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 3 - Advanced)
Topic: Home (01/09/06)
Papa,

I don’t know if You’ll get this letter or not. I send word home every chance I get, but I’m not sure my words are reaching You. Deep down I know that all my messages are hand delivered to You, so please forgive my doubt. It’s just that it’s so dark down here and I’ve been away from home for so long.

Papa I’m not writing to complain, but being on this battlefield is sometimes more than I can bear. Even as I write to You my whole platoon and I are being shot at from every direction. Some of my men are missing in action and my heart is torn to shreds thinking about how much they’re suffering. I’ve also witnessed men, women, and even children wounded, tortured and killed. It’s all we can do to stay alive down here, let alone to keep up the good fight. Yet to win this battle is the only reason I was born to live and born to die in this dark place, this dark place that was once a garden paradise.

The pain of the battle is nothing compared to the anguish of missing You. Right now You seem so far away and home seems like some distant dream, a fairy tale. I’ve all but forgotten Your voice, Your face, Your eyes, Your hair. Oh how I long to run down the road home and hear Your voice call out my name! I never want to forget You or the feeling of home again. Home, where there is nothing missing, nothing broken, nothing wounded or even out of place. Home, where there is You.

I can’t wait to touch Your face again. This time, I’ll trace every inch of it so that the memory of how You look will forever be embedded in my very own fingertips. Do Your eyes have crinkle-lines in the corners from smiling down on me, or are they bloodshot from all the tears? I try so hard to recall what it feels like when You hold me, or even when you hug me, but for the life of me I just can’t remember the feeling at all. Worst of all, I’ve forgotten how you smell. I want to smell You again so badly. When I get home I am going to breathe in Your scent over and over again so that I’ll never forget it. If only I could smell You now, I know I could go on with this fight.

Papa, I am not asking to come home now. I know that’s not what You want from me. I know You need me down here. I know You need me to fight, to live, to love, to forgive. I know You’ll take me home when it is my time. I just wanted You to know how much I miss You and to tell You that I’ll never take You or the feeling of home for granted again.

Papa, You know that I will gladly die to be home with You again. More than that, for You, I will gladly live down here-- so far away from home, so that I can bring the others home to You.

I’ve got to close for now. They’re coming to get me. Perhaps I’ll see the road home to You soon after all. Yet, Your will be done, not mine. Just know how much I love You and how much I miss you.

Your son.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
Accept Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Right Now - CLICK HERE
JOIN US at FaithWriters for Free. Grow as a Writer and Spread the Gospel.
This article has been read 1355 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
janet rubin
01/17/06
Interesting entry. I liked it. I assume this letter is from Jesus to His Father. Really made me think about how He must have felt sometimes. I feel the same way sometimes. Good job.