The Official Writing Challenge
BACK TO
CHALLENGE
MAIN
INSTRUCTIONS
how it works
submission rules
guidelines for
choosing a level
ENTRIES
submit your entry
read current entries
read past entries
challenge winners
Our Daily Devotional HERE
Place it on your site or
receive it daily by email.


TRUST JESUS TODAY

  • Share
  • how it works
  • Submit
Previous Challenge Entry (Level 1 – Beginner)
Topic: Hard and Soft (04/23/09)
I dashed home with my heart pounding, my mind racing. A plethora of emotions came over me: fear filled my blood, pain congested my soul, tears welled, I began to cry. It had been ten minutes since the dreaded phone call. I could still hear Alvin's shaky voice.

“Honey, I‘ve just been laid off.”

My husband had just lost his job of ten years, and I'd been handed the difficult challenge of supporting a family of four on a math teacher's salary. Days before my husband got the news, a co-worker tipped him off that layoffs were coming. It didn’t matter that I knew his fate before he was called into his boss’s office. It was just as heartbreaking and surreal as if I were blindsided by the news.

My first thoughts were selfish. Why is this happening to me? How am I going to manage? Then it hit me, I’m not the only one to be affected by this tragic news! Will the kids be okay? They’d grown so accustomed to a particular way of life; trying to put a smiley face on this sad picture won't fool even a three-year-old! The questions continued to race through my head. How long will it be before the items we now consider basic necessities become luxuries we can no longer afford? Will we lose our car? Our home? Is it even possible for us to comfortably ride out the inevitable bumps that lay ahead?

I mean really, it doesn’t take a math genius to solve this problem!

1 unemployed husband + 1 panicked wife = MAJOR family turmoil

Five minutes twenty-two seconds is how long it took me to spring the nearly seven miles home from the hair salon- a mere fraction of the time it normally takes. I wondered, what would I say to my husband? How do I console someone who’s always defined himself as a good man primarily on the basis of his ability to provide for his wife and children?

"Oh God, I can't do this!"

I picked up an old catsup spattered napkin from the passenger seat, wiped the tears from my red swollen eyes, sniffled my running nose, then cleared my throat enough to convince my husband I was okay. Having braced myself, I tip-toed in the front door then rounded the foyer. I anticipated finding my husband feeling depressed and hopeless. I expected to find a atmosphere charged with a sullen silence. What I heard instead was the very familiar sound of tiny plastic wheels gliding across the kitchen floor.

“Vroom, vroom!" Jacob and Caleb roared as they swiftly rolled their tattered fire truck. Alvin watched gleefully as the simple $2 truck raced quickly down a makeshift hill composed of cardboard boxes. He wasn't moping around the house feeling sorry for himself. He wasn’t engaged in a pity party! In fact, he was on the floor with our precious children creating memories!

There was something very unique about this common toy. It lacked the batteries, blinking lights, and loud noises of its more embellished counterparts. Yet, with a few human sound effects and a little imagination, this simple truck became just as appealing, if not more so, than any of its modern equivalents.

Moments later I found myself shuffling around the floor, wrestling and laughing with two toddlers crawling all over me. At that defining moment, I made a decision to reclaim the simple things in life. I discovered happiness sometimes comes in the simplest of packages.

Four months later my husband still hasn't regained his title as family breadwinner. Yeah, there’s been a few changes in our household like learning how to make do with an antenna and the standard broadcast television stations instead deluxe cable TV. I’ve learned that contrary to modern day belief, home internet connection is certainly not necessary to survive; you don't become ill without it! Most importantly, I’ve learned how to enjoy the soft quiet simplicity of life be it relaxing in the stillness God’s soft, gentle voice as He speaks to me in silence and solitude, or chasing lightning bugs on a Tuesday evening with the boys.

I mean really, it doesn’t take a math genius to solve this problem!

1 shabby fire truck + 2 little boys+ 1 gratified mom = a boatload of unforgettable memories
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
If you died today, are you absolutely certain that you would go to heaven? You can be right now. CLICK HERE

JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
This article has been read 634 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Terry Weber
05/01/09
I liked your article because it brought out all the human emotions associated with a lay off (I know - my husband was recently laid off and as church secretary I only make 1/2 of our mortgage payment), but you also focused on the positive and priorities and that brings hope and peace. Terry
Pawel Spencer
05/05/09
This was wonderful- You just made my night! I think you nailed it- we CAN worry, if we want to- but we can also just as easily be okay! I pray that you remember what you've written as you work through this. A man is not defined by his job, but rather is defined by the God who has called him to be His son.