Sonday Sunday- Guest Post

What’s your “Backstory?”

My grandmother died last year at the age of 95. She lived almost 100 years of loving, serving, and giving to others. Even the hospice minister who spoke at her funeral said that he had received encouragement as he cared for her in the last few weeks. During her funeral service, much was said about her life and all of the things she did; but one thing stood out to me most because it was something I never knew about my grandmother. A friend mentioned that every Sunday morning, Grandma brought a friend with her to Sunday School and Church. It was a woman she had become acquainted with somehow, and they struck up a friendship. Grandma invited her to church one Sunday….and quite literally, the rest is history. My grandmother picked this woman up for church every Sunday, without fail, for years and years. No one knew quite how long, but our guess is that she did it at least 15-20 years. That is A LOT of Sundays! What a commitment. What a selfless act for her and a tremendous blessing to this woman.
Because I am a Christian, I believe that my grandmother is now is heaven. I believe she stood before God and saw Him face to face and heard Jesus Christ Himself say “Well done, good and faithful servant.” (Matthew 25:21) Hers was a life of love and commitment to others.
None of us here on earth really know what it will be like when we get to heaven. We just know that if we are in Christ, that is where we will get to spend eternity. I heard a challenging speaker talk about heaven recently. What he had to say has really impacted the way I look at my life…and how I live each day. His view of heaven is that all of us who know the Lord will arrive there and stand before the throne of God…individually…and take a look back at our lives. Kind of like a slide show or video, except that this time, this “look back” will include details we might have never noticed or been able to see. (Kind of like when television programs show you the “behind the scenes” footage or the “rest of the story…” The techinical term in television for this unseen footage is often called the “Backstory.”) We will stand with God and watch our life story…”backstory” included. We will be able to see if/how what we did impacted others and ourselves.
For example, if, during your life, you heard someone tell you “I am praying for you,” then as you watch your “backstory” with Jesus…you would see whether or not that person actually went home and said a prayer for you . You would see decisions your children made when you weren’t around, that were based on what you had taught them. You would see the disappointment in your wife’s face when you forgot about her birthday…even though at the time she acted like it was fine. You would see the family that you “adopted” for Christmas opening the presents together…so thankful for your gift. My grandmother would see how her friend’s life was impacted by those Sunday mornings. In the “backstory,” you get a real sense of how you impacted the world around you.
When you think about it, the idea of the “backstory” is extremely humbling. We never know what kind of impact our words or actions will have on others. Think about how many people we cross paths with each day for even just a few seconds. Do we have a positive or negative effect on them? When I stand before the throne of God in heaven, I want to see all kinds of blessings in my “backstory,” not missed opportunities to bless others. I want to stand there and see person after person in my life to whom I brought happiness and encouragement…whether it’s my family and friends, or the drive-thru worker at McDonald’s. I want to see how my teaching made a difference to my students and bible study girls. I want to see how missionaries specifically used our support to spead the gospel. I want to see what happened to the man wandering around in the grocery store parking lot who I wondered about helping, but decided against it. I want to see my husband at work each day…empowered by the prayers and support I give him at home. I want to feel proud to see that I took advantage of opportunities to serve others, even when it wasn’t the easiest or most convenient thing to do.
All of us have a “backstory.” In this small town where we live, many of us are part of each other’s “backstory.” I know so many amazing people who really give of themselves to others, making this a wonderful community to be a part of. It inspires me to make sacrifices and get out of my comfort zone, knowing that I could be the difference in someone’s day…or week…or life. So could you. It’s not necessarily the big things that make the biggest difference. It’s taking the time and making the effort to notice the “things” that would mean the most to someone.