The Official Writing Challenge
BACK TO
CHALLENGE
MAIN
INSTRUCTIONS
how it works
submission rules
guidelines for
choosing a level
ENTRIES
submit your entry
read current entries
read past entries
challenge winners
Our Daily Devotional HERE
Place it on your site or
receive it daily by email.


TRUST JESUS TODAY

  • Share
  • how it works
  • Submit
Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Father (as in paternal parent, not God) (04/10/08)
My just-out-of high school niece chose to keep her baby and stay with her parents. So, as my brother was beginning to feel age coming on, he became a grandfather and substitute father at the same time. Though an active boy, my grand-nephew, now quite a bit bigger, has always been good at home and in school. My brother DID DO something right, but he unfortunately doesn¡¯t believe in God. So what made the difference for this boy without a father?

And - from where did my brother get his fatherly stance? He got it from a local grocery store owner, Ernie. Though Ernie had a large family, he let his kids¡¯ friends hang out at his store and attached house - where he and his wife also hung out. Ernie enjoyed his constant youthful-visitors and his kids behaved well; thus, so did their visitors - such as my brother.

Not coming from a Christian home, I didn¡¯t give my life to Jesus until my mid-twenties. Living in the social sewer in my early 20¡¯s brought me to reality, and I forsook my old life for the wonderful mercy and new mind that Jesus gave me.

However, perhaps to some Christians¡¯ disgust, I haven¡¯t married because I really think marriage hasn¡¯t been God¡¯s choice for me so far. I left high school with a day-dreaming HABIT and TOTAL lack of self-confidence. Even after becoming a Christian; for years I quit one dream after another, while hanging on to the familiarity of temporary employment. And to make things more interesting, in my early 40¡¯s I was hit in the head+ by a pick-up truck. I could¡¯ve fought a court battle for brain damage, but chose to get back out there and bat instead. Nevertheless, due to my weakened condition and growing age, I¡¯ve had to turn to my mostly still not-Christian family repeatedly for help during the years since the accident.

When I couldn¡¯t miss the fact that I was over 50 and time was flying; I realized that I needed to get better employment, but supervisors just didn¡¯t seem to want me as they used to - even on temp jobs. This led to my recalling some of my teenage home-names such as ¡®hopeless case¡¯ and ¡®wretch¡¯; but I knew that those names didn¡¯t come from God - so I didn¡¯t quit.

Hence, to remedy my employment situation, I took a deep breath of Jesus and got a job teaching English to preschoolers in China. Notwithstanding, after six months my liaison mercifully invited me to leave China immediately, as I had been sick most of the time I was with the little ones; and at that point, I couldn¡¯t even talk to the little guys and gals without coughing my head off. Was this the end of the line for a ¡®hopeless case¡¯ as I had been not-so-fondly called at home? OR was it? God did promise his followers that He wouldn¡¯t let them fall so hard that they couldn¡¯t get back up.

I¡¯ve spent the last four years going back and forth between my still mostly non-Christian family and China teaching under one-year contracts at colleges. What I¡¯ve enjoyed about this not-easy-experience has been inviting my students who want extra English-help to come to my apartment for sessions of combined English coaching and chatting.

On the other hand, since I¡¯ve earned no social security while in China and never have had much to speak of; I¡¯ve got to try to find work in the US where I can hopefully earn enough S.S. to stay off the streets when I¡¯m so far over I can¡¯t get back up the hill.

Last June, I looked my situation straight in the nose - and almost cringed. Thoughts of being poverty stricken and dieing alone almost GOT me. But, I THANK GOD for thoughts of Jesus that quickly replaced those thoughts. Yes, I rested in the fact that even if I die alone in some dumpy room ¨C I won¡¯t be alone. In fact, that room will be beautiful because my ONLY fatherly-father, Jesus, will be there to comfort me. And that and other Jesus thoughts have carried me through more hard times ¨C and even allowed this too ripened-tomato to keep rolling on to who knows where.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Right Now - CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
This article has been read 667 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Sara Harricharan
04/17/08
An interesting equation for your title! Thank you for sharing these thoughts, I can sense quite a bit of emotion here. ^_^
Angela M. Baker-Bridge
04/18/08
Your willingness to be transparent can encourage others.

To make your entries easier to read, try using the PREVIEW button before you submit. That will allow you to remove any unwanted symbols that might appear, as in this entry.

Continue trusting God, as you do, and He will direct your path.