Summer Sampler: The Value of Story
Welcome to the Summer Sampler Series! This summer, we are celebrating the beautiful, diverse ways God is working in and through the women in our community. Psalm 107:2 declares, “Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story.” Every week, our Summer Sampler series will feature a different author sharing a personal glimpse into the story God has been writing in her life and ministry lately. These are authentic, honest reflections of faith, encouragement, and everyday ministry experienced “along the way” of regular life. So, grab a cool drink, pull up a chair, and join us this summer as we celebrate His presence in our everyday lives!
By Kim Findlay
Last summer, I wrote an article for By Design, “3 Things I Remembered from My First By Design Retreat,” sharing the value I learned about being in community with other women. You can read that here.
Picture holding a remote and fast-forwarding 12 months as the screen blurs with those squiggly lines, and if you’re near my generation, you hear the slight squeal of the tape as it goes. Not only have I continued my involvement with By Design, but I now have the honor of leading as the Executive Director.
But what happened during those squiggly lines? Those days and weeks and months from when I first attended the retreat until today? To share that story, I need to rewind a little further.
My husband and I moved with three of our four kids from the Chicago suburbs to Massachusetts in 2018, following the call for me to work at a church in Foxboro. I’ve spent most of my career in vocational ministry, and this was the next, albeit huge step. As the new Discipleship, Care, and Next Gen Director, I felt a mix of excitement and trepidation as this role felt like the culmination of my career leading in kids’ ministry, serving as a care pastor, teaching, and building relationships through small groups. Without sounding heretical, I almost felt like Joseph when he went to work for Pharaoh (there’s more to that story, but for another day).
What I didn’t know was what would follow. Ministry philosophy changes. Distance. A pandemic. My mom’s cancer diagnosis and the initial years of her battling non-Hodgkin lymphoma. What started as my dream job quickly turned into a tsunami of struggle. Three months into the pandemic, I found myself staring at my computer screen as my boss and pastor told me the job was no longer working.
I no longer fit — literally and figuratively.
Joy was quickly replaced with panic as my husband and I wrestled with God. Did he bring us to Massachusetts only to forget us? To let us tumble headfirst into a pit? The separation we all experienced during the pandemic only intensified the division that twisted within me.
I didn’t doubt God; I didn’t (fully) question His goodness. I learned through the loss of my youngest daughter, Emma, and my first marriage that even in the darkest of days filled with grief and sorrow, God was still good. He is good (Psalm 34:8), though His goodness often doesn’t look like anything I expected (Isaiah 55:9).
But I was surprised by this hairpin curve our lives navigated. My journal filled up with questions and wondering. Lord, what is this? What are you doing?Where do you want me to go? Help me to keep my eyes fixed on you.
Even in the darkest of days filled with grief and sorrow, God was still good. He is good.
During that time, I remembered a story I heard from author and speaker Mary DeMuth. While she didn’t share the specific details of her family’s time in France, I remembered reading that her heart was set on staying close to God during those years of struggle and the time it took to recover, the healing she experienced, and the hope she carried even when she wasn’t sure how it would all work out.
Her story encouraged me. It’s funny, really. That may be one of the least talked-about stories of her life — she typically writes about trauma recovery, sexual abuse, faith, and healing — about “restorying” our lives. But the Holy Spirit used that particular story to spark hope deep within my soul. If she survived all that happened, maybe I could too.
Isn’t that why we share our stories — to both heal from the wounds as we declare God’s hand at work and encourage others along the way?
Mark Yacinelli writes about this value of both listening to and telling stories in Between the Listening and the Telling. He writes, “Telling stories about our lives is how we work out our freedom. To place our lives into story and tell it to others — whether dark or hopeful — makes healing possible.”
Mary DeMuth’s story of resilience encouraged me in my own. She didn’t offer platitudes to cover her pain; she pointed to Jesus. She didn’t dictate 10 steps to make our way through hardship; she shared her journey of experiencing God, pointing to Him as she went.
A year after my world felt like it had imploded, I received a call from a nonprofit ministry serving women impacted by domestic abuse. On a whim and a prayer, I applied for the Marketing and Communications Director position at Hagar’s Sisters, and to my surprise, it was offered to me. A few weeks after I began working in 2021, another woman joined our team.
René Allen.
As most of you know, René stepped into the Executive Director role when Linda Moore retired after leading By Design for over 20 years. René often shared about this ministry called By Design, stirring my curiosity until it got the best of me. She invited me to last year’s retreat and the rest, as they say, is history.
Or His story?!
Isn’t God curious and good?! What felt like a random road led me to this time and this place. And my heart is grateful.
You may be wondering why I’m sharing this story with you — stories are what connect and encourage us. Mark Yacinelli continues in his book, “The honest listening and telling of personal experiences naturally endears us to one another … Every life holds beauty. Every life encounters suffering. Every life is a struggle to claim dignity and worth. And each of us has lived a story worth telling.”
And when that story involves the declaration of the ultimate Storyteller and Creator of all, those are stories worth sharing!
So, for our Summer Series, we invited women throughout New England to share their stories and join their voices to “Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story” (Psalm 107:2).
Some may be stories of personal struggle, while others may include praises about victory. Regardless of the details, we invite you to lean in and listen as your sisters share their hearts and words, and to connect with those whom you may not have met in person but who share so much of the same heart for the Lord and proclaiming His love and goodness to a world in need of Jesus.
A prayer for today:
Abba, thank you for the gift of words and stories. For woven throughout are threads of hope, of your grace and mercy, your patience and kindness, your love and compassion. Help us to tend to our stories so they bear as much kingdom fruit as you desire (John 15). Give us eyes to see what we might otherwise miss. And, above all, may our words bring you all glory and honor and praise! Amen
“Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.” 1 Chronicles 16:8; Psalm 105:1, NLT
“Only the living can praise you as I do today. Each generation tells of your faithfulness to the next.” Isaiah 38:19
Kim Findlay is the Executive Director of By Design Ministries. She is a speaker, author, and ministry leader with experience in strategic development, children’s ministry, discipleship, care, and prayer ministries. She’s a Midwesterner living in New England with her husband, Russ; they have raised seven children and now enjoy the titles of Nana and Papa to their grandchildren. She is a board member for South Shore Community Church and the New England District of the Christian and Missionary Alliance denomination, and she loves to encourage others toward faith and hope.