Short Stories

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The day was extraordinary. The sun was brilliant, the sky a beautiful shade of azure blue with the fluffiest white clouds I’ve ever seen. I had the feeling that today was to be an awakening of some kind, a day to treasure in my heart. The possibility for any level of excitement in my very hum-drum life provided just enough enthusiasm to get ready to spend the day out-of-doors in the sunshine. The weather was just right for taking a walk; it was warm, with a refreshing breeze that invigorated the senses. I gathered a few needed items together, packed them into my knapsack and set off down the road.

During long walks my thoughts often centered on examining my life in minute detail; I spent hours searching my soul for answers into why I felt so uninspired and down-right empty, but the answers continue to elude me. Frustrated, I set aside my queries and focused on the scenery. I had been walking for about fifteen minutes down a stretch of road that had become quite familiar to me; living in the area for many years, I knew every road, hill, valley, and all the local plant life, within a 7-mile radius of my home. “There isn’t a road or path that I haven’t……..” Something caught my eye as I passed by; totally amazed by my discovery, I cried out loud, “Wait a minute! What is this?”

Almost obscured by years of neglect, I found a path in the woods that I had never noticed before; it was rather overgrown with vegetation, but there was room for my body to pass through easily enough. The path sparked my sense of adventure and curiosity to see what secrets it might hold. I followed the path for some time with nothing much of interest to see. Just as I was about to turn back, I noticed that some trees had been cut down. This fired up my interest once again to see what might be farther along the path. For there to be a path and trees that had been cut, I imagined that there was something up ahead that was worth making my way through the undergrowth and fighting off the mosquitoes that were now biting my ankles and arms as I passed by.

At this point my thoughts were consumed with what I might find out there. Little by little the path had been widening and the woods had become less dense; as I kept walking I noticed that more trees had been cut down. In a minute or two, I came to a large clearing in the woods where an old rustic cabin sat. Roughly constructed of logs, the cabin was in disrepair and seemed as though it had been abandoned many years ago. As I approached the cabin, I thought, “What a lonely a place this is. Who could have built a cabin in such an isolated location?”

I tried the door knob. The rickety door resisted opening at first, but after a few firm pushes against the door, it popped open. Two squirrels, startled by the sudden opening of the front door, made a mad dash to the other side of the room and exited out one of the windows. Most of the windowpanes were cracked or broken out by vandals, making the cabin look even more dilapidated. Visitors to the cabin had forgotten to take items with them— a map of the area, and an expensive looking compass, a bundle of small sticks used for kindling, and some trash was left in the middle of the cabin floor. Very little in the way of furnishings remained—just a creaky old rocking chair that had seen better days and an old grungy mattress in an adjacent alcove at the back of the main cabin.

Now that my eyes had adjusted to the low level of lighting in the room, I made an inspection of the room. There was a crudely fashioned fireplace mantle made of roughly hewn wooden beams and a hearth made of large flat rocks. On the mantle was a hurricane lamp minus the lamp oil and an empty book of matches. An old crate sat in the midst the items scattered about the floor. Feeling a bit tired from my walk, I checked out stability of the rocking chair, and to my surprise, it was able to support my weight. I found a cloth that looked clean enough to wipe off a layer or two of dust from the chair. Just before I sat down, out of the corner of my eye I noticed a thick book on top of the crate in the middle of the floor.

“How could I have missed seeing this big book balanced on top of this shaky old crate?”

Rag in my hand, I walked over to the crate to look at the book. It was large and worn from much handling; the cover was grey with silver writing that was now illegible. I used the rag to wipe off the layer of dust and sat down in the rocker to examine the contents of the book. I carefully opened the front cover looking for clues of ownership, the title of the book—who knows, maybe I’ll find love letters from a beau to his sweetheart. An inscription on the front page revealed both the name of the owner and title of the book which read:

To my dearest daughter, Emma
on her first communion.
May you be richly blessed and encouraged
as you read His Word daily.
May you find peace and contentment
in its pages; may you be lifted up
in times of sorrow and remember
Sorrow endureth for a night,
but joy cometh in the morning.
All my love,
Mama

June 5, 1935

“What a precious gift for a mother to give to her daughter,” I thought. “How many daughters long for such loving words of encouragement from their mothers and never receive it.”

I sat there for a while reading the Bible, finding meaningful scripture references that Emma had marked as well as a sampling of pressed wildflowers, which she had picked on some of her own walks, I reasoned. In the back of the Bible, was a letter written on fine stationery in Emma’s own handwriting. As I began the letter I assumed that she was writing to a sweetheart, but as I continued on, I realized that it was a love letter of a different sort—it was a love letter to the Lord Jesus!

By the time I finished the letter, I was overcome with emotion. It was very clear to me that Emma had a relationship with Christ that far exceeded my own. Sitting in that old rocker, I imagined what life must have been like for Emma—was she married? Did she have children? Sleepiness swept over me as I sat pondering the lives of the people that built this old cabin.

Exercise begets sleepiness and sleep begets dreams. In my dream I was in the cabin in its current state of trash, layers of dust, broken windows, and other bits of debris. I was sitting in the rocking chair staring off into space; my eyes were drawn to the blackened fireplace with the remnants of a fire extinguished long ago. Deep in my heart the presence of the Lord began stirring within me to such a degree that all my senses were alert and focused on listening for His voice. His voice was all-loving, and yet, revealed such strength and authority. Overcome by His presence, I spoke in a voice that came out in a whisper saying, “Lord, my heart is open to hear Your Word.”

Jesus began speaking by asking me a question. “Do you know why I brought you here, my child?”

“I’m not sure, Lord,” I replied.

“What has this cabin been saying to you? What are your senses telling you about this place?”

“I have been feeling its loneliness, isolation, and disrepair; this cabin longs to be loved and cared for again—to have a roaring fire in the fireplace, people gathered around the hearth, and for an abiding peace within its walls.”

“Child, you have come here with questions burning in your heart; questions that cry out for answers from a soul that is overburdened by the weight of worldly cares and loneliness.”

“Yes, Lord.”

“Tell me about Emma. What is she like? How does your life differ from Emma’s?”

“Emma was a faithful servant, who to the best of her ability, read and followed Your Word. She appears to have been kind and generous with her time and helping those in need. It’s unclear who she lived with or if this cabin was as isolated then as it appears today; she must have found contentment and peace for worship and studying Your Word. Emma offered her heart to her Beloved and without reservation and fulfilled her vows to Him.”

“The items scattered across the cabin floor have special significance concerning your daily life, my child. Come closer, and examine these things with spirit-eyes; plumb the depths of your heart and the truth will surely set you free.”

I rose from the rocking chair and stood next to Jesus in the middle of the room. “Lord, I don’t understand how these items relate to my daily life.”

“Spiritual wisdom and truth cannot be discerned by human intellect; the natural mind looks at these as random items and does not see the deeper spiritual truths that are revealed when my Holy Spirit gives them insight.” Jesus stooped down and picked up the map in one hand and the and the compass in the other and said to me,

“Look at this map and this compass. How are these related to your life? Consider their use and condition of the items.”

“Well, a compass is a guide that leads you in the right direction and registers magnetic north. A map also helps to guide you and shows a view of the surface characteristics of the land—roads, parks, ponds, hills and forests…..as far as how they look, they both look brand-new and unused.”

“What is spread out on the floor?” asked Jesus.

“Trash.” I replied.

“What sort of trash is it?”

“They are wrappers and bags that held fast food.”

Jesus probed farther by asking me, “What sort of people eat fast food?

“Some people just like fast food—burgers and fries, fat and salt. Others like it because they don’t like to cook or are not near home where they can get good food….or maybe they are lazy, ordon’t want to take the time to sit down and have a meal.”

“What does the map, a compass and fast food say about your own daily living? Think about what you have said about each item and apply it to how you live.”

“Maps and compasses have to do with finding your way—from where you are and lead you to another chosen destination. Fast food—I don’t know, getting your food and eating it fast? I imagine, Lord, that You are calling attention to fast food and trash.”

“Explain how these things have become part of your daily life.”

“Brand-new maps and unused compasses may mean that I am wandering around without using valuable items that are available to me for get to my desired destination. I have been acting like I’m self-sufficient, but really I’m just choosing to float from one life encounter to another.”

“Did Emma live this way? How did Emma find her way in life? What did she have that gave her life purpose and meaning?”

“She had her Bible, read it regularly and had Your Holy Spirit inside her. She ate food to sustain her body’s good health and from examining her Bible she daily fed on Your Word to sustain her soul and spirit. It helped her to do whatever needed to be done that day.”

Jesus replied by asking another question, “What kind of food are you eating every day? Are your choices healthy? Do they sustain and prepare you to meet life’s challenges?

“I think I’m beginning to understand now what You are showing me about fast food—when we eat fast food we are not making the best choices for maintaining good health. Over time I have strayed from doing things that have kept me healthy; reading Your Word and lingering at the table, reflecting on what I’ve read in the light of how I am living before you.”

Just as I spoke those words, I awoke from my sleep. As I gazed around the room and became more alert, I began to think about the dream and the truths it contained. Out of the haze of my sleepiness, I heard a voice clear and strong as if they were standing right next to me. At that moment I was roused to full awareness as the voice of the Lord Jesus spoke.

“My child, look at the fireplace, what do you see?”

“Nothing but the remains of a fire extinguished a long time ago.”

“Look closer,” Jesus said. He walked over to the fireplace, knelt down and with a piece of kindling from the cabin floor in hand He stirred the charred remains. “This is your heart, my child. Come closer and see, the embers are smoldering, the fire has not gone out.”

I walked over to the small pile of kindling on the floor. I brought over two handfuls of sticks and began to feed the fire that had begun to glow in the firebox; I stretched out my hands and began to feel the warmth of the fire in the hearth. I was a bit amazed and comforted that I could feel that warmth building within my spirit—a feeling that I thought had died is alive and still at work within me.

“Lord,” I looked in His direction and saw that He was gone. By the fireplace was a large ceramic pitcher filled with water. I sat in the rocking chair for a little while longer reading Emma’s Bible by the firelight. I felt so comfortable and content in that chair by the fire that I found it hard to leave. I went over to the fire and poured out the contents of the pitcher on the fire and stirred the ashes to be sure that the fire had gone out. I took a final look around the cabin, trying to capture each thing about it to memory like a photograph. I looked back at the old rocker which felt like a new friend.

“Imagine, feeling sentimental about an old chair you sat in only once, and yet, this was a different kind of adventure, spiritual in nature, set in motion by a loving God for my good. My quest for truth and healing brought me here and the Lord met me here in this broken down cabin to show me the condition of my own heart and soul. Thank you Lord for all Your love and compassion.”

I looked at the rocker and picked up the Emma’s Bible. I thought about the hands that lovingly held it and read it faithfully. I whispered my thanks to her for her part in the healing of my heart. I set down the Bible in the rocker, hoping that some passersby would find the cabin, as I did, and be blessed by God’s Word and message of hope.

I opened the door and began to make my way back to the road where my adventure began. As I made my way back through the rough undergrowth, my heart was so light and free. I began to sing a familiar song that reflected my thanks for His loving-kindness and answer to my prayers for understanding.


All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.

All to Jesus I surrender,
Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
May Thy Holy Spirit fill me,
May I know Thy pow’r divine.

All to Jesus I surrender
Lord I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with thy love and power,
Let thy blessing fall on me.

I surrender all,
I surrender all.
All to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.

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