Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Abiding in His Love 8/27-9/3/26 (08/27/26)
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TITLE: Safe and Secure | Previous Challenge Entry
By Tracilynn Rodrigues
09/01/26 -
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“Lord, please no,” she whispered. “When will this ever end?”
The death toll climbed with every attack. Her own husband and son gave their last breath to fight for the homeland. Of the thousands that had perished from the Ukrainian and Russian sides, how many were ready to meet Jesus? How many souls were lost forever? The thought always brought tears to her eyes.
So much devastation had occurred to her beloved homeland. Kiev no longer looked like a proud capital city, but a shell of its former glory. Many buildings had been reduced to a pile of ruins, while others resembled Swiss cheese from all the holes left by missiles and tank fire. It was a wonder some could even stand.
She quickened her pace. Her thoughts immediately went to her elderly neighbor, who was just as stubborn about leaving as she was. She knew most of her neighbors would have ran to the bomb shelter within seconds after the sirens went off, but Mr. Pavlychko had become too frail over the duration of the war.
She rounded the corner and gasped. The apartment complex next to hers had crumbled. Her building still stood, but had sustained more damage. Once inside, she hurried up the stairs to the second floor, then hurried down the hall to Mr. Pavlychko’s apartment. She knocked on his door. “Pav, it’s me. Are you there?”
No sound came from the other side.
She tried the door. The knob turned but the door was stuck.
“Lord, help me get this opened.”
She rammed her body into the door and it gave way. “Pav,” she called again. “Are you here?”
A moan came from the bedroom. She made her way over books, pictures, and other items that were scattered across the floor. The bookshelf leaned across the couch. At least the main room’s structure was intact—no broken windows or holes in the wall, and there was still a ceiling overhead.
The bedroom looked like the war zone that it was. A large gaping hole had replaced the exterior wall. The dresser lay splintered in a pile of debris. Broken glass and cement chunks were strewn throughout the room. Pav laid along the back wall covered with gray dust and concrete pieces.
She busied herself getting the rubble off of him. His leg bled, along with a gash across his forehead. She grabbed the edge of the sheet and tore a couple of strips loose to use as bandages. After she stopped the bleeding, she helped him sit up.
“Do you think you can make it into the next room?”
He smiled weakly. “I’ll try.”
Moments passed as they struggled to get to the main room. Luba bore most of his weight as he shuffled along, supporting himself against the interior wall. She sat him in a chair so she could clear the couch for him to lie down. His head had no sooner touched the pillow when another siren went off. She sat on the floor next to him.
“Luba, go to the shelter. My days are about over, but you still have life left in you.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
She reached for his Bible that lay open on the floor close to her foot. Her eyes landed on Romans 8:38-39, “I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, can separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The bomb landed nearby, but they were safe.
He closed his eyes, his breaths shallow.
Another explosion.
She sang softly, “Abiding in Jesus’ love. Abiding in Jesus’ love. Though troubles surround me, I’m safe and secure. Abiding in Jesus’ love.”
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