Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Cross (as in the Cross of Christ) (08/17/06)
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TITLE: The Transaction | Previous Challenge Entry
By Glorey Wooldridge
08/18/06 -
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Vicki thought about her circumstances. It had been a hard year for her family. She had left her husband after several years of difficulty and had taken her three small children to her childhood home.
Many times she felt utterly alone. She knew God loved her. She wanted, no, she needed, to feel God’s love for her. She was where some would call “between a rock and a hard place” spiritually, emotionally and physically.
She paused and thought about the burden she was carrying. It was too much for one person to shoulder. She wondered if she should step out in faith. Would Jesus hear her plea in the midst of so many?
Like a deer panting for water after a long dry summer, she timidly, but with steely determination, stepped into the aisle and headed for the altar.
She knelt and hoarsely whispered her request as she looked heavenward. “Jesus, it’s me, Vicki. I’m here again to place the burden of my marriage, my children and everything I am at the foot of Your cross. I’m desperate for You, Daddy. I know it would take one drop of blood to cleanse me and give me the strength to keep going. One drop of blood Lord, is all I ask for.”
If one could see the internal struggle within her, they would see a tender heart broken and cast aside like a toy long forgotten. The wrapping torn off, the box thrown away, the newness and excitement long gone with no refund in sight.
But not in God’s eyes.
Amid Vicki’s pain and grief, a vision formed as she knelt in prayer. She saw herself kneeling before a cross. She saw her request rise like smoke on a clear day. In an instant, she saw one drop of blood trickling down the cross and falling upon her as she had requested. Yes! Thank you Father. He answered her prayer. Then a most unexpected thing happened. Like big drops of rain, another drop fell. And another. It continued to fall until she was covered in the precious life flow of Christ. She wasn’t damp. She was drenched.
She gasped in wonder at the healing power of love, peace, and joy in the midst of the vision. Her spirit was lifted up out of the miry depths of despair and placed upon the wings of an eagle soaring toward the face of God.
After a time of soaking in God’s presence, her thoughts cleared and she saw she was still at the altar and nothing around her had changed in the physical. There were others kneeling while the worship leader continued singing quite songs of praise and adoration.
But oh! The spiritual. Hard work had been accomplished in the Heavenlies. Vicki went to the altar and traded her heavy burden for peace. She thanked God from the depths of her being for the unfair transaction that would give her strength to keep doing the next thing.
She went back to her seat and sat with her children. One of her boys moved next to her and hugged her tightly. As he touched her arm with his little hand, he looked at her in amazement. “Mommy, did you get baptized?” Vicki looked at him and said, “No dear. Mommy was praying and asking God to help us. Why?” The little boy felt her arms again and said, “Because you are all wet, like you just took a bath.”
Matthew 7:11 (NIV)
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask!
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One area to be watchful is the use of -ly adverbs. Could you substitute with action verbs that carry the same meaning?
You have a way with words that brought life to this story! I enjoyed reading this, and the twist at the end was well done.