Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD (07/23/20)
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TITLE: Becoming Congruent | Previous Challenge Entry
By Tana Craig
07/28/20 -
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Becoming Congruent
Meg was sitting on a barstool in Rusty’s Place on the Pier, with her husband. Laughter and beer were flowing free as water from a broken pipe. Rusty was using a once-white dishtowel around his hips to demonstrate the Twist, as music and laugher blared and bacon sizzled on the griddle.
What’s wrong with this picture? It’s Sunday morning and I should be in church, THAT’S what’s wrong. Meg felt guilty. She didn’t remember putting their 18-month-old son into bed last month after a night of partying. That had scared her. Plus, she didn’t even like beer, yet she had been drinking a lot of it. And wine. And “hard” alcohol.
A radio preacher had started her thinking a few months ago when he began a Bible study on ‘Putting Your Best Foot Forward.’ He began with the true state of mankind, “There is none righteous, no not one.” Romans 3:10, and “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans3:23
I have been comparing myself to other people, God is comparing me to Himself. She wasn’t doing as well as she thought she was.
“I don’t have any best foot, preacher man,” she told the kitchen radio, as she scooped coffee into the pot. ‘With blisters on my heels and corns on my toes, I will be miserable wherever I go,’ is my version of ‘rings on her fingers and bells on her toes.’”
But Meg knew he was talking about being genuine with God and yourself. This man had been meddling in her business more and more the last few weeks, but she kept listening. Last Wednesday it all came together for Meg.
The program closed with, “Second Corinthians 5:21 reads, ‘He (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to become sin for us, that we might become the righteous God in Him.’” She teared up. Jesus died for her.
Like the robe, they put on You, Jesus, while they were mocking and spitting on You. You put on my sin and guilt and gave me Your righteousness. Then she was full-out bawling and dialing the radio station.
“My name’s Meg,” she stammered,” I want to invite Christ into my heart.” The change was dramatic. No more drinking, cuss words brought Immediate prayer for forgiveness. She would look for a church where her son could go too, and maybe my husband. She had much more to learn about God, but now she understood a lot of what she read in the old Bible she’d had since college.
“Can I get you a beer, Meg?”
“No thanks, Rusty, I’ll stick with my coffee.”
Turning to her husband, she smiled,” Could we pick up our son from the sitter now? I feel like getting out into this marvelous day.”
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he (or she) is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” II Cor. 5:17
Fiction
Word Count: 500
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Meg and her husband sat guzzling beer at Rusty's Place on the Pier.
Try to avoid clichés too and be careful about slipping into different voices. You start with third person, then slip into first (if you made that a thought and put it in italics, then it would work), and once into the universal you. Having someone read it aloud to you will help you spot those things.
You did a fine job of writing on topic. I like the Bible verses you selected. They fit the sermon and your message nicely. The ending is a great way to resolve that inner conflict. You've a strong foundation. Keep writing, but also read as many entries as you can and leave comments. It will help you grow so much. Some say they are too new to leave critiques, but remember you write for readers and you've been reading for a very long time. I'm excited to read more of your stories.