Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Gone Fishing (02/01/07)
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TITLE: The Slow Thaw | Previous Challenge Entry
By Cheri Hardaway
02/08/07 -
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“Didn’t I teach you girls you need to be ladies? That today’s world is full of lust and sin, and you’d best be careful to stay out of temptation’s way. Obviously, you weren’t listening.”
While Zita stood stunned, Evangeline Hunter had unsheathed the sword of the Spirit to finish her off.
“Mark my words, girlie. Hebrews 13:4 (NKJV) – ‘Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge.’ You, miss, are a fornicator. You’d better get your life right, or you’ll find yourself in the hot place!”
Zita had gone to Mrs. Hunter first, upon learning that she was pregnant. She’d never told a soul about the rape, because she’d been afraid they wouldn’t believe her. She’d foolishly left the mall with a boy she didn’t know. He’d been charming in front of her friends, but as soon as they were alone, he’d changed. He’d forced himself on her and left her to find her own way home.
Two months later, the clinic confirmed her fear. The school nurse offered to arrange for an abortion, saying her parents didn’t have to know. But Zita just couldn’t.
She was a good girl. Mrs. Hunter doted on her, often holding her up as exemplary. She always had the week’s scriptures memorized, and she knew the answers to the questions asked in class.
One thing she didn’t know, however, was how to tell her parents about her predicament. They would push for an abortion, and she needed Mrs. Hunter’s support to stand firm in her choice to have the baby. After all, it was under her tutelage in Sunday school that Zita learned all she knew of God’s word. That’s how she knew she couldn’t terminate her pregnancy.
Zita bolted for the bathroom. Later, cried out, she crept down the hall to the foyer. She’d almost escaped when Mrs. Hunter’s injured tones drifted from around the corner.
“How could she? I fill those girls with scripture every Sunday. When she told me she was pregnant, I stopped her mid-sentence. I told her exactly what God’s word says about that kind of behavior!”
Zita didn’t wait to hear more. And just as she’d promised herself, she never went back to Grace Church.
Nor was she bullied into a quick fix to her problem. She somehow managed to survive the next seven months, and little Angelina was placed for adoption.
Life went on as usual, but Zita felt anything but normal. She was confused. Why had God let this happen? Scripture said God would never leave her or forsake her. So where was He the night she was raped?
She graduated from high school and went away to college, and still her heart felt cold and frozen. It wasn’t until she met Hannah Fisher, that it began to slowly thaw. Hannah was warm and transparent. She openly shared her own life’s heartaches — multiple miscarriages that rendered her barren; her husband’s refusal to adopt children; and his subsequent affair, that sounded the death knell to their marriage. Yet she was still so happy, so strong, so free. Why?
Eventually, Zita risked sharing about the rape. Hannah’s compassion cast a great weight from her heart. She ventured a question.
“Hannah, do you attend church?”
“Yes. Do you?”
In response, Zita told Hannah about Mrs. Hunter.
Their friendship deepened. Desperately, Zita craved the peace she saw in Hannah’s life. Why was she so different? One day she asked.
Hannah answered. “Zita, you know God’s word, but you don’t know God. He’s so much more than do’s and don’ts. He wants to be your Father, your Savior, your Friend.”
That day, Hannah introduced her dear friend to her Best Friend. Hannah’s love and friendship had whet Zita’s appetite; she took the bait. Together Hannah and the Holy Spirit reeled her in.
Now, on spring break, Zita stood in the foyer of Grace Church, ready to extend forgiveness and that same hand of friendship to Mrs. Hunter, whom she suspected knew God’s word… but not God Himself.
~~~~~~
Hannah smiled when she heard Zita’s message on the answering machine.
“Please pray for me. I’m going fishing!”
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Beautiful words to a beautiful story. Well done.
Thank you for writing this touching piece.
This might be a bit light on topic, but it's wonderful nevertheless.
the time, and I thank God we had several "Hannahs" to reach these girls. You did a great job of getting your message across.
And religious legalism has inflicted its own brand of pain on me over the years, even more as a Christian than when I was lost. And I felt that was what I had to write about, that someone out there might be ministered to in reading about Zita's -- a completely fictional character and experience, by the way -- journey.
Many blessings,
Cheri