Earlier this year, I had a dream.
In the dream, I felt the Lord calling me to be a storyteller.
Again.
I say again because this wasn’t the first time. It was actually the second dream, and that same month, a dear friend of mine had a dream that carried a very similar message for me. Her dream was a beautiful confirmation of something God was already speaking to my heart.
But what does it really mean to be a storyteller?
For me, one of the simplest answers is this:
A storyteller connects people with words.
Stories have a way of opening our hearts. They remind us of what is true, help us see from another person’s perspective, and invite us into wonder.
As my dear friend Cessna said, “Jesus was a storyteller!”
And He was.
Jesus used stories and parables, to reveal the heart of God in ways people could understand and remember. He took everyday moments, ordinary things, and simple images, and used them to point people toward something eternal.
I’ll be honest… I’ve wrestled with storytelling over the last few years.
There is a part of me that wants to stay on the factual side of things. I want everything to be accurate, documented, and explained. And there is absolutely beauty in truth and wisdom.. it’s extremely needed too!
But I feel like the Lord has been inviting me back into something I had forgotten:
childlike wonder.
Jesus said we must become like little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 18:3)
There is something powerful about the imagination of a child, the willingness to believe, to wonder, to create, and to see possibilities beyond what is right in front of us.
Maybe that is part of what it means to be created to create.
Not creating for attention.
Not creating for a platform.
But creating because we were made in the image of the Creator.
There is more to share about that, but for now, I have an exciting announcement…
Grace Journeys is coming back!
But this time, in a new way.
Grace Journeys is becoming a children’s book series/project, and I am so excited to share more about where this story is going.
I can’t wait to re-introduce you to Grace.
Thank you for following along!
With Love,
Shannon
Shannon R. Hess 