The Official Writing Challenge
BACK TO
CHALLENGE
MAIN
INSTRUCTIONS
how it works
submission rules
guidelines for
choosing a level
ENTRIES
submit your entry
read current entries
read past entries
challenge winners
Our Daily Devotional HERE
Place it on your site or
receive it daily by email.


TRUST JESUS TODAY

  • Share
  • how it works
  • Submit
Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Singing (10/31/05)
I had been busy surfing on the internet when the sound of singing began to fill the house. Our twenty-one year old daughter was downstairs doing the dishes and singing quite loudly to the music on her ipod. I was tickled at the thought of listening to her singing without her knowing it, but at the same time marveled that she was able to sing at all. Yesterday her car was broken into and her stereo stolen while she was attending her college class. To have a stereo stolen out of a car is not such an unusual thing, but what if this was the third incident, since the beginning of the year, that your car had been broken into.

Trials for our daughter Anna began to become severe on September 21, 2001. Just ten days after the infamous 9-11 rocked our world, I received a phone call no mother wants to hear. “Mom this is Anna and I just got in a car accident,” she said crying profusely. Of course I was relieved, because she had called me herself.

When I arrived on the scene, there were fire trucks, ambulances, helicopter, and the police. As it turned out, her Ford Mustang, which was carrying three other passengers, had been sandwiched between two other vehicles. Thankfully no one had received life threatening injuries.

In time, as the insurance settlement for the car came through, Anna was able to purchase another car. She had it no more than a week and again someone rear ended her. It broke her new bumper, so she had to get it fixed. This happened once more and then she traded it for the car she really wanted; a Honda Civic. On her way to school one morning, she was hit again from behind, which required cosmetic surgery for her new car. This car, by the way, is the one that has been stolen and broken into three times this year.

It was no wonder she was discouraged and felt like her life was destined to pain and hardship, until one day, things changed. A young man, that she had been friends with since high school, came to the United States from Korea for a month long furlough from the army. She had never seen him as more than a friend, but this time it was different. They went to Disneyland and fell in love. For Anna to fall in love was an amazing thing, as she is a virgin and has guarded her heart and her body, in order to save them for the man she would marry.

It wasn’t long before they were passionately in love and engaged. Her world was going from gray to brilliant color. It seemed the stormy rain clouds that had plagued her were over and it was exciting to see the sparkle of young love in her eyes.

In June she flew to Korea to see her betrothed and he gave her a gorgeous engagement ring. Everything seemed to be going so well, and then without warning, the groom began to get ice cold feet and called off the wedding. Having the wedding cancelled was bad enough, but this young man wanted to go back to just being good friends. Her heart was crushed!

The hurt that Anna felt seemed unbearable, at least for a season, and then something happened. She drew closer to God than ever before and began to hear his voice. He told her to fight for him, as he was to be her husband. In spite of her own pain, she believed that God had put her in his life to help bring healing to the heart of one who had been so deeply wounded from childhood. Anna has committed to pray for God’s healing and deliverance for him, as well as the daunting task of interceding for the restoration of his whole family.

She continues to receive criticism from her co-workers at the hospital, who are telling her to dump him. Anna refuses to dump him, because she knows that Jesus hasn’t dumped him. I see the beauty of Jesus in her as one who is willing to love unconditionally, regardless of the outcome for herself. I am so proud of our daughter, who resembles Jesus more and more each day.

So to lose a car stereo is no big deal, but to sing in the midst of the continual pouring rain is.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE

JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
This article has been read 797 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Norma OGrady
11/07/05
Anna is truly a Saint of our Lord's and numbered with the faithful in Yeshua the Christ!
Thank you for sharing this story.
Yeshua bless
Jan Ackerson
11/08/05
Very good! I have a daughter who sings through pain, too, so I could really relate to this. Watch for consistent tenses, and this piece goes from Very Good to Top-Notch!
Julianne Jones
11/09/05
A lovely story of being able to praise God in the midst of our difficulties. As Jan has said, watch the tenses, otherwise well-written. Thanks for sharing.