Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Craft (as in handcraft) (02/08/07)
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TITLE: A Mighty Man | Previous Challenge Entry
By steven matchett
02/12/07 -
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My father was a craftsman. He could do so many things with his hands that I fail to count them all. As a youngster I helped with carpentry, plumbing, electricity, and many other home tasks and professional jobs.
I can do many things with my hands, but I will never be the craftsman or have the skills my father exhibited. I can only dream of such skill for myself.
It’s 4:30 A.M. and Dad is restless and moving slightly in his sleep. I doze. A low moan penetrates through my light slumber to push my eyelids up and I hear myself say, “Are you alright, Dad?”
“No, son, it hurts.”
“Do you want me to get some more morphine,” I ask?
“No, son, but you can tell me about Jesus,” my Dad said. “It’s not the kind of hurt that the morphine can help. I’m just sick of dieing.”
Wide awake, I scoot closer to the hospital bed that had been delivered those weeks ago to get my ears near. “Do you want to hear how Jesus can save you, Dad?”
“Tell me what to do, son.”
I said, “Dad, it’s true. Jesus will save you and you need no longer fear death, but can embrace it as the path home. All you have to do is say to Jesus: ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you died on the cross for me and that you will bless me in my life and that I will go to heaven when I die.’”
Little did I know that only six weeks would pass before Dad went to be with Jesus on his 75th birthday. My Dad was a man of honor and loyalty to his family and his country. He had spent 24 years in the U.S. Navy. His integrity was not questioned by those who knew him and now that I am 45 years old I am beginning to understand what it means to be a man from watching him in his life. I am reminded of King David and his mighty men.
His last six weeks of life were filled with the agony that accompanies death at the hands of prostate cancer, but after that early morning experience he no longer complained of any discomfort. He crafted a noble death the same way he lived his life.
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There were a few minor errors, but nothing major. Watch out for numbers. Anything under 100 should be spelled out.
There was a great message in this story, and I enjoyed reading it. Keep writing!