Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: PHOTOS and/or SOUVENIR(S) (vacation) (07/16/15)
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TITLE: ONE WAY | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marlene Bonney
07/22/15 -
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SPEED LIMIT 60: “Essie, come with me—NOW! Mommy’s going to kill us all with her reckless driving! Please, honey, come to Daddy.”
“She’s staying right here with me! Now, let go of the door before you get caught in it!” her mommy snarled back, clamping Essie’s little legs together like a chip clip and revving up the motor with a heavy foot.
The car lunged forward, sending the man’s off-balance stance into a stumble that landed him into the ditch. The wind slammed the swinging door shut down the road as the car whipped at breakneck speed.
“Please, God, keep my little girl safe,” the young man finally realizing a divorce was 'the lesser of two evils' for the sake of the children. . .
CONSTRUCTION ZONE AHEAD: Esther Mays, a petite 15-yr.-old budding beauty, was determined to someday have a successful Christian marriage and family. Watching her own divorced parent’s failure to achieve this, as well as many other couples in their circle, God had given her a passionate heart to what eventually would become her life’s desire.
First on the agenda to reach this goal was to keep herself chaste and to only date young men who were Believers. Esther had attended church with her father all her life, becoming a Christian at an early age. She prayed daily for God to bring her that “special someone” who would be committed to God and to love and cherish her.
SCHOOL CROSSING: Walter, her childhood sweetheart from church, tried to wait patiently in the wings while Esther went 200 miles away to a faith-based college. Esther did not want to make her mother’s mistake of marrying the only man she knew right out of high school and then rebelling and feeling trapped later on and becoming unfaithful to her husband.
BRIDGE AHEAD: She would “play the field” FIRST—her father’s advice—to gain independence and life experiences and to be confident in her choice for a mate.
WRONG WAY: Andrew Paine, a handsome ministry major, first captured Esther’s interest. They shared a flirtatious chemistry that threw her usual equilibrium into a tailspin. However, “all that glitters is not gold”, a saying she remembered from her grandmother’s knee. Their relationship ended in disillusionment, Andrew’s roaming hands not in line with her moral standards.
CAUTION: More dating scenarios after that included Dan, who talked the Christian jargon but did not walk it; and Phil, who attended church and would have been a distinct possibility had Esther not already been “going with” Dan and not capable of handling two dating relationships at the same time.
After two years in college, Esther made a U-TURN and went back home to smitten Walter. He was faithful and dependable and committed to God, Esther knowing it as surely as she knew the rising and setting sun. Both Esther and her fiancée forged ahead and were united in marriage, YIELD-ing to Christ first and then to each other.
SHARE THE ROAD: The Bible, their most valuable roadmap, along with self-help books giving advice on marriage and parenting, were lights along the narrow pathway toward the realization of Esther’s goal. Sometimes there was illumination for only one step at a time, NO PASSING zones as they learned by trial and error—only to find, in hindsight, that God had prevented them for a BUMP or CURVE AHEAD.
Three healthy children were entrusted to them by God and the couple gave them roots and wings. DO NOT ENTER: Walter and Esther tried to instill in the siblings the values and Biblical warnings that would keep them from harm, having family devotions, followed by prayers, every evening at the end of the supper meal. And, they hoped and prayed that this Christian heritage would trickle down from one generation to the other.
DIVIDED HIGHWAY: Walter and Esther’s children have marriages and children of their own now, one sadly ending in divorce as a daughter’s spouse chose to rebel and depart the Christian faith.
WINDING ROAD: Their marriage now forty-five years strong, Walter and Esther’s dream now includes eight grandchildren to love and pray for, that they will follow in the footsteps gone before them.
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NON-FICTION, names changed only
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