Alcatraz, escapees, and living by faith

Yesterday, Joseph's 5th grade teacher was talking about Alcatraz and the fact that a few men actually managed to escape. Joseph raised his hand and told her that his great grandpa was part of the reason those men no longer robbed banks and were put in Alcatraz in the first place. As he recounted to us the conversation that took place, we were surprised that he remembered so much about Kim's grandpa (George Little, who was the Wolfe County Sheriff at the time) whose memory is still legendary to many older folks in eastern Kentucky. Upon his teacher's request, he is taking more information with him to school today about that incident.

Kim's grandpa, George Little, was the Sheriff of Wolfe County at the time. He was playing cards on January 7, 1957 with a couple of guys when he got the call that the local bank was being robbed. He jumped into his car and raced to the scene. When we stepped around the corner, one of the robbers who had a Thompson machine gun, mowed him down at the knees. He exchanged fire and the men took off. But, they didn't get far. It was frigid and snowy. One of the robbers hid out in a bus overnight but a church bus driver, upon entering the bus in the morning, found the robber, The rest, as they say, is history. (Click here for a newspaper article written the day after the event - details were still sketchy.)

What makes things like this so fascinating? Because we like stories. No, we LOVE stories! That's why movies are a mega-billion dollar industry. We love to get wrapped up in a story that is filled with elements like suspense, drama, love, conflict and so much more. One of my favorite movies/books is "Lord of the Rings." It's fun to get wrapped up in that story and take off to another place and time. God made us to enjoy stories! (That's also one reason Jesus told parables [a.k.a. stories].)

Which brings me to my final point: Your life is a story. So is mine. When we breathe our last breath and enter eternity, our story of life on planet earth will be over.

So, how is your story going? Is it as boring as watching the grass grow or is God taking you on an adventure, whatever that is, that will enable you to celebrate the life God gave you for the rest of eternity? God has called us to live by faith (Romans 1:17; Hebrews 11:6). Faith is where we rest in our God and step out into an adventure when we don't know for sure how it will end. But, that is the kind of life that ends up being a great story!

Don't let your life story be boring. Trust God. Venture out. Live by faith. And in so doing set an example for others and create a story that may be told for generations to come.