| As Christians, all of us have a story to tell how God | | | | the proper heading. The subjects within each era don't |
| has helped us through the difficulties of life. We can't | | | | have to be in chronological order, but it would be best |
| use our whole testimony each time we meet | | | | to keep subjects of each type together therein for |
| someone in need, because it is too long and most of it | | | | easy reference. Writing your story |
| would not pertain to that individual's problem. How can | | | | Don't be concerned about the length of each subject |
| you and I use the experiences God has allowed us to | | | | that you write about. You can always pare it down |
| have for His glory? Pray for guidance | | | | later if you need to. The point now is to get the event |
| Ask the Holy Spirit to guide your thoughts as you | | | | down on paper so you can get it ready to be used by |
| prepare your story to become your testimony to | | | | God to help someone else. |
| others. Ask Him to bring to mind the events that will | | | | Prayerfully, receive from the Holy Spirit what He |
| best bring glory to God. James 1 tells us God won't | | | | wants you to write. Try to do this when it is quiet. If |
| rebuke us when we ask for wisdom, so claim that | | | | you have trouble finding a quiet time, take a notepad |
| promise as you proceed. Maintain a prayerful attitude | | | | with you during the day and write down ideas, then put |
| as you write. Outline your story | | | | them in your collection later on. |
| As we look back on our lives, we can see different | | | | This will be a continuing project for the rest of your life, |
| segments unfold: childhood, pre-teen, teen-ager, adult, | | | | if you want it to be. Every time you go through an |
| married or single, the career years, pre-retirement, | | | | experience you believe to be helpful to others, you can |
| retirement, and old age. Within each of these are | | | | include it in your binder. The main thing is to start |
| experiences we went through that helped us grow as | | | | thinking about what has happened to you in your life, |
| a person as well as spiritually. | | | | and how you can relate it to others as your testimony. |
| Look for the major events within each area in your | | | | It doesn't need to be perfect to be used. As you use |
| outline: the major accomplishments, roadblocks, | | | | each topic, you will gradually refine it with God's help. |
| disasters, how you related to others, problems with | | | | One added blessing of doing this project will be that |
| children, etc. Now, how did you confront each situation | | | | you will have a permanent record of how God has |
| with God's help or lack of it? Are there any that stand | | | | worked in your life. When you need encouragement in |
| out as special that you can translate into a story to tell | | | | the future, you will have this record of how God has |
| others in your testimony? Organize your story | | | | brought you through so many things, perhaps you |
| Next, get a small binder and use subject separators to | | | | would not remember otherwise. God bless you as you |
| define each era you are covering. Write or type each | | | | minister from your experiences. Praise the Lord! |
| story on a different page and put it in the binder under | | | | |