted me with his PR's. I will always remember Merle.

The point, if I have one is that the title of this blog, "Come close, listen to a Story" speaks about listening to a story. We can all tell something, but if we listen... I think we can convey a lot more.