Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Blowout (04/28/11)
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TITLE: Attitude Adjustment | Previous Challenge Entry
By Fern Brown
05/05/11 -
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Barb, a gentle, kindhearted lady, was easy going most of the time, but she griped like a pro about her glasses. “I can’t see without them, but…they are too big, other times they’re too tight, they slide down my nose, they fog up in cold weather, they fog up in humidity” and the list grew daily. Contacts were the ‘in’ thing and she longed for the day she could afford them. That however, would have to wait until their teenage sons’ appetites curbed drastically.
Thursday was cleaning day at the McMurray’s house, and Barb’s attitude was about to be adjusted.
The day was ordinary in every way. She sang as she worked. She thanked God for her family and the blessings in her life. She also complained when her glasses slid down her nose, or when she had to stop to clean them.
“It’s a half hour till I pick up the kids from school. Maybe I ought to burn the trash - give the boys a break today. The cake in the oven should be okay until I get back inside.” Thoughts scurried through her busy brain as her body hustled to finish the last few tasks.
Throwing the first two bags of papers into the burn barrel, she watched them disintegrate to ashes. She felt like a good wife and mother. She enjoyed doing anything for her husband and children to make their loads lighter. Tossing the third bag into the barrel, she took a few steps back.
Almost before she could blink an eye, she heard a bang and her glasses flew from her head. Astonished, she grabbed her face. She felt liquid running down her fingers from above her eye. “Oh, dear God,” she cried, as tears mingled with the blood. “Please don’t take away my sight. I know I deserve it for all the complaining I do.”
Running half-blindly to the house she tried to figure out what happened. Before she got inside, her husband arrived home from work and took charge of the situation.
“Let’s get you cleaned up and assess the damage.” he said, gently washing away the blood. “You’re going to need stitches and something for the burn on your face. You look like a sunburned raccoon, with that circle around your eye.” he laughed, trying to lighten the mood.
The delicious aroma of the cake reminded Barb to remove it from the oven before another catastrophe struck.
She held a cold, wet washcloth on the gash above her eye as James led her back to the burn barrel to find her glasses. He located the frame quickly. One arm had broken off and the lenses had blown out in opposite directions.
“These spectacles are useless. Do you have an old pair you can wear for now?” Walking around the yard, he discovered a charcoaled, aerosol can. “This is the culprit.” he told her.
**********
The doctor stitched the laceration after checking her vision. “Fortunately there is no damage to your eye. We’ll give you something for the burn on your cheek to take away the sting. Your face will probably bruise before it heals completely.” He blandly announced his diagnosis.
Barb thought soberly, “I am blessed in spite of all my complaining. But I will never gripe about glasses again. I wonder what would have happened if I were wearing contact lenses. Would they have melted in my eyes from the heat? It was a hard lesson, Lord, but thank you for the aerosol can blowout! I’m thankful that I can still see - with glasses.”
KJV Ephesians 2:14a Do all things without murmurings…
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I like how you have woven a moral into the story without any slip into preaching.
Well done.