Previous Challenge Entry (Level 3 - Advanced)
Topic: DROP IN A BUCKET (10/24/19)
-
TITLE: Ker-plunk | Previous Challenge Entry
By Sarah Fehr
10/26/19 -
LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE
SEND A PRIVATE COMMENT
ADD TO MY FAVORITES
The cozy sound of autumn raindrops tapping on the roof warmed my chilled body. Today was one of those days created for curling up with a fuzzy blanket and a good book and just chillin’. And that’s exactly what I had in mind to do. A day off work, not too much planned in the way of running errands…perfect.
Ker-plink!
Hmm, that plink had a decidedly more metallic ring. I gathered the blanket around me with one hand and with the other pulled back the curtain. Drat! I had left out the bucket I had been using to transfer a few perennials before winter closed in. There it sat directly under our leaky gutter. Ah well, there were worse things.
Like the rift between my husband and me. Misunderstanding after misunderstanding had begun to form a wall, complete with hardening mortar.
I sighed as I sank back down in the easy chair, tucking my legs beneath me and drawing the blanket close. It wasn’t so much that we didn’t get along as we just didn’t understand each other, and what the others’ needs were.
Ker-plink!
In my case, I just wanted to be loved, known, respected, admired and built up. “Just.” I had finally begun to see that my thirst for affirmation was threatening to overwhelm our relationship. But what to do? How to solve? What to say? When to say it?
Ker-plink!
Too much to think about. An easy read, ready to numb, awaited my wandering mind; I turned to page one.
Later, a ray of sunlight brought me back to the surface. I glanced outside and saw with surprise that the rain was over and the sun had broken through.
I slipped on shoes and a jacket and stepped into the fresh air. Oh, it felt good. Smelled of rain and sky, mixed with the promise of deepening chill.
I raised my foot to the bucket, ready to tip it over and allow the contents to flow out. Then I noticed how surprisingly empty it seemed. Hadn’t I been reading and wool-gathering for the last hour? I thought it had been raining steadily the whole time. And yet here was little evidence of that rain.
And then like a clap of thunder, the Spirit moved inside my heart to bring me a realization.
The affirmation that I craved, the “great job!”s and pats on the back. Those encouragements of “you’re such a great mom and wife!” Those words could pour down for hours and hours and hours, and they still would be merely drops in the cavernous bucket of my perceived need.
They would feel good for a moment, but just as quickly I would note the emptiness that remained. Insatiable, that’s what the bucket was. Human redress would never meet that need.
“Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:14)
I looked to the sky, searching for the source of this water. I didn’t see a rainbow, a special ray of light, or a heart-shaped cloud. But I did hear something else.
Ker-plink!
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.
