There’s this thing that happens when you keep on banging all the Internet pots and pans, screaming as loudly as you can that every story matters. Inevitably, you get to hear a lot of stories. And eventually, people start to peer out from behind their own computer screens and share their own wonderings, their own doubts.
There’s nothing interesting about my story.
I don’t have any ‘big’ moments to share.
Everything about me is… ordinary.
I’m just a… mom, student, daughter, employee…
And yet each of those things, every title we pin to our name, tells a story. When you attempt to minimize who you are as “just” anything, you’re actually showing me right there that you’ve got a story.
You have the capability of impacting every single person you meet – every single day. You are a walking story, coming face-to-face with other walking stories, and with every encounter we get to jot a new line in the book.
No story reads just the same, but every story has weight. So yeah, your story matters. {click to tweet}
Don’t believe me? Here. Let me introduce you to a few of my favorite stories. They all have unique voices, different chapters, and a specific story their lives have been designed to tell.
She’s the Queen of Encouragement, no doubt about it. And I think one of my favorite things about each word she writes is that she isn’t preaching or teaching, she’s living and learning and then sharing. She and her husband Mark recently adopted their 21-year-old daughter Lovelle after a challenging journey of trying to start a family. And it’s funny, in that ironic way, because some could say the chapters of her story got all out of order, but the reality is they’re perfectly lined up for a story that has encouraged thousands of women to take the next step, trust His plan, and encourage a friend along the way.
She was the stereotypical good girl. In fact, she wrote a book about it. And then Emily found grace… not just for others, but for herself. The way she sees the world – and then the way she writes of what she sees – stirs up a deep exhale and then brings both hope and courage to so many women every day. It takes a unique voice to call people to (the good kind of) smallness, and yet that is what Emily’s story does. She lives like a bench, open and available and unobtrusive, yet welcoming, there whenever you need a quiet place to reflect.
This girl is a trailblazer. She’s a loud-laugher and crazy about her people. When you can read a story from afar and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that someone loves their people really well? That is something special. Annie’s story hasn’t gone how she expected (or wanted), either. I highly doubt she planned to write about being 35 and single. But she did. She continuously opens her story up so that others can see that they aren’t alone on the journey. By inviting others into her honest and vulnerable story, she’s changing how people live their own stories.
No doubt about it, she’s a living story of reclaiming the ‘extra’ in your ordinary. Personally, I’m a long ways from being a mom… and yet I soak up every word this lady writes about motherhood because her story is about so much more. In the chaos of an ordinary day, in the holy of long-awaited hopes being fulfilled, and in the truths of a “this isn’t what I planned, but it’s so very good” story, she’s showing women what it means to show up for life each day and call it anything but ordinary.
She encourages in a way that will give you the courage to go out and live your own incredible story. And then she’ll push you to tell it, not worrying about what others think because you’re absolutely already 100% preapproved, loved no matter what. From a newsreporter to the wife of a farmer, she isn’t living a “typical story” (whatever that even is). But she’ll tell you herself – she wouldn’t write it any other way. I’m pretty sure anyone reading her story would happily agree that you can sum it up with these words – God’s got it.
This girl is a walking story of what it looks like to choose (and re-choose) friendship over and over again. She’s seen a lot of change and has often been the new girl, but each chapter has been different and each one has made her a better friend (don’t let her tell you otherwise). Flip through the pages of her story and I promise you’ll find a welcoming, hospitable friend to journey through life with. Because she knows that we may not know what the next season will hold, and so we best live well and love deeply in the one we’re in now.
I could open up countless books, flip through the pages of Deidra Riggs, Shannan Martin, Jen Hatmaker, Angie Smith, Jennie Allen and so many others that eventually my fingertips would become smooth and leathery from the endless turning.
Every story is different. Every story matters.
Your story matters.
Don’t let anyone – including yourself – tell you otherwise.
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Related :: Cray. I made friends on the Internet.
Related :: The newly revamped ‘recommended blogs’ page here!
Such a great post! Thanks for the reminder that we all have special, very individual stories to live out and share. Lovely to “meet” those amazing women, too… in my excitement I pre-ordered Kristen’s new book :) Blessings to you!
Yay! I’m so, so excited to read it! :)
Thanks for sharing this fabulous article at Inspire Me Monday at Create With Joy – you are one of our Featured Guests this week!
Have an inspiring week Kaitlyn – look forward to seeing what you’re up to this week!
Thank you so much!
Kaitlyn, a great reminder about the importance of our stories. Thanks so much for linking up at Mondays @ Soul Survival. I pinned on my Mondays @ board.
Blessings,
Donna
Thank you for hosting!
New stories. New (to me) women. New themes. New ideas.
Thanks, Kaitlyn
This is an awesome post, Kaitlyn! I love the way you share about these wonderful women who strongly impact your journey of life and faith. Most of them are dearly read and familiar to me, but I appreciate being introduced to those I haven’t seen before. Thank you for this reassuring and encouraging word which we all need to hear. Each person’s story matters and is worth acknowledging, celebrating and sharing. We all learn so much from one another, not least that we’re not alone with our thoughts and feelings, and that our seemingly ordinary lives are made extraordinary by God’s grace. Blessings :)
Joy I’m glad you stopped by today and I hope you enjoy the new reads.
Thank you so much for sharing this at Good Morning Mondays. Thank you also for the encouragement that our stories do matter no matter how spectacular or not the are. Blessings
So many great writers with so many wonderful narratives to share! Oh, how I love that we have this world of blogging to connect and be open about our journey through faith. There were a couple on your list I hadn’t followed before. Thanks for sharing about each one.
I hope you enjoying clicking over to “meet” them!
Oh yes! How he weaves our stories together to tell more of His own is always so amazing. I love your list. I was familiar with almost all of them, but there are a couple I am going to go check out now. I figure since I like so many they are probably voices I will find just as encouraging. I am visiting you from Coffee for the Heart.
I bet you’ll love the ones you haven’t “met” yet! They’re all similar and yet different. I love them each and I think you will too. :)
This is a great post and so encouraging. Thank you for this encouragement to share our stories no matter how much we don’t think they matter. Thank you also for sharing this with us at Good Morning Mondays. Blessings
Thank you! (Also… yours totally matters.)
Yes, our stories DO matter! They show others that there really is hope and healing through Jesus. I am in the middle of sharing my own story on my blog.
I’ll have to check out the ladies you linked above – I love discovering new stories!
That’s for sure! I hope you enjoy meeting the ladies here. :)
Kaitlyn, I have a daughter your age and I smile every time I see something written by you. I love that you are not only telling your own story, but helping these beautiful women tell theirs by following the work God has given you.
Christi that’s such a nice thing to say! Thank you! xo
: ) What wise words : ) Thank you Kaitlyn!
A beautiful truth to remember every day summed up in 2 words: You matter. :)
Yep. That’s the post in a nutshell. :)
What encouragement you offer here to tell our story! Everyone has a story and they all matter. Loved this post. Stopping in from #TellHisStory.
What a great post, and what nice tribute to many of the women you love and admire! You are blessed to know, relate to, and enjoy so many incredibly mentors, role models, and friends.
I’m sure you blessed them with this post as well~
I came over on Women Helping Women, and I’m glad to find your site.
Hope you have a blessed day today~
Melanie
It’s really great to meet you here, Melanie! Thanks for visiting! And yes… I’m incredibly thankful to know these women and call them friends.
Love this so much! I am learning daily that my story matters and you have confirmed for me through the stories of these amazing writers that I am like them. I’m a mom, the good girl (nickname has always been goody two shoes), a daughter, lover of God and the ordinary everyday that God makes extraordinary because He chose me to be here, right now in this place. Thank you for challenging us today to remember that our stories matter.
That’s it, I often think. We’re all so similar and also beautifully different and we just forget it – that we each have value and one story is not more important than another.
So glad you shared this at The Weekend Brew. I always love seeing your beautiful face show up!! Hope your Sunday is blessed!
So glad I get to meet you SOON.
Every story matters! You’re so right in this! I had my doubts about sharing my stories to others, but I decided that my story could encourage and comfort others in the same situation. For that reason, my story matters! Thanks for sharing and inspire me to keep sharing my story.
Blessings,
Tayrina
http://www.atinymixof.com
Yes! I’m glad to hear that you’re sharing your story!!
Love this whole group of gals you shared!! Thanks for always reminding us that God is at work through our stories, Kaitlyn. We can all learn lessons in life and share them with others.
I love how we don’t have to have a “special” story, because each of our stories is special enough for those God brings into our orbits to hear them. It’s up to us to keep telling our stories and sharing the amazing work He’s doing in our lives.
You know I adore this and oh my goodness – that entire gathering of awesome you have right here… I love each of them, too! And you, sweet friend… of course! I love you and the story that you are living out loud and tapping down so we can all read along!
They’re some of the greatest, are they not? :) I could have kept going on and on but the post would have been obnoxiously long.
(Thanks for reading what I type out here. You’re pretty great.)
Thank you for introducing me to all these wonderful women! A few I am familiar with, but most of them I’m hearing about for the first time. :) I love your encouraging words here…that no story is too small and every story matters. Amen!
Definitely not – no story is too small or insignificant. Hope you enjoy clicking over and finding a few new stories!
Hi Kaitlyn,
This was just the word I needed to hear today! Everyday I run that dialog through my brain! Why would anyone want to listen to you? What on earth could you say about your story that could help others? Ugh! BTW- the ladies you picked are some of my most absolute favorites!! So glad I stopped over from #SharingHisBeauty! I look forward to following you on social media!!
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Lori it’s so great to “meet” you! Thanks for visiting. Keep on sharing… you’re the only one who can truly tell your story.
I love all your encouragement for women to share their stories, no matter how “normal” or “boring” they may seem. I’ve learned so much from the seemingly boring stories of other women and I love reading them! Thanks for this encouragement!
Sometimes I feel like it must get so annoying, all this talk about stories. But I just can’t help it. :)
Thanks so much for the reminder that our stories do matter because God has placed us in circumstances expressly for the purpose of encouraging others who have walked the same road. Like Esther, we were all created for a time such as this and sharing our stories is what allows God to work in the lives of each of us.
Thanks so much for the encouragement and for introducing us to these writers. I know most of them, but a few are new. Blessings to you and yours!
Yes! And I hope you’ll click over and check out the new-to-you stories.
I love my story! And love the stories of the people that I love! I love learning the stories of people I don’t know yet!
What an inspiring collection of stories. Thanks for sharing them all!
Well said!
You’re so right!
Even though I certainly didn’t want to be where I am now, the opportunity to help others come to terms with the prospect of death, and to help caregivers understand that the death of a spouse needn’t swallow them whole…that was an opportunity to good to pass up.
Uh, let me rephrase that…
I am where I am, and I can still do some good, as long as I’m willing to share my story, and my heart.
And thus, the story goes on.
Yes. The story goes on. Thanks for sharing bravely.