Accepting the Invitation

This week I found myself up to my eyeballs in stories. What a delightful week!

Some of these stories came from Donald Miller, Glennon Melton, Shauna Neiquist, Scott Hamilton, and Bob Goff in their talks at the Storyline conference I attended with my sister-in-law and her friend Katrina. Others came from discussions with friends and listening around the table at Alpha in my church.

So many glimpses of God gently reaching into human lives to offer his love.

I wish I could tell you all of them. But, for the sake of space, let me focus on two similar stories. The characters in these stories did not know God or want to know him. They depended on alcohol to get them through each day and numb the boredom they felt. One found herself hung over and sitting on a cold bathroom floor. The other found himself drunk and in a church listening to a hymn with words that he couldn’t get out of his mind.

Both sensed an invitation: “I’m here. I care. I would like to help you carry your pain.”

Really? Really.

Their stories began to change, bit by bit, habit by habit, with the help of others. They began to find meaning in life and the courage to follow dreams. They began to open the Bible and discover there more about this one who had invited them to a new way of living. They began to let themselves feel surrounded by the arms of one who cared enough to show up in the middle of a hangover. One who cared enough to invite them to a new way of living.

One who still invites us.

Grateful!