This Is NOT a Christmas Story: A Fork in the Road | 12 Days of Christmas Ep 12

This is not a Christmas story.

This is a story about perspective.

About how the same moment can mean everything to one person—and almost nothing to another.

Over the next twelve episodes on Together 4 Good, we’re sharing real stories that remind us we don’t all experience joy, meaning, or even God in the same way.

This is not a Christmas story.

But it is a real one.

In this episode of Together for Good, Pastor Gary shares a formative story from his teenage years—one that begins with a brand-new Schwinn bike, a scorching summer day, and a long ride toward Kings Island that didn’t exactly go as planned.

What started as a straightforward journey quickly turned into a series of wrong turns, repeated hills, and decisions made without a map. And somewhere along those winding country roads, a deeper truth emerged: faith often works the same way.

Many of us know where we hope our faith will lead—a deeper relationship with God, a sense of peace, meaning, or trust. But getting there isn’t always clear. Do we pray more? Read Scripture differently? Join a group? Try something new? Sometimes we choose a path that feels right… only to find ourselves back where we started, facing the same challenges again.

In this reflection, Pastor Gary reminds us that those moments aren’t failures. They’re part of the journey. Sometimes the road that feels like a setback is actually teaching us something essential. And sometimes we have to climb the same hill more than once before we discover what truly bears fruit.

The good news? God doesn’t disappear at the fork in the road. God stays—inviting us to choose again, to keep moving, and to trust that even the wrong turns can lead us closer to love.

Learn more: https://bethany-denver.org

faith stories, Christian storytelling, everyday faith, modern Christianity, spiritual reflections, faith and life, lived faith stories, faith beyond certainty