Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Write something suitable for CHILDREN (05/31/07)
-
TITLE: Samuel | Previous Challenge Entry
By Lisa Holloway
06/04/07 -
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES
I don’t remember much, but I saw her look back and wave just once. I felt a hand placed gently on my shoulder, so I looked up. The hand was strong and belonged to a very big man named Eli. His eyes were kind. When he looked back at me like that, I wondered if he knew how scared I was, or how much I already missed Mama.
Mama loves me and always told me I was God’s gift to her. But as we journeyed that week beside the loaded donkeys, she seemed happy and sad at the same time—and she hugged me a lot. That morning, she pulled me into her lap (we don’t do that any more now that I’m big). She was quiet for a while, then she told me that when God gives us a gift, the very best thing we can do to show that we like it is to give it back to Him.
That didn’t make any sense to me. If Mama gave back the clay bowl I’d made all by myself, I would think she didn’t like it.
She said God’s funny that way. She says He likes it best when we hold our gifts out to Him with open hearts and let Him show us what to do with them. She says it gives Him joy, and that’s always a good thing. If we love someone, we want to give him joy, even if it makes us sad for a while. Eli says the same thing.
Then she reminded me that I am God’s gift to her. And she told me that before I was even born, she had made God a promise. She had promised God that if He let her have me, she would give me back to Him to keep. It’s all because she wanted the chance to love me so much.
Now that I’m big, I belong to God. I still miss Mama, but I see her every year when she comes to Shiloh to make the sacrifice. She’s always so happy and so proud. She gives me nice, new clothes to wear that she made herself.
But I see tears in her eyes when she thinks I’m not looking. She holds me close for a little while before I go back to help Eli at the temple. And she always stops to watch and wave as I go, just like that first day.
Sometimes it’s hard to give back the gift, but Mama showed me how to do it. I hope God can do good things with Mama’s gift someday—and that I can give God joy, too.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This story is based on the account in the first couple of chapters in 1 Samuel. While Samuel’s exact age isn’t given, he had been weaned, so cultural norms of the time suggest that he was at least three years old, possibly older. Since there was no priestly provision for children under three in terms of food, this seems a reasonable assumption.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Right Now - CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
I was also drawn in by the title, as personal names always spark my curiosity. Great job!