Let Me Tell You: Stories by Gracie Diggs

Hey, there. I’m Gracie.

If you’ve ever met me, you know I love a good story. If you haven’t met me, you’ll figure that out soon.

I was raised in a family of storytellers, and that will always be who I am. Maybe it’s because of my deep-down desire for attention and praise. Maybe it’s because I want to make people laugh. Maybe it’s just because I cannot stand to be quiet. Who knows? Who cares? Regardless of why, I’ve got this need to tell stories.

You could say that this need starts with my grandpa. For the first 16 years of my life, Grandpa told me stories. Now, whether or not they were true is irrelevant. What counts is that they were wonderful. (Maybe I’ll get to share some of them with you someday.) Grandpa told stories about Uncle William, who was my great-great uncle. So really, the need to tell stories starts even further back than Grandpa. It starts with Uncle Will!

Then of course you can look at the rest of my family. A family tree filled with so many preachers that it isn’t a tree, it’s a pulpit. And what else does a preacher do, if not tell stories? My mom’s dad, my Papaw, is also a preacher and somebody I could listen to tell stories all day long. He’s got this seemingly endless knowledge of seemingly useless facts that make any road trip a lot more fun.

And my mom and dad. I’m blessed to have two parents who not only tell stories but encourage me to do the same. I remember as a little girl on the way to second or third grade making up silly stories with my mom or listening to my dad tell me about the time he got in trouble for chucking rocks at the neighbor’s donkey. These stories taught me compassion for people I didn’t even know, or the power of owning up to what you did wrong. And these weren’t even the most important stories that I learned. The most important ones were about Jesus.

If you’ve heard stories from the Bible, you probably most notably remember the exciting ones- the story of Noah’s ark or the battle of Jericho. These are the ones that are taught the most to kids because they’re fun and easy to write fun songs about. Hopefully you’ve also heard the stories of Jesus and his life. He turned water into wine and healed people that had never been able to see or walk! And you can’t forget the most amazing one of all, the fact that he was raised from death to life!

These stories about Jesus have the power to change lives, and they changed mine. Reading the Bible, reading the story of God’s faithfulness, is one of the most amazing gifts we’ve been given. A story written with us in mind. God created us to love stories, especially his story.

The Gospels are my favorite part of the Bible. Seeing the way that Jesus lived is crucial to becoming like him. Something that never fails to amaze me is the fact that Jesus told stories.

We, as people, were created with stories in mind. We were created to understand them and use them as a tool to understand this world and each other better. Throughout his time on earth, Jesus used stories to help people understand his heart. And today, these stories continue to change lives.

I love to tell stories, and I believe that it’s at least in part because I was created to. A story can change the world, and it’s an honor to get to tell them