It's just a dresser but...

I love stories. In fact, I’m an avid story collector. My mom calls me a hoarder, but every rock in my rock collection has a story, my new stick collection is practically begging to tell adventure stories, every shirt I own was worn when something story-worthy happened and all those elementary school projects are full of great stories. Nothing is ordinary because everything has the potential to whisper a story if you listen close enough. For instance, I have a dresser. Well actually it’s a dresser that belongs to a close family friend. 25 years ago they bought it for their daughters and when they outgrew it, the dresser was passed down to my family and landed in my room. It was a faithful companion when my family moved to Gardner, a steady friend when I moved into my first house. It’s was there when I bought my first house and it stood strong with me when I moved into a house with bullet holes in the windows.

A close friend I’ve journeyed through life with the past 7 years just graduated high school and is trying to navigate the grown-up world she was abruptly thrown into. She moved in with me and for the first time in her 18 years of living she has her own room and her first dresser.

Every time I see that dresser it changes my perspective on things. The family that bought it had no idea that a quarter of a century later it would bring comfort to a girl struggling to find her place in the world. It’s just a dresser but it’s boldly proclaiming the Good News that God is with us and He is near.

The story of Moses is captivating to me. I’ve pulled a Moses once or twice trying to convince God that I am the wrong person for the job. As Moses is doing just that and fumbling around trying to explain to God that He just doesn’t have what it takes to be a hero God asks a fascinating question, “Moses, what’s in your hand?” Moses looks, and probably with a bit of insecurity about where this question is going replies, “A stick.” That’s the part of the story where my eyes get watery and my heart starts to pound. It was a simple stick and God used it to show His Glory and to do the impossible. God’s power is not dependent on our ability. He rescued his people using an insecure man holding part of a tree.

UCA is gearing up to begin the process of raising money to sustain the dream of a high-quality, Christ-centered school in an under-resourced community in Kansas City. And we find great comfort knowing that God isn’t in heaven pacing to and fro wondering where He’s going to come up with $192,000 to make it happen. I believe instead He is looking for people who will be faithful with the sticks in their hands and the dressers in their spare bedrooms and the extra box of crayons they bought last August and the paychecks they receive each week. Because every dollar we spend and every dresser we use and every little thing that God has called us to steward is bursting at the seams with a story to be told.

Every thing has the potential to be part of an epic story. What story are your things telling?

We feel excited to invite you to let your sticks have a part in the story God is authoring in the hearts of our scholars at Urban Christian Academy. We’d be honored to have you join the story. You can find our wish-list, make a one-time gift, or become a monthly sustaining partner online. Maybe you enjoy a good story every now and then and you’d like to receive our newsletters and Christmas cards, it would be our great joy to add your address to the list of houses we get to share the UCA story with. You can sign-up for those updates online.

Let’s get going, we have a story to tell.