Sharela's Diary: A Christian’s Everyday Life

By Sharela Koch

Sharela is a young Christian and Blogger from Germany. In this book, she talks about her life, honestly and openly: about living your faith, searching for God and loving your neighbor. Using a pen name she shares her life without exposing her friends and family. This book combines amusing anecdotes from her every-day life with thoughts about God and the world and her most popular blog posts from the past four years. Feel welcomed by your next-door Christian!

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookRix
• Release date: Oct 28, 2020
• ISBN: 9783748762553

Book preview

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All Bible quotes taken from:

The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®

Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.®

All rights reserved worldwide.

Translated from German by Annette Spratte

Cover: © VercoDesign, Unna

Texts + Pictures: © Sharela Koch

Contact: [e-mail]

Preamble: how it all started

In 2015, everything started with an experiment on myself. Back then, I defined this goal for me: I didn’t want to be a Christian in theory. I wanted actions instead of hollow talk!

But what is the essence of Christians? Are they at all notable in every-day life? Is their life different from that of non-Christians? And how, as a Christian, can I get closer to God?

Following the slogan Please be patient, God is still working on me, I published my thoughts about God and the world in an online diary over the next weeks, months, and finally years. I shared anecdotes from my daily life with interested readers.

Using a pen name, I can tell you all about my personal experiences and views about faith without exposing my friends and family in a goldfish bowl. I am simply your next-door Christian.

In this book, I have collected the most popular blog posts of the past four years for you and completed them with private diary entries.

I’ll win this hands down – or hands up

Today, my act of charity consisted of thinking of others and praying for them.

By now, I regularly receive mails or little notes from acquaintances telling me what to pray for: for them, for sick neighbors, for the girl in grammar school … I’m really surprised at how many people would like to have prayer for themselves and their families.

Today, I took extra time off to follow up on my prayer list with total concentration. Apart from the rosary, the 5-finger-prayer helped me not to forget anyone and bring all intercessions faithfully before God.

The 5-finger-prayer works like this:

In this prayer, the thumbs of my folded hands point at me. So first I pray for all the people close to me: friends and family.

The forefinger represents everyone who is teaching me something: teachers, trainers, my boss, doctors.

The middle finger is the longest finger, which is why I pray for all the leaders and decision makers who bear a lot of responsibility: e. g. governments, politicians, managers.

My ring finger is relatively short, so I pray for the poor, the sad, the sick and the weak.

Finally there is the little finger: it is very tiny and symbolizes me. So finally I pray for myself. This way I cannot forget anyone.

Dare to be good!

On the radio yesterday, I listened to a sermon about the grace of charity. They mentioned the sentence to give until it hurts. It wasn’t quite that bad for me today. My good deed didn’t even last half a minute. And yet I felt strongly that loving your neighbor might include doing something in spite of yourself. For the first time today, it really cost me some effort. And this is what happened:

I spent my lunch break in the city park and was totally absorbed in my book – until I noticed a woman quietly talking on the phone. First I didn’t think much of it. She sat calmly on a bench, was dressed nicely. Nothing peculiar. But after a while I saw her strange posture. She had twisted her upper body unusually in a different direction. I was irritated. Once in a while she would lift her hand to her face. Only then did I realize: the woman sat on the bench, crying silently. It would have been so easy to ignore her. I didn’t even hear a sob. For a moment, I even thought I was mistaken. So, what should I do?

I really don’t want to push myself onto some stranger. Especially not if she does everything to remain inconspicuous. And how would I react if I sat there crying? I really didn’t know how to act like a Christian in this situation. But it definitely could not be right to consciously ‘overlook’ someone.

So I took a package of tissues and when I went to leave the park, I walked over to her. I looked into her eyes and simply handed her the tissues as a sign of comfort as I passed by. I had not expected her ‘thanks’ and surprised smile. I hadn’t even hoped for it, but it showed me that it had been worth it to overcome my apprehensions.

My conclusion: dare to do good! It’s worth it!

God is the best coach: He motivates and presents opportunities

Today, I‘m really pleased that I can tell you about another act of kindness.

Those who know me are aware that I am chronically impatient and always pressed for time. Therefore, I‘m proud that I have ditched this overboard today. I have spent a lot of time with my former neighbor, whom I had met by chance while shopping.

I’ve known this elderly lady for years. But ever since she moved to an assisted accommodation, I hardly see her anymore. Physically she was as fit as ever. She left young people behind her on her bicycle. No e-Bike, to be sure! But when I talked to her, I was shocked at how confused and demented she seemed. The things she told me were often out of context and some of her stories appeared to be quite absurd. I really felt sorry for her, especially when she told me how many of her former acquaintances no longer invited her and told her to her face to shut up because she was nuts. At this moment, her mind seemed suddenly so clear and her consternation and sorrow were so real. So I spontaneously sat down in a cafe with her and simply listened to her for 30 minutes, no matter what she told me, whether it was straight or made-up.

When we said good-bye, her shining eyes showed me I had done the right thing. I’m glad I’ve taken the time and did not rush past her.

It’s great that God not only motivates me to do good deeds, but also provides the means to put my resolutions into action.

What you can learn from a pebble

Today, a perfidious thought crept up on me: does the world even notice my good deeds? Can I really fight all the evil in the world with my little actions and add to God‘s honor?

The answer to these doubts followed shortly. Since the weather was lovely today, I was wearing sandals. Sure enough, a tiny sharp pebble stung me. That’s when I thought: If I can feel such a teensy-weensy stone that clearly, then my tiny good deeds must make an impact on my environment.

Conclusion: constant dripping wears away the stone.

What does my faith have in common with Parcouring?

It’s fascinating how smoothly and acrobatically athletes seek, find, and create their ways in Parcouring. No barriers in the mind and seemingly no barriers in reality, either.

I was reminded of that by the many building sites on my way to work. I almost felt like such an athlete when I started to short-cut my paths over walls.

In relation to that, psalm 18 from the Bible fascinates me. It says that I can jump walls with my God. Today I did that, literally. And it felt awesome! I was happy like a little child!

Way too often I just stare at the obstacles in my life instead of discovering the paths and opportunities right in front of me.

It’s good that God has made me aware of that today.

God is our shepherd! And we cause work!

Today, I became aware of just how much time, patience, and effort God invests in each of us and the kind of trouble He is willing to put up with for us.

I passed by a herd of sheep and goats today. A shepherd stood in the freezing cold (temperatures in the forties are way too cold for my taste), a proud sheepdog by his side. The shepherd explained to me that sheep need a lot more care than goats. I hadn’t known that. I had never wasted a thought on it. But it made me think.

Jesus often compares us to a herd of sheep, whose shepherd He is. He never compares us to goats. No, Jesus compares us to time-consuming sheep.

I learned that sheep, which are known as herd animals, can be terribly stubborn and don’t always want to stay within the group. They are curious, like to explore their surroundings, and tend to occasionally run off – without considering the consequences. The shepherd’s work days are long. In the evening, he needs to move the electric fence so that the animals have fresh grass to eat the next day.

I’m really glad and grateful that through this meeting today I understand a little better how much God invests in each and everyone of us! He works hard so that we are well taken care of.

Meeting an angel

Today I have met an angel. Well, at least an amazingly positive person who fascinates everyone around him and makes them happy. This elderly gentleman is known throughout our town. I don’t know his name, but he is a phenomenon. That’s what I would like to tell you about.

This senior citizen says hello to every single person passing him, without exception, smiling and wishing them a good day. He waves at every driver. Despite his old age, he seems incredibly fit, always well-rested and cheerful. He’s never obtrusive. And definitely every person who meets him is smiling afterwards. They all look a lot happier.

This morning, I was lucky to meet him on my way to work. I have no idea when he starts his walk. He’s always up very early. When I saw him heading towards me from