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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: ANGELS WATCHING OVER ME (don’t write about the song) (06/04/15)
It might sound hard to believe, but I’ve never done anything wrong.

True, I did get to a stage where I started pushing my mother around, though I was never a teenage rebel. Not that my mother complained, for though I could not understand it back then, it was almost like she appreciated it.

However that kind of behaviour was nipped in the bud when the first angel crossed my path.

I wasn’t prepared for meeting someone so big and powerful―yet so weightlessly gentle. I was surrounded and infused with a brilliant radiance that bathed my eyes and my heart with reassurance. It was an unforgettable introduction to a new dimension of limitless beauty that still pulsates with indescribable, full-surround music and light-shows that still catch my breath.

Angels have become my best friends. They have proved their care for me and they show me how they protect people all over the world. And they’re so much fun to hang out with, for even though they tell me how they serve God across the universe, they have never tried to make me feel inferior in any way.

We share such deep joy and an honesty that’s transparent; like we can see right through each other. But without any fear because none of us has anything to hide, so the harmony of love and respect just keep building...

I’ve never known anything but love, from the moment of my conception―my parents’ love and God’s love―for the whole comfort of being formed by God’s grace and drawn into his complete understanding of who I am and the reason for my being here. And nothing has interrupted this whole scenario.

I have to confess that I didn’t fulfil my parents’ expectations. Yet despite the depth of their disappointment, or any guilt that tried to fasten itself onto that disappointment, I have never doubted their love for me. I probably deflated other people’s dreams as well; for I never tried out for any sports or attempted to learn music. I didn’t even bother with formal education.

You may ask how I’ve maintained this perfect relationship with God, but please don't feel resentful or envious about what may sound like my charmed existence. For you have blessed in ways that I could only guess at―or maybe even envy you for.

Maybe it’s enough for me to say that I was stillborn.


Author’s note. My title comes from recently conducting a funeral for a heartbroken family whose baby boy had arrived full-term but unexpectedly stillborn. All their joy and anticipation had been hijacked by pain and shock, and their pain was palpable.

This family has no church home, and I was struggling to find appropriate words of comfort that would invite them to be open to God’s grace in their shock. Until the thought came: This little guy has known nothing but love. He was conceived in their love; nourished in their love; and now he has been ushered into the presence of God―whose middle name is love.

The imaginary journey of my entry takes this thought of knowing nothing but love further than what I shared with the family, because I also needed to address their own casserole of emotions and to be available to travel further with them over time.
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Member Comments
Member
Date
C D Swanson 
06/12/15
Oh my goodness, what a powerful entry. It pulled me in right away and I wondered where it was going. When I learned your entry was inspired due to a tragic event, it took my breath away.

I hope you share this with the grieving parents, if they're open to receiving it. I think it might bring a "light of hope and comfort" their way, during their horrific mourning.

You've outdone yourself with this piece. Well done my friend.

God bless~
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
06/13/15
This is beautiful. I've worked as a labor and delivery nurse and the pain of losing a baby in that way is unconceivable. This is a wonderful way to help the parents began to heal.
Beth LaBuff 
06/13/15
That little one will have all eternity to be loved by his Creator. You've used a captivating style in telling this heart-breaking and inspiring story. Nice work!
Ellen Carr 
06/14/15
This is a very sweet and moving way of dealing with its very sad subject matter and, I'm sure, would have been a wonderful comfort to the parents going through their grief. A very thoughtful take on the topic.
Rachel Rudd
06/14/15
This a powerful point of view on something so heartbreaking. I hope your friends will be able to find comfort through reading it.
alan kane
06/15/15
It is never an easy topic. One I can personally understand but lovely to think that this child knew such special LOVE.
Zacharia Fox
06/16/15
You had me guessing from your opening line! What a great answer to the riddle, who is friends with angels and never committed a sin? Clever and carefully put together:) good job
Danielle King 
06/17/15
Oh my goodness, I have to agree with Camille - you have outshone yourself with this one.

I can't imagine the parents hearing anything more comforting than the words you've written about their baby. Heart-breaking though it is, it's also uplifting.

I think this piece will rate highly with the judges.
Verna Cole Mitchell 
06/18/15
This is truly deep and beautiful!
Margaret Kearley
06/18/15
I too was kept guessing for quite a time by this most amazing piece of beautiful writing and truth. I just love the title too. Many many congrats on this very well deserved EC.
Danielle King 
06/18/15
Congratulations Noel. I am not at all surprised to see this entry up here where it belongs.
PamFord Davis 
06/18/15
Congratulations, Noel!
I expected to see this entry in the Winner's Circle!

Wing His Words
Loni Bowden-Horn 
06/19/15
This is a powerful and beautifully written entry. I know that your presence at the funeral and bathing the couple in God's love spoke more volumes to them then any words could have expressed at their time of grief.
Rachel Rudd
06/24/15
Congratulations on your placement! I'm so pleased that this wonderful story placed. I had to check. :) Thanks for your PM, too. I hope to be writing again soon.