Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Pen and Paper (07/17/14)
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TITLE: An Ink Stained Parchment | Previous Challenge Entry
By Brenda Rice
07/24/14 -
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Dear Heavenly Father,
Though my earthly days are limited, I must say I feel quite well. Since I have never been this near death before, to my knowledge that is, I have no measure to determine how one should feel at my tender age of 95. I am rambling on a tad, but I do have a reason for writing this letter.
First, You gave me a Godly family, for which I give You praise. Mama and Poppa served You all their days and raised their ten children to do the same. I happily report that all of us accepted Christ as children and never strayed into the wickedness the world offers. Although I alone remain, I still feel extremely close to my parents and my siblings.
Second, you gave me a devoted husband, devoted to You first, then to me and his children. Hamish was a man of strong character, upright in all his ways. He provided well for me and our 7 children. Six of our children attended college, but of greater importance, I humbly report all are serving You. Hamish would stand for nothing less. Some would call him an overbearing zealot. If only they knew how of no effect their opinions were to him.
Third, You answered prayers for me throughout my life especially during the child raising years when accidents were prevalent and infections often proved deadly. I prayed for healing. I prayed for safety. I prayed for crops to grow, and many other motherly concerns. I tell you now as I have told you before, you never failed me, never left me without guidance. Sometimes, I faltered taking unneeded action in advance of Your answer arriving, but when I held my peace allowing You to work, things always turned out better.
These days I am mostly an observer watching with dimming eyes, but I see the world changing and not all for good may I add. There are things I do not understand, but then it is not for me to know. You understand it all Father which is the foundation of my faith and the keeper of my peace. As I put pen to parchment, I do so for those who are coming after me. I do not know them yet, but they are coming.
My children and grandchildren have been taught of You and they believe. However, I see in younger people an inclination to make the Cross of Christ of less significance. My heart grows heavier with this burden. Our children, our seed for the future must not fall away from the faith and be snatched up by the world.
In decades to come, I want this old parchment to fall into the hands of someone I never knew, but someone, who is a part of me. It is my way of carrying the message of Christ and Him crucified into the distant future which to me seems like the last, but the best thing I can do for my family. Only You Father are more precious to me than the lives who share my blood and Hamish’s blood.
Finally, guide this letter, although it be smeared and faded, into the hands of someone who needs it. I ask You to prepare the heart of that someone to receive You as their Lord and Savior.
I anticipate our meeting face to face, and I remain ever Yours,
Virginia Arlene O’Brien
My name is Arlene Worthington. The letter was meant for me. My life changed the day I found it. Christ became the center of my life. I have shared the letter with many who are descendants of Hamish and Virginia Arlene O’Brien. Her desire to touch the lives of people more than a century after her life ended has been fulfilled.
My great great-grandmother Virginia Arlene O’Brien passed away two weeks after penning the letter. My plan is to find my own way of sending the letter forward another 100 or so years. I believe as she did; Christ is the best gift to give your family now and in the future.
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Loved this!
God bless~