The Mist | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: The Mist | Previous Challenge Entry
By Karye Willard
03/10/08
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Mike leaned back in his chair at his desk, stared at his hands, and sighed deeply. The office seemed a little cold and dingy. The past few days had seemed to blur together. Around one o'clock on Friday morning the phone had rung. His mother had called to inform him that his father (whom Mike hadn't spoken to since he had moved out -- 10 years ago) had died earlier that morning in a drunk driving accident.
Mike's mother had sounded very tearful during the call, and he had promised her to be at the funeral on Monday morning. During the funeral and even now, Mike's memories of his father replayed themselves in his mind. One memory was of a big hug given after a T-ball game, where the seven-year-old Mike had scored a home run. As his father had pulled him near, Mike could smell the stench of alcohol on his breath. Another memory that surfaced was of 12-year-old on Mike coming home from school one day to find his mother sitting at the kitchen table, crying. Bruises colored her eyes sockets bluish purple and there were empty beer cans with a full ashtray littering the table. And, of course, there was the memory of the last time Mike had seen his father. Mike had just turned 18 and had decided to move out of his parents’ house. He wanted a chance to live -- not to live in fear of his father. Unfortunately, Mike's father was enraged by the idea, took a couple of swings at him with a closed fist, and told Mike that if he left, he couldn't come back. Mike walked out of the house, hearing his mother's muffled sobs behind him.
Mike had moved to the next town to start his life over. He went to school at a local community college, and he eventually got a job as an insurance salesman. Mike, also, began to attend a small Bible study at a local Christian church. In the Bible study, the group had been reading and discussing the book of James. In James 4:14 (NIV) it is written, “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”
Mike had begun to realize, while attending the Bible study, he wanted his life to glorify God, the heavenly Father, through His Son Jesus Christ. He felt like he had lost so much time from worrying about his mother and being afraid of his human father. However, the verse from James reminded him that worry and fear would not solve anything. His father had made his choices about his life (his time as a mist), and now he had vanished. Mike was still a mist, he still had choices to make about life, and so did his mother.
Immediately, Mike reached for the phone on the desk and dialed his mother's number.
“Hi, Mom. We are only given a short time on this earth to glorify God, so I'm going to begin today. Would you like to witness my baptism into Christ?”

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