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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Bloom (11/22/12)
Shannon Madison stood before the crowd. She was a renowned Christian speaker. Many people came to hear what she had to say. Shannon had many best-selling books on the market.

Today Shannon was talking on becoming a ‘Bloom for Jesus.’ Katie wanted to hear about this. She had a way of giving you a new way of looking at life.

Katie adjusted herself in the cushioned seat in the auditorium. She had her pad and pen on her lap. Soon the crowd settled down to listen.

“Good evening to you all, thank-you for coming.” She had many graphs and pictures on the easels surrounding her.

“I am sure many of you have either had a flower garden or have seen one. Have you witnessed the different stages of the garden?” Shannon smiled at the group.

“I want each one of us to visualize a garden for a minute, you plant a bulb or seed and water it, and wait till the amount of days have passed for it to grow up from the soil and start to become what God intended it to be.” Shannon was pointing to a picture, a stem coming up and then as it developed a tiny bud emerged. “You wait for the first bloom and are excited that the bloom will finally be a full fledge flower.”

“That’s how it is, when a person comes to the Lord, they let God work in their life as they accept Him into their hearts.”

“Young Christians need guidance and love as does the bloom which needs warmth and water to grow.” Shannon continued.

“Given the right guidance in their life will guarantee them that learning to read the Bible and praying daily are very important, if they want to blossom and grow.”

Shannon pointed to another picture; it was one that the flower had opened up completely. It was such a beautiful sight, and this one was of a brilliant red Daylily, called ‘Hearts Afire.’

“You can see the beauty in this flower, but it goes to all that work and opens up. Each petal has develop into a perfect shape and evenly surround the inter part of the flower, to show its beauty, but it only lasts but a day. Its season is so short.”

“All the flowers have a season that is theirs to bloom. Some flowers have more than others, but isn’t that like our lives? For some of us, we have a long season to work for the Lord, others a short time, some make their decisions quickly, others take a long time, some flowers never get to bloom and bask in the sunlight, And some very dear people never bask in the Son’s Light. They didn’t make a decision in time.” The tears formed in her eyes.

Shannon had one more picture to share and it was one of a man and woman praying, as they shared the gospel to another one in need, their lives were fully opened and meeting the need of the life before them, “What a precious Bloom they had before them, one they wanted to see completely open and given the chance to love and work for the Lord, so there would be thousands more blooms that would give their hearts to the Lord too.”

“A bloom is just a tiny thing at first, but if nourished just right, it can become a power house for our Lord and Savior. I know, I did, for I was pushed aside as a child, not wanted and left behind. I grew up in many foster homes but then someone saw the potential in me, they nurtured me and gave me much needed love. They called me a little girl wanting to bloom into a beautiful young lady; as I did I craved more knowledge of this man called Jesus, and knew that I wanted to be like Him, He loved me for me. And He loves all of you, let’s find those blooms and tend to them with God’s care.”

“Thank you for coming this evening and if you have a story to tell similar to this, then E-mail me. I am incorporating them into a new book I have in mind.”

Katie put her pad and pen back into her purse; she sure was glad that she had come, such a new way of looking at people and their lives. Each person was so delicate, and so worth helping them find their way to Jesus.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
11/29/12
This is a lovely piece. Your beginning was good as it made me curious and want to know more. It also set the stage for this lovely piece.

I noticed some tiny technical things such as when the same person is speaking and a new paragraph starts, you don't put quotation marks at the end of the paragraph but just at the beginning of the next paragraph and then when the person is done speaking , you put end quotes.

That's just a little bit of red ink that hopefully will help you if you ever decide to submit any stories to publishers. You did a nice job of writing on topic. I truly enjoyed the comparison between people and flowers. Once I had a vision that Jesus told me I was a mere weed--just a dandelion. At first I felt a tad insulted until it was pointed out to me all the cool things about dandelions. Your story reminds me of my vision and how each person is beautiful in the eyes of the Gardener. You did a great job on this piece.
Christina Banks
11/30/12
I really like the lessons that this entry gives. Thank you for sharing it.
C D Swanson 
12/05/12
This touched my heart as it brought to mind a little girl who lost her battle to leukemia. She was a trooper and always referred to people as "flowers." She wanted to be an artist and famous. She lost her battle but left behind her drawings of flower people. The family thought of putting the flower/people into a calendar with word for each pic. The family choose me to do the honors of putting prose to each pic. So, this made me smile thinking of Melanie.

Good job with this... and beautiful message. Thank you.

God bless~