Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Conversation (face to face) (10/07/10)
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TITLE: Alone But Not Forsaken | Previous Challenge Entry
By Avigail David
10/11/10 -
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wintry lonesome morning.
Fully clad, she faces the day. Mary steps into the numbing dread of the
chilly kitchen. There is so much to do, with so little time!
Flickering embers in the fireplace left overnight, now dying in the deep of
the bitterly cold living room. The fire decides to die down on her.The cosy bedroom keeps summoning her to snuggle back into the depths of slumber. Doona.Warm down-feather quilt, she muses. Nah, I’ll stay in the dining room, she decides. Her husband just got in bed from working night shift, sleeping soundly.
Staring at her Bible, yearnings bury deep within Mary’s soul. Her grown-up
Susie has left “parental-boundary”. Is this the season of Mary’s motherhood to
“let go and trust God for Susie’s future?” Twenty-two years seem just a short while ago.
Mary, with faltering strength, drags herself along the road of trusting and
letting go to God.
Will Susie remain tuned-in to God to love Him--follow Him closely if Mary
will let go?
“I forget that You are All-Power to do what You purpose.”
“I AM the living God. I care, Mary.”
“I don’t fully understand; help me to do Your will.”
“I AM strong to guide you in every step.”
“Will Susie not fit-in to the pressures of evil, and not be afraid? Yet, boldly speak of You to the lost around her, whom Your Son loved, came and died for? May she always choose to stand firm, Lord!”
“Mary, fear not.”
“Will You speak to Susie face-to-face today, Lord?”
“Lean not on your own understanding.”
“Will You cover her with Your Spirit, that she’d surrender to Your Headship as she goes about her life away from home?”
“Let go, and let Me.”
The warmth in her spirit slowly dissipates. The loneliness oppresses her.
O Mary yearns for perfect peace! She must set the example of resting her
mind on Him.
Tears blur her eyes. The flow does not stop. The sacrifice of praise to God
fills her soul to set her mind on things above. “If ever I love Thee, my Jesus ‘tis now,” her voice quivers in song.
She needs grace for the daunting housework; homeschooling her younger
children as she had done with her eldest Susie.
“My children are still under my charge.”
“You shall train them up to love and obey Me.”
Courage embraces her. Smiling, Mary draws up the wooden blinds. She may be
able to get a glimpse of the eastern sunlight behind the hill. Gum trees shade her view of the struggling eastern sun.
“Lord, Jesus, You hear the groaning of my soul. In Your faithfulness, You
will answer. Whatever it takes–good or bad, You will help me to be faithful to
You.”
By the window, she sees knee-high grass in the backyard. African daisies hide behind rockeries and greedy, tall weeds. I’ve to cut those weeds down. The deep red rosebushes are climbing up the trellises profusely. Cobwebs on the honey suckle catch dew drops overnight. She tilts up her face to look far beyond the hill. Sunlight ridges behind heavy clouds, and she sees a slight gleam. If she stays longer, she’d feel the first stream of light kiss her face.
Shivering, she locks her arms and crosses them in the depths of her woolen cardigan.
In a time like this, she hears comfort. The gentle Voice says, “I hear your
cry for Susie and your children.”
“Thank You. It’s a joyous moment of warm face-to face with You, Lord Jesus,
even in this oppressively cold room.”
“I will never forsake them--whose hearts seek Me, love Me, and obey with all their hearts, soul, mind and strength.”
“All will be well?”
“I AM the same always, I promise you.”
“In Your faithful love, I'll remain true to You, Lord."
She’s confident that her Susie will seek after God’s heart to do His will too.
The blue wrens sing. The grass and weeds dance in the wintry morning.
Dew-drops fly into thin air. Buds on the honey-suckle vine spring forth their pearly heads.
Hope breezes through the crags of life. Trust and obedience whisper glory
and courage.
How strengthening it is as she hears her bedroom door creaks open. Little
feet run to where she’s standing--seeking shelter in Mary’s warm embrace.
“Who’re you talking to, Mommy?”
“Good morning, Lily! It was Jesus, my precious.”
“It was Jesus.”
I'm not sure that our converations with God are literally 'face to face' as in the topic for this week--not this side of heaven, anyway.
Your MC's humble and yearning spirit is very apparent, and the story is moving.