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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Reading (01/25/07)
Natalie’s fingers pressed lightly upon the page. She was slow – so slow, and the effort of analyzing each of the little bumps on the page wore her down. It hardly seemed worth it. After months of study, she was still like a kindergarten student learning the alphabet. She’d been laboring for half an hour and yet she didn’t comprehend a single word. The little bumps were meaningless.

“It’ll come, Nat. Just keep plugging away” her teacher, Martha encouraged.

Natalie missed a lot of things these days: sunsets and sun rises; the faces of her sister and mother; the view of the flower garden out the back window; the ability to read. Natalie thought longingly of the days when she could read a hundred pages in a day, comprehending all of it. Her life was strewn with books, magazines, computer printouts, and newspapers. But what she missed most was reading her Bible.

She went to it now and held it between her hands. Her fingers had grown more sensitive with the study of Braille, and she lightly swept them across the grainy leather. If only she could see it. If only she could read it. It contained a lifetime of notations and verses highlighted in yellow – all precious with personal meaning. Going through the tragedy had been especially hard, because in the past, she had always turned to her Bible for comfort. Now it was closed to her.

Her sister had given her an audio Bible after the accident, but it just wasn’t like reading it for yourself. How did you underline passages that struck you or savor a single verse, rolling it over in your mind slowly? If only I had memorized more Scripture, she thought. If only…

“Oh, God, help me to read your word. Help me, please. I miss seeing Your words. Please, oh please!” Natalie’s eyes still worked for crying. Tears brimmed over and ran down her cheeks.

Forlornly she went back to her page of Braille. Martha had given her a page printed with ten Bible verses. So far she had not been able to identify a single one. She’d learned the symbols but for some reason her mind balked at putting them together into words and sentences. Her fingers ran over the first letter. Big bump, little bump on top, little bump big bump beneath, and finally, at the bottom Big bump little bump. It was an “o”. She continued down the row, trying to remember. And suddenly it popped into her mind. “O taste and see that the Lord is good!”

“Taste and see! Use all of your senses, Natalie. Find Me!” She could almost hear God’s voice in that instant. Eagerly her fingers traveled the lines. It was coming slowly, but she was reading! Verse after verse opened before her eager hands.

Natalie’s fingers danced up and down the page, touching the little bumps and repeating the verses. One after the other she figured them out. They seemed to hold new meaning as she not only read the words but actually felt them. They seemed to seep through her fingers and become part of her. The frustrating little bumps now seemed like a road map to God's heart. Tears poured down her face again. She was reading! She was touching the Words of Life.
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This article has been read 1496 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
Marylea Monroe
02/01/07
Great story. I enjoyed this very much and found it to be very inspiring.
David F. Palmieri Sr.
02/02/07
Beautifully written. I grew up with a blind friend. This brought him to mind. Great word pictures.
Sharlyn Guthrie
02/04/07
You effectively communicated Natalie's feelings. I felt the longing and the frustration. How fitting that "O tast and see..." was her first read.
Sally Hanan
02/05/07
You conveyed all of the emotions realy well with this one, and sent home the message of how precious the Word really is.
Joanne Sher 
02/05/07
What an exceptional job you did of portraying your MCs emotions. This was so very engaging. You definitely put me in her shoes.
Jacquelyn Horne
02/05/07
You pictured well the problems faced by the handicapped. I would never have thought that reading tapes would not suffice when reading the Word. You pictured it well.
Phyllis Inniss 
02/06/07
You captured well Natalie's emotions, her desire to read God's Word and her frustrations in trying a new medium. The Lord did say if you seek Me you will find Me and Natalie did in your portrayal of her. A very good job.
Venice Kichura
02/06/07
An excellent piece imploring us with less than all our five senses to make the most of what we do have. I enjoyed this very much.