Your elevator story

The smell of a hospital always brings back memories of countless trips to see my sister who was a victim of polio.  I was a child and I'm not really sure why she was in the hospital so long at that particular point in her life, but that antiseptic smell mixed with 40 years ago bad hospital cuisine still brings me to a place where I wonder why Joan was so sick and I wasn't.  It was a place where I prayed for her and yet didn't want her to get a larger serving of ice cream.  It was a place where family felt frail and God was strong.  It was a time when my parents' faith became a guide to my life of faith.

That is an' elevator story'. Years ago the concept of an 'elevator' story was born.   It's a story that can be told within the short time of an elevator ride.  No more than 150 words.  This is one of mine.

"Elevator stories' began as a marketing ploy for businesses, but of course it has applications in many other areas. The idea is to first develop a story, then to narrow it down; cut out the fluff and get your pitch in within the minute and half of an elevator ride.   What is the core of your business?  What exactly do you have to offer me?  What is it you want from me?

We as people of faith, have an elevator story too.  At the heart of our spiritual life is a story that reflects how God found us, how we discovered who it was that was calling us all those years, what a comfort God has been in our lives.

I know we each have an elevator story.....even if most of us might have to have several weeks to work one out and are fairly certain we would die before we would share that story in an elevator or anywhere else.  It's not a pitch.  It's not an attempt at converting someone.  It's a story - it's our story - but it is also a window into our relationship with God and an invitation to another to use that window to see and hear God as well.

There you have it. Elevator stories of faith.  Under 150 words.  A story that just might provide a window for someone else to recognize the God who has shaped my life (and your life) and still challenges me (and you) daily (or at least when I am paying attention).

Try writing out one of your elevator stories of faith.  Write out 2 or 3.  Then you will be all ready for when the 'elevator' arrives and someone is ready to hear about God.