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 I will be adding stories & reflections as time marches on. Take a gander today! |
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Contest Entries: "The Contest Challenge"  Participant"I Write in 2018" Participant"I Write in 2019" Participant"I Write in 2020" Participant2021: Independent Writing 2122: "I Write: Enter the Second Decade" Participant2123: "Twenty-three in Eleven " ParticipantThis mixed collection contains fiction, non-fiction, prose, and poetry. Entries vary in length from very short to one that is over 3000 words. 53 entries written in 2018: ▼ 53 entries written in 2019: ▼ 43 entries written in 2020 ▼ 2 entries written in 2021 ▼ Entries written in 2022 ▼ NOTE: All Titles with ~ ~ are either non-fiction or based on a true story. |
What is my problem? Well, I can definitely tell you what my problem has been this month: This prompt!!! I love the "Grill A Christian" contest. It is probably my favorite contest on Writing.Com. Why? Simple: I am a Christian and I want to write non-fiction. LightinMind provides us with thought-provoking prompts. I appreciate all the prompts but I have found it difficult to find the time and energy to invest in creating entries—good entries to "Grill A Christian" take time and thought. This month (May 2025), I was determined to consider his prompt and give it my best effort. With that in mind, I started working on this entry on the 5th of the month. I say I started working on it but, although that was my intention, what I really did was to start contemplating my answer to the question: "What is my problem?" At first, I found myself jotting down some ideas: Some of my problems included: I have lacked consistency. I have lacked vision. I have lacked focus. I have suffered from a severe lack of energy. I have made some bad decisions. I have not done well with follow-through. Some things simply have not worked out as I had hoped. I have not taken care of my finances. I have not taken care of my health. Too many things in my life have changed. And the biggest thing: In the midst of my problems, I have had a poor Christian testimony. As I tried to come up with an idea to write about, I found myself examining my life for problems. At first, I was just looking at current problems. Eventually, my search expanded. Pretty soon, I was looking back over my whole life. It was then my question changed to: What the hell was my problem??? I also began comparing my life to the lives of other folks—with their lives being beacons of success in so many ways while my life went from failure to failure. Where they were shining examples of the good life, many times mine was a good lesson in what not to do. Some of my problems were of my own doing. For example, I had neglected to file my income taxes and it came back to bite me in the butt. Others were unfortunate circumstances. The changes I referenced were a result of the COVID pandemic. I had begun to settle in to my new hometown when it seemed like EVERYTHING changed. Many of the places where I like to hang out (and write) were no longer open. Shopping changed for me when Walmart decided to close at night. As a life time night-shift worker, I always shopped at night. Walmart will likely never again accommodate folks like me who prefer to shop in the middle of the night. That, by itself, has been a culture shock. What else did I do, I asked a close friend what was wrong with me. Why did God allow her to have a better life than me? Why did she have a good childhood, a good husband, financial success and I did not have any of those things. She was ready with an answer. Sadly, her answer put me in mind of Job's friends. God gave me a different answer: Romans 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Who am I to question God? I think that pretty much sums up God's answer to Job as well... So, back to my problem of the month. I have two things I will share to frame the solution. The first is a personal story from December 2008. I am a nurse. My health at that time was not good. I often was not able to work. I am pretty sure I only worked two days that month—two twelve hours shifts: Christmas Eve and Christmas. My twelve hour shifts usually end up being fourteen hours. I often needed the extra time to finish my charting. That was the case on Christmas Eve. The next morning, I was exhausted and had to push myself to go to work. As I was driving (dragging myself to the hospital), I was praying—and complaining, I'm sure. Something strange happened: My life flashed before my eyes! It was very strange. As I was driving. it was as if I was also clicking through a slide in a View Master. Click, click. click. Pictures from my life came up in that View Master. Generally, when I share this story in the face-to-face world, folks are aghast thinking I am seeing all the bad things I ever did. That was not the case. Actually, much of what I saw were things like me folding laundry, me brushing my teeth, me washing dishes, Our lives are full of a lot of mundane moments. The really good times and really bad times are sprinkled amongst all the ordinary stuff. I realize that on Christmas Day 2008 as I drove to work. I was a bit amazed at my View Master experience that Wednesday. The next day, I was talking to God about it and suddenly, instead of the View Master, I saw a huge pile of photographs. Again, the photos were little excerpts of my life and most of them were just the daily run of the mill kind of things. Again, an interesting realization. Well, I got up on Friday and was praying and saw the pile of photos in my mind's eye again. I felt as though God was trying to show me something but I wasn't quite seeing it. I asked Him to show me clearly what He was trying to say. The message I received that day was: You need to dig in there and pull out the good ones! That is the solution to my problem. As Paul wrote to the Philippians: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Philippians 4:8) Amen? Amen!!! Most of May, I was doing exactly the opposite of what this verse suggests. As I thought about all the bad stuff, I became more and more depressed. The truth is that God will keep us in perfect peace when our minds are staid on Him! (Isaiah 26:3) Written for:
Word Count: 1095 Words ~ ~ ~ JESUS is LORD! ~ ~ ~ |
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