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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: PATIENT (11/25/21)
I’d built up quite a head of steam; a locomotive stoked ready to plow through dirt, off the tracks. It hadn’t happened - but the whistle was starting to toot.
And I was clueless as to exactly what was stoking my responses.

I turned to my husband Will for his thoughts, but he only messed with my metaphor, saying I exemplified a dog barking at the end of a chain while he preferred to settle comfortably in the shade of the kennel, waiting.
Grrrrr.
That yanked my color.

Activity helped, so whether I was a Puffing Billy ready to pop its tracks or a woofer on a fully extended chain, I’d been on the move since Will’s parents ran their business into bankruptcy.
I felt for them, honestly. But in the end, the results were from the decisions they insisted on making. My problem, and the one I was taking very seriously, was their dependence on Will.
So now he had no job, and our meager savings had been swallowed up over the past year in daily sustenance and continuing our small children’s education.

Have I mentioned my pacing at full extension? Tolerant Wil’s words had not meant to hurt, but he was always honest.
Anyway, it’s surprising how many laps one can do circling a kennel.

Tethered. Will’s parents could not let him go. Be it from familial love, loyalty, or blindness, it is what it is; for better or worse, we were tethered.
They could say hasta la vista baby to me, his wife – but to date, Will has not agreed, preferring instead to endure my pacing quietly and to wait.
So too has the Lord- been waiting, that is, but coward that I am, I read the Psalms and let David author the words of lament.
But waiting for what? As I circled, circled, circled.

It was during one such lap, having thought to boldly approach the throne of grace to find help and mercy in this time of need, I started to understand a little more about the Father’s nature, His sovereignty. And that hissy fits did not underwhelm nor overwhelm Him
Afflicted one, storm-tossed, and not comforted, Behold I will set your stones in antimony…
Today Lord? Today? Why do I have to wait so long to see You sort this mess out?.

But He quickened no further Word, and since I was feeling exempt from partaking of the fruit of the Spirit, mainly because I felt Will was overdoing it in that area, I continued to pace - although perhaps a little slower. Even a little circumspect.

Slow enough to answer the phone three times in succession – a week later.
‘Pip,’ my sister hardly ever called. ‘We are going to take over your home loan repayments for a year. Mother felt you might be doing it tough, and we definitely are not. No arguments. Send us the details.’ She hung up.

‘It’s Sister Kevin here, Pip. How’s that baby of yours? I’m phoning to offer you a shared charge position, three nights a week. On your old stomping ground - the Surgical ward. Surely that husband of yours can mind the littlies three nights weekly?’

‘Pip,’ another sister phoned. ‘I was online grocery shopping and felt to do an order for you. No thanks needed only don’t turn the Woolies delivery man away when he knocks.’ She, too, hung up. Convenient, as I had some reckoning with my Heavenly Father over what lay beneath the mask of justified anger.

‘Lord, is this what antimony means? Being set firmly in You; precious in Your sight as I die to an urge to judge and set others straight?’
I knew I was looking at Psalm 116 in a slightly different light, and perhaps it was meant only as a whisper between Him and me. But finally, peace flooded my heart as I handed over His business.
If the Lord is in the habit of nodding – He nodded.
And smiled as I left His presence, knowing I was to rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him.
That His Word was current and active.

‘Thank You, Lord, sincerely. I repent of fussing and fretting. Will has been so longsuffering towards his parents – although You must admit he didn’t articulate exactly why he was waiting to be released. That would’ve helped me. ’
I held up a finger in thought, ‘Perhaps Lord, I was too easily frustrated to listen.’
I nodded like the Father, in agreement with myself.

749 words minus References.
Scriptures from NABRE: Heb.4:16 Isaiah 54:11 Ps.37:7 Gal.5:22
Ps. 116:15
Fact, not Fiction :)
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This article has been read 390 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Loni Bowden-Horn 
12/04/21
I like your creativeness in drawing us into the piece. I could identify with the pacing part. Well done
Sue Botte 
12/05/21
Well written.
I am thankful this entry is non-fiction.

As of late, so many of us have been there where you were.

Thank you for sharing; it doesn't only give us hope, it gives us courage to wait patiently and persevere in our relationship with the Lord.

God Bless, keep writing.
Robert Rutaagi 
12/05/21

Wow! What an overwhelming evidence that God is an Omni-all, including Omni-provider and Omni-faithful. Well-done!
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
12/06/21
I like how you went from despair and ended in hope and a sense of peace. It's wonderful how the Holy Spirit can perform these miracles if we only allow him in. For me, it seemed your piece jumped around a bit. I found myself rereading parts. It's possible it's my ME/CFS brain fog and not your words. One thing I noticed was you used a lot of the use of a lot of clichés. The train one was great and created a vivid image, but the dog one was a bit harder. At times I wasn't sure if you were literally pacing. I was confused about the line: that yanked my color. After rereading, I wondered if you meant collar. I also wasn't sure why Will lost his job unless he was employed by his parents. You do a nice job showing his family's dependence, but I wasn't sure how that connected to his losing his job. It seemed odd you had two sisters named Pip so I wasn't sure if that was a typo, a sister-in-law, or two sisters named Pip. Theast bit that muddled my mind a bit was the reference to the chemical element antimony. I even searched it in the Bible to see if I could understand it better. I do believe that verse did speak to you though and I'm glad you shared it. It wasn't something I was familiar with and I always think it's a talented author who teaches me and makes me think. You did an excellent job of pulling me in right away. Your opening paragraph was full of energy and conflict. I was eager to keep reading. Your closing was also a strong conclusion. You resolved the conflicts and brought me closer to God in doing so. This piece does need some tweaking, but has great potential. You definitely wrote on topic and delivered a clear Christian message that made me stop and contemplate many things. Well done.
Linda Lawrence 
12/09/21
I identify with this message and with the style of writing. I like it but it does need editing. However, it will be well worth the effort to get the piece perfected. I hope you do work on a rewrite. . . and enjoy the process!!
Avigail David
12/09/21
This is really creative, skilled writing! The style, the voice, the images. Your love-affair with words and phrases fully displayed the mounting emotions and frustrations Pip was trying to control.

'That yanked my color' was really good. I understood it clearly to be, 'provoked in anger' by Will's gaslighting and stupid indifference towards his wife with his response, 'you're like a barking, harping dog' and just sat there near the kennel, clueless. Grrrr! indeed.

From the beginning through to the end, I felt it was me in the story. You've written it easy to understand, appealing and relatable.

And then, I 'smiled as I left His presence, knowing I was to rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him.'

And that's good writing. You were not even aware what you would make a reader, such as I, would feel and be drawn to do. To me, in my opinion, thumbs up to you First Choice in tackling the topic, Patient.

Great job! :-)