Stories Create Wonder

Stories create wonder. Stories stir curiosity. An interesting story causes people to want to know more.

When our son, Paul, was in the first grade, our family included a cat named Boxer. Every day Paul went to school with another Boxer-the-cat story.

The cat gave him a lot of material. Boxer terrorized our dog, so she gave him lot’s of space. He woke us all at night by walking across the piano. He sometimes got himself in trouble by putting himself in a predicament he could not get out of without help. For example, he once jumped to the top of a dresser, then leapt to a nearby door. When his screaming alerted us, we discovered him hanging by his front paws from the top of the door. Boxer was an endlessly entertaining member of our household.

And Paul entertained his teacher and his classmates with the stories.

One day, Paul, his sister, Christie, and I returned home from an outing. We found the door from the garage into the house locked. We never locked that door, so it is an unsolved mystery as to why it was locked on that day. No problem. There was a house key on my key ring. Except there wasn’t. This day, I did not have my key because my brother had visited us from out of town the week before. I gave him my house key so he could come and go at his convenience. When he went home, he forgot to return my key.

So, we were faced with a locked door and no way to open it. Boxer heard the commotion from inside the house and came to investigate. The inside door handles in our house were the lever type. Boxer stretched up and pulled on the lever, which let us into the house. Boxer had previously learned to let himself into various rooms of the house. He was not in any way deterred by a closed door, he simply jiggled the handle. His sometimes annoying habit was welcome on this occasion.

When Paul went to school the next day to tell his class how Boxer had let us into the locked house, I got a note from his teacher saying, “I want to meet that cat!”

We took Boxer in for “Show and Tell.” The enthralled children asked, “Is this the cat that plays the piano?” “Is this the cat that plays soccer with dog food?” Is this the cat that opens locked doors?”

Stories are meant to be shared. Paul stirred interest with his cat stories. Anyone who truly knows God has stories to share about His faithfulness. He is the God who comforts us in our grief. God enables us to do what we can’t do on our own. He provides for us and protects us in countless ways. As we share our stories of how God carries us through all our circumstances, someone may be moved to say, “I want to meet that God.”

Stories create wonder. Let’s share our stories about the wonder of God.

Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness. Let the whole world know what he has done.
Psalm 105:1 NLT

How have stories about God created wonder in you? Please leave a comment below.

Blessings,
Phyllis

© 2026 Phyllis L. Farringer

Image by Doris Metternich from Pixabay