Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Huh? (01/21/10)
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TITLE: Sarah's Story | Previous Challenge Entry
By Amanda Brogan
01/28/10 -
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Oh, hello there! Yes, you, reader friend. What brings you this way? Looking for a good story you say? Well, I’m just full of stories! What’s that? You’d like to hear one! Hmm, I suppose I have a little time for that while my bread cakes are in the oven. Alright, set yourself down right there and I’ll give you a story you won’t forget!
So let’s start at the beginning. Well, the beginning of excitement for me and my husband anyway. Our beginning really came much later than we would have expected it to. I was 65 back then and Abram (that was his name before God told him to change it) was 75.
We were getting on in age, though still pretty chipper in my opinion, when all of a sudden God tells my husband that we need to move! See, my husband has always had a close tie with God. God often tells him things, even when we don’t understand them. And this was one of those times. Abram tells me the news one night that we’re leaving Haran.
“Huh?” I said.
Well what would you say? I was downright confounded. The worst part is that God didn’t say where we were moving to. Just that we needed to pack up and head to the place that He showed us. Oh, and He also mentioned something about blessing us and giving us a lot of offspring. I wasn’t so sure about moving but that last part sounded good to me! So off we went.
Years passed and Abram became sort of a traveling herdsman. Everywhere we went God blessed us with more servants, livestock, and even money. But in all that time we failed to obtain the offspring that the Lord had promised. What was going on? Several times God spoke of giving us numerous descendants, but so far we had none. More than once I wondered what God was doing. I even took matters into my own hands at one point and gave my Egyptian servant girl to Abram as a wife. That’s the custom around here for folks who want to continue the family line when the wife is . . . barren.
But God had other plans. Thirteen years after Abram had a son by my servant, Hagar, God appeared to him again. That was the time that God changed his name. God said that he would be called the “father of many nations” – “Abraham” in our language. But it wouldn’t be my servant’s son who would carry on the line. It would be mine.
"What?!"
Abraham and I were both surprised. My jaw dropped to my knees when he shared God’s message with me. I had never been able to have children, no matter how much Abraham and I had longed for them. And now we were both old - far past childbearing years. How could it be possible? Could we even dare to hope for this after almost 25 years of waiting for God to fulfill His promise?
Then one day we had three visitors. Abraham saw them traveling near our tent and invited them to stay and refresh themselves awhile. We prepared quite a feast!
Then something strange happened. One of the three men asked about me. I inched closer to the doorway to hear what he would say. He told Abraham that I would have a son at that time the next year!
“Huh?”
I lightly let out a derisive chuckle. Was the man crazy? Didn’t he know we couldn’t have children?
I soon found out he wasn’t crazy. He asked why I had laughed! How could he hear? I barely laughed to myself! At first I denied it, but somehow he knew better. He stared at me for a few seconds with kind, honest eyes that seemed to peer into my soul. “You did laugh.” He insisted. And he countered my scorn with a nugget of truth that I’ll never forget – “Nothing is too difficult for God.”
That was a year ago. Today we’re celebrating the birth of my son, Isaac. It’s been a week now since his birth, and he’s the most beautiful, happy baby I’ve ever seen. God always keeps His promises!
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I'd eliminate some of the introductory material and get right to the story. Then you've got more words for character development or plot.
This was highly entertaining.