Category: short stories

Bella, part 6 –  A Little Rain Won’t Hurt

On By LindaIn allegories, analogies, and parables, short stories13 Comments

Bella woke earlier than normal the next morning, excited to find out more about that church and the two men who lived in it. But before she could get out of bed, a loud crash of thunder shook her room.

“Where did that come from?” she asked, startled. Had she been sleeping through this storm? Is that what woke her so early?

She usually loved thunderstorms, but this one only brought disappointment with it.  How was she supposed to walk to the church now? A little rain wouldn’t hurt, but lightning? No way could she walk outside with lightning flashing around her. She’d be walking in puddles holding her own personal lightning rod! Maybe this storm wouldn’t last long and she could still go later today. She picked up her cell phone from the small table by her bed and touched the weather icon. As she waited for the web page to come up, she imagined what it might be like to go to the church on a rainy day. They wouldn’t be able to go into the back yard so there would be no sitting on the pier soaking in the beauty. They’d have to stay inside. She frowned. Having to maintain a conversation in an ordinary environment might be awkward. Would they just sit and look at each other? She found carrying a conversation hard, even with all her questions, and Jude hadn’t been exactly the chatterbox the last time she was there. If Pastor Toby was there, it might be OK, though. He seemed comfortable with carrying any conversation.

She looked down at her phone. The weather forecast said the thunderstorm should be gone by mid-day but rain would hang around until the following day. Great. She wouldn’t be able to enjoy the garden or lake, and she’d have to chance an awkward afternoon. Or she could put off the visit for another week.

Shaking her head, she got up to get dressed. She HAD to go today. She didn’t think she IMG_20180608_110929626could make it through the following week if she didn’t.  Her mind was so full of questions that she could barely think of anything else. And her heart was tugging for her to return as soon as possible.  It was almost like she could feel their love for her filling her and drawing her to them. She would get ready now, and leave as soon as the storm was gone.

While waiting for the storm to move on, she kept herself busy doing the chores she tended to put off for when she had more time. Well, she had time now so she swept and mopped the floor, washed the baseboards in the bathroom and hallway, dusted – this time moving objects instead of just dusting around them, sorted and put away a couple piles of clean laundry, and cleaned the microwave.  By then, it was lunch time so she ate lunch while checking on the updated weather map. All the yellow and red of intense activity was gone. There was still a blanket of green covering her area, but that was just rain.  Without lightning, rain was safe enough. It was time to go!

She got her large umbrella and headed for the church. The rain was not hard, and there was no wind, so the walk was actually pleasant. The best part was the empty sidewalk. No one else was crazy enough to be out walking in the rain. Or dodging the splashes made by passing cars, she thought, as she jumped just out of reach of another splash.

When she got to the church, she shook out her umbrella and stood it just inside the door to drain. Then she walked across the foyer straight to Pastor Toby’s living room door. The door opened just as she was about to knock on it.

“Bella!” Jude said, his face breaking into a smile so big it lit up his whole face. “I’m so glad you came! Come on in!”

He held the door open as she came in. She looked around tentatively, not sure where to go.

“Have a seat,” Jude said. “I’ll go get dad.”

Bella looked around and chose the big green comfy armchair that was near the door. That way, if things got too awkward, or she felt the need to escape, she’d be right there by the door. She still didn’t know how much she could trust this man or his father.

While she waited, she looked around the room. The wall behind her held several paintings of a garden and a lake. To her left was  a reading nook with several bookshelves filled with an amazing assortment of books, including one extremely large book that almost filled a shelf all by itself, and an armchair with a small table and lamp. The wall on her right had an incredible fire place and several chairs facing it.  Across the room, next to the door that led to the rest of the house, was a desk with a computer. And in the center of the room was a large couch and matching love seat with a coffee table between them.  Everything in the room spoke of comfort and there was such a feeling of peace that she found herself relaxing.

After a few minutes, Jude returned.

“Dad will be right here. He’s finishing something in the kitchen. Do you want anything? Something to eat or drink?”

“No thanks, I just had lunch.” Then she added as she realized she was thirsty, “but some water would be nice.”

“Water coming right up!” Jude left again, turning left in the hall, towards the kitchen.  Bella sighed. At this rate, she wouldn’t have to worry about who carried the conversation. She almost got up to follow him into the kitchen but a sound stopped her. Singing. Someone was singing and it wasn’t coming from the kitchen. It was coming from the other side of the hallway, where she imagined the bedrooms would be. And it didn’t sound like either Pastor Toby or Jude. Was someone else here?

 

Links to previous parts of this story:

I’m Not Hurt, Not Really, part 1

I’m Not Hurt, Not Really, part 2

Bella, part 1- Heart VS Brain

Bella, part 2 – Distractions

Bella, part 3 – Overcoming Detours

Bella, part 4 – Questions

Bella, part 5 – Yellow and Blue Theory

Comfort Zone

On By LindaIn short storiesLeave a comment

She liked her space. It might be little but it was comfortable. And as long as she stayed within the borders, she was safe.img_20180604_222230603-e1528169750779.jpg

“You can stay there if you want,” God said to her. “But if you do, you will miss so many amazing experiences with Me.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, confused. “You’re here with me. What else do I need?”

“Yes,” He reassured her. “I am there with you. Always. But I am not just there. There is so much more to life in Me than what you find in your little space. If you are brave enough to step outside the border, you will experience Me in ways you can’t even imagine. You will see me do things that no one else can do, some of them even through you. You will walk with me in places you never thought possible. Your life will be full of excitement, possibilities, victories, and satisfactions that is not possible in your comfortable spa.

“But isn’t there danger out there? Can’t I get lost or hurt or scared out there?”

“Yes, there is always a risk. But I will be with you so you need not fear. All you need to do is decide if a deeper life with Me is worth the risk.”

She thought about that. Sure, she’d be fine in her small comfortable safe place. And God even said it was OK for her to stay there. But what would she be missing out on? Did she love Him enough – trust Him enough – to dare going beyond her self-imposed boundary?

 

Do you?

Digging For Real Treasure

On By LindaIn short stories2 Comments

With all the broken shells lining the beach, she just knew this was the spot. She set her beach towel and bag on the sand way above the high tide mark, then took her net and img_20180604_222246027.jpgwalked into the water. Staring down at the shifting shells along the breaking waves, she watched for anything that was a darker shinier black than anything else.  She was determined to find a shark tooth before having to go home but she found the waves very distracting and frustrating as they kept blocking her view and making the shells move before she could catch any.

So she began scooping up random piles of shells and dumping them on the beach above the water’s reach. Then stooping, she spread out the pile with her hands searching through all the broken pieces for the telltale shiny black. After many such searches, she gave up. This was not getting her anywhere.

She went back to standing in the water and concentrated on what she could see, hoping to find that one big tooth she knew was there. Her entire attention was focused on the search. She tuned out the sun beating down on her. She turned out the birds calling to each other. She tuned out the people strolling by. She even tuned out the waves as she peered intently through the water. Eventually, worn out, she gave up and went back up on the beach.

Sitting down near the shells that lined the high tide mark,  she began digging. Maybe she would dig up a tooth that had washed up then gotten buried by the sand. Jack pot! Within a few minutes she found a small but beautiful tooth! Feeling satisfied that she wouldn’t be going home empty handed, she headed for her towel.

As she sat, resting before her long walk back to her car, she had a thought. Why can I ignore the waves and sun and other distractions while searching for something as trivial as a shark tooth, and yet not be able to ignore all the distractions that call me away from searching the Bible for a word from God?

I’m going to have to make some changes, she told herself. It’s time to dig for the real treasure.

The Storm That Never Was

On By LindaIn allegories, analogies, and parables, short stories4 Comments

She watched the storm approach from the east. Dark clouds rushing towards her, getting darker by the minute. She could hear the thunder in the distance.

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“This is going to be a bad one,” she said to herself. “Better get inside and prepare.”

She was used to storms coming and going, but most weren’t this dark, or with thunder this loud. This storm was going to be intense, maybe even have dangerous winds and lightning. And if enough rain fell, the streets might even flood keeping her stranded at her house until the water level went down.

She ran around her house unplugging anything that didn’t need to be plugged in. She made sure she had good batteries in her flashlights. And she turned up the radio to mask the sound of the thunder for her dog who was terrified of storms.

Then she waited.

The dark clouds continued to move westward until they were above her. She turned on the lights in her house as the clouds caused everything to be darker than it should have been at that mid afternoon hour. She made her dog comfortable at her feet.

And she waited.

Hearing a few raindrops, she looked out the window. Yes, the rain was just beginning, although it was mostly just sprinkling.  She began imagining the rain falling harder until it fell in sheets, drenching everything, and flooding the yard. She imagined the wind blowing hard enough to knock over her old rotting fence. She should have taken care of that months ago. Now it was too late. Now her dog is probably going to get out of the yard before she could get it repaired. Or worse, something could get in and attack them. She had heard that there were coyotes in the neighborhood. She even imagined a tornado hiding in the storm clouds and coming down just as it got to her house, destroying everything and endangering her life.

Nervous now, she looked at her dog buried under at blanket at her feet and wished she could join him. How nice it would be to hide from this storm. To pretend it wasn’t coming. But that wasn’t possible. Even if she could hide, she’d know it was happening and not being able to see what was going on would be worse than not seeing.

So she looked out the window again and was surprised that the sprinkling had stopped. And where was the wind? There had been no wind. Yet, she reminded her herself. Surely it was still coming.

And she continued to wait.

After a while, she noticed the thunder was not as loud as it had been and that the sky was lightening. What happened to the storm? She walked outside and looked up at the sky. The dark clouds were now on the west side of her and receding into the distance. Light was breaking through the remaining clouds.

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She looked at her car. Just some drops of water. Not even enough to wash off the pollen.

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No drenching rain. No flood. No wind damage. The storm had looked way worse than it actually was. She hadn’t needed to fear after all.

She remembered Ps 23:4 “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.”

Well, she thought. This wasn’t a dark valley, but it did get pretty dark.  I think it’s safe to paraphrase this.  “Even though I wait as the darkest storm approaches, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.”

Then she had another amazing thought: Just like the storms in my life, many look worse as they approach than they actually turn out to be.  But not matter how scary they look, I need not fear for God is with me.

Squeezing God Out

On By LindaIn Journal Entry, short stories2 Comments

She was busy. Amazingly, she was even busier now than she had been before she retired.  And she was tired.

Something has to go, she finally thought. But what? Everything she did served a purpose and much of it actually helped other people.

She decided to make a list. Only, being as creative as she was, she did so through a drawing. She began by writing God in the center because, she thought, He is the center of my life. Then she wrote out all the things that kept her busy around God. As she drew, more things came to mind and she added those until they all began squeezing together and ended up squeezing God right out of the center.

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“Is that what I’m doing in my life?” she asked herself. “All the things I’m involved in is squeezing God right out of my life? No wonder I’m so tired. I’m trying to do all this in my own power. It’s time to prioritize! And get rid of things, though good, are not what God has called me to do!”

So she began eliminating one thing at a time. It wasn’t easy, nor is she finished. But God is back where He belongs. And that’s what counts.

Waiting On God

On By LindaIn short stories10 Comments

It seems like she was always waiting on God. Waiting for promises to be kept. Waiting for healing and restoration. Waiting for direction.

As many times over the years as she’d had to wait, she should have been good at it by now. And as many times over the years the waiting had been rewarded, she should have been at peace with it by now.

But still she struggled when faced with another wait. Like the one today.

She was thinking about it as she drove into her driveway. Wishing she didn’t have to wait, and feeling frustrated that she did.

Then she saw her dogs in the front window. They were sitting up on the sofa, looking out the window and waiting on her return. They were not frustrated. They were not angry. They were not depressed. They were just sitting and waiting, confident that she would return.

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That’s how I going to wait, she thought. I will be like a dog in the window, watching expectantly no matter how long it takes!

Don’t Get Too Close to the Fence

On By LindaIn allegories, analogies, and parables, short stories2 Comments

“Where are you going, Kevin?” she asked, holding on to his leash and trying not to be pulled by his strong legs. “You need to come back here.”

But Kevin had seen something that caught his attention and he was determined to investigate it.

“Stop, Kevin! Don’t get too close to that fence! It will hurt you!”

But whether he didn’t hear or didn’t understand, he ignored the warning and continued running towards the object of his interest, which happened to be on the other side of the fence.

“Kevin! Stop! You’re too close! Come back!” she yelled, trying desperately to pull back on the leash. But he was too determined and did his best to keep going.

He saw the fence, but he had seen fences before. No big threat. He could get past that. But as soon as his nose touched it, he found out different. This fence was NOT like the others. This one bit!

Terrified, he took off, his broken leash dangling behind him, across the large yard and up the long driveway as if he was never going to stop running. He had to get as far away from that fence as he could.

“Kevin, come back!” she called out. “You’re heading for the street!”

But this time terror prevented him from hearing anything. When he got to the top of the driveway, before turning to run down the street, he paused. Did he hear something? Yes, he could hear her voice calling him. Coming from a long way away, it was soft, but somehow loud enough to break through his terror.

He watched her a few minutes as she continued to call to him.

“Come on, boy. It’s OK. Come back to me.” she called gently, crouching down in an inviting position.

Not sure, he just stood there. He still didn’t understand what had happened. How did a fence hurt that bad? And why was it there in the first place? All he wanted to do was check out something on the other side.

But what he did understand was that this girl loved him and could protect him. And he loved her. So he ran to her as fast as he could and hid behind her. And there, he was determined to stay.

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Photo by Lum3n.com on Pexels.com

Not Now

On By LindaIn short stories2 Comments

When she planned to leave town to visit some family members for a few days, she thought she had thought of everything she needed to bring.

clothes and other personal items

sewing business orders that needed to be finished

medicine

her smallest dog who doesn’t do so well without her

dog food, dog stroller, dog medicine, dog food

lap top

journal and calendar

sketch pad, color pencils

phone charger (which she had forgotten on her last trip)

and a few other things

She got to where she was going and settled in. Everything seemed great – until she sat down to write her new blog.

Opening Word on her laptop, she ignored the ‘enter key’ pop up like she always did (it did say it wasn’t necessary to register) and opened a new page. Only it wouldn’t open. She tried opening a previous page and planned to write the new blog at the bottom it. It opened, but it was locked and she wasn’t able to add anything. She tried opening a saved blog from her flash drive. Again it opened, but in a locked condition.

She hit the ‘help’ button to find out how to unlock a locked page.Trial?  So she was using a trial version of Word all this time? And now the trial period was over?

Not now! She wasn’t at home to find that CD case with the key number. It would be days before she would be going home.

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Photo by energepic.com on Pexels.com

Besides, this was an old 2007 version of Word, and it probably wouldn’t work even if she found the key.

Fine, she thought. I’ll just write the blog directly on the web page. Which worked fine until she tried to upload a photo of her sketch to accompany her story. In order to edit her photo before uploading it to the web page, she needed photo manager, which was connected to Word, which she could no longer access.

“NOT NOW!” she wanted to scream. Not while I’m days away from going home! I can’t do a blog without Word!

Frustrated, she did the only thing she could do – go to bed and deal with the problem the next day.

And as she slept, God sang over her, bringing her peace.

The next morning, she got up to do her blog. No Word? No problem. She could find a way around it.

And she did.

Amazing the difference a little sleep and a little singing can do!

The Museum – The Reveal

On By LindaIn allegories, analogies, and parables, short stories2 Comments

Spoiler alert:  If you want to try guessing the meaning behind my symbolic short story The Museum for yourself, please go there now before you continue reading.

Still here? Then here we go.

The museum represents Christianity. Each wall symbolizes a different denomination. The paintings featured on each wall represents a central focus of that denomination based on my observations when visiting different denominations over the years.

The first wall is Catholicism with their main focus on the Eucharist.

The second wall is Baptist with their main focus on the Bible.

The third wall is Assembly of God and Pentecostal with their enthusiastic worship services. The different languages spoken by the people gathered there represents their belief in tongues.

The fourth wall is the Seventh Day Adventist with their focus on following the laws, especially the Sabbath.

The fifth wall is nondenominational churches – the swirls representing the freedom from traditional denominational boundaries.

The groups of people in front of each painting are the ones that have been drawn to that particular denomination based on likes, dislikes, needs, as well as other factors. Just like people have different personalities, denominations also have different personalities. And when people find the one that fits them the best, the one that meets their needs the best, they stay there.

The people still walking around the room are Christians who are still searching for their church home, and non-Christians exploring Christianity.

 

How close was your guess?

I know some people won’t agree with me, but I believe, for the most part, that having different denominations is a good thing. I think it’s quite possible that God may be behind the formation of many of the denominations that exist today. There are reasons why I believe this, but I won’t get into that now.

I’m aware that having different denominations is confusing to non-Christians. But I believe that’s because of how we Christians have handled it. If we really respected each other, and didn’t try to steal each other’s members – but instead worked together to point non-Christians to Jesus, then helped them find their right fit regardless of whether it’s in our own denomination or not, I think we would be amazed at the result.

Just saying.

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The Worm

On By LindaIn short stories4 Comments

As she walked down the sidewalk one warm sunny afternoon, she noticed a worm. Most of the time the worms by that time of day were dead and shriveled up. But, amazingly, this worm wasn’t. It was still alive and heading away from the nearby edged lawn. But she knew that if it continued on its path, it wouldn’t make it to the other side. Between the hot sidewalk and the hungry birds, it didn’t stand a chance.

So, having compassion for it even though it was just a worm, she carefully nudged it withIMG_20180524_204952323 her foot towards the cooler damp dirt under the grass only inches away. It should have been easy. It was only a few inches and she was way stronger than the worm. But as she touched it, it went crazy. Twisting and turning wildly, it probably thought it was in danger and tried to protect itself. However, instead of the wild movements taking it closer to the dirt, it ended up right back where it started. She nudged it again, and again it wiggled wildly and landed back where it started. This is taking longer than it should, she thought. If only it would just let itself be nudged, it would already be safe in the dirt.

She considered her choices.

Quit scaring the little guy and let it take its chances on the sidewalk.

Or ignore its wiggling and use more force until it gets to the dirt.

Making her choice, she positioned her foot and scooted the crazy wiggling jerking worm all the way to the dirt. As soon as it touched the dirt, she removed her foot and watched it calm down.

There, she thought. You may not understand why you were being forced like this, but it was for your own good. Now you’re safe and can go on about your business.

As she continued her walk, a thought crossed her mind. How many times has she reacted like the worm when God nudged her into a different direction?

Too many.

“God, next time You nudge me, remind me of that little worm. I don’t want to fight You or make it take longer than it needs to be. Help me to trust that You know best.”

Because He does.