Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: TRAVELER (01/28/16)
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TITLE: Life's Travels | Previous Challenge Entry
By Kate Warren
02/04/16 -
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“He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:10b-12 NIV
It was May, the sun was still that soft yellow of spring, the new leaves and flowers proudly showed of their colors and perfumed the air with fragrances that would make the busiest banker stop. The breeze was light, just enough to gently ruffle the air and stir the trees. As she drove down the highway things didn’t seem to have changed much. There was St. Gertrude’s, the church her mother had played the organ in for years. She could remember going up those dark, narrow stairs, remember the special smell of that old church, the wood, the incense, her mother’s perfume in the organ loft.
As she continued on she passed the old shopping center. It had different stores. The parking lot was bigger and there seemed to be more people in general. Things had changed, but really stayed the same.
She brushed some strands of snow white hair from her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. Her full face was set as she paid strict attention to the road and where she was going. Even though some things were familiar, she knew forty years had a tendency to muddle the memory.
When she had left, she had been so lost. Now, the seasoning of time and experiences of life had left her ever so much wiser but filled with guilt. She hoped she could finally purge some nagging memories, the ones that reminded her daily of past sins. She knew she was forgiven, but the guilt was almost unbearable.
Finally she went to the old estate and sat by the river that would eventually open to the ocean and just sat. She had loved this spot and had often come here to just be, to imagine being something more than she was.
“Jesus,” she prayed. “You are so good, so great. I didn’t know you all those years ago. I gave myself excuses to allow a lifestyle I did not…. There I go again. Jesus, help me shed this guilt, this regret. I know I reap what I sow, but you promised my sin would be thrown into the sea of forgetfulness. You have forgotten, help me to, help me to put these things at the cross and leave them there.”
It was a relief to get home. She realized that although it had been an interesting trip, all the pettiness she had seen was so far removed from her life now. Removed; removed … removed!!!!!
She closed her bedroom door and fell onto her knees. “Thank you, Jesus, thank you! You have removed all that from me! I don’t have to live in that guilt because you removed it! I have been so stupid, thank you for being so patient with me!” She wiped her eyes and returned to unpacking with a new lightness in her step, a new smile. Finally she understood that when He took them away He had truly taken them. She truly was free to live as a Child of God, with head high and all the joy and rights of inheritance He had promised. He had removed those past defeats; He had wiped the tear from her eye.
She looked with new eyes on the blessings Jesus had sent; a loving husband and family, a Church that love the Lord and His Word, her home, she had the life she had dreamed about as a twenty-something. Again, she gave God the Glory. He had thrown her sins so far she could not take them back.
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