Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Patience (08/21/08)
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TITLE: A Time to Practice Patience | Previous Challenge Entry
By Karye Willard
08/27/08 -
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“Come in and sit down, dear girl. What's wrong?”
Annie gave her a long hug. “Hi Grandma,” she said quietly.
Annie offered her grandmother her arm to lean on as they made their way to the sofa in the living room. The room was fairly small and needed to be repainted while the sofa was covered with scratchy material and coffee stains. However at the moment, Mrs. Fletcher's mind was on what could be her granddaughter’s trouble.
After they were both seated, Annie began to unload her problem. Her roommate in college, Trish, was another Christian and a childhood friend of Annie's. However in the first week of college, Trish had begun to make some very poor choices involving alcohol, drugs, and sex. She had continued to make them until last night when Trish was arrested for prostitution. Annie was frustrated because she wanted to help her friend get out of the trouble she was in, but Trish didn't seem to realize or care that she was in trouble. She had told Annie to just stay out of her life and mind her own business.
“I don't know what to do,” Annie sighed with a mixture of frustration, exhaustion, and resignation.
“This is a good time to practice patience. We don't know why Trish is choosing to struggle the way she is -- that is between her and God -- He is still in control even though it may not seem that way. We are shown a great deal of patience on a daily basis from God through Christ. So, don't be tempted to just write her off. As Christians, we are commanded to love each other and showing love is showing patience.” Mrs. Fletcher stopped a moment to look at Annie.
“This is hard,” Annie remarked after a long silence.
“Yes, it is. In James 5:26 (NIV) it is written, ‘…remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.’ Just remember to pray about your conduct in the situation, especially when you feel like it's too hard to do what is right. I will be praying, too.”
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Try to do more "showing" instead of "telling." Instead of just telling us what happened to the roommate, show us. That whole paragraph could be a story all on it's own!
You did a great job of telling about a time where patience is needed. It's hard not to jump in and try to solve the problems ourselves.