Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Write for the FANTASY and/or SCI FI Genre (10/16/14)
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TITLE: Love Enough to Fight | Previous Challenge Entry
By Kellie Henningsen
10/23/14 -
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“My daughter.”
I sat up in a daze.
“My daughter…come with me.”
In a trance, I swung my feet to the floor and followed Him from the room. We exited my bedroom and were transported to what looked like the control center of a television station. Two chairs sat in the middle of the room facing a wall of blank screens. We each took one.
We sat together there. I in a stupor. Jesus biding the time. “What’s bothering you, my child?” He asked.
I snapped out of my confusion and laid my case out to the Lord. “He’s fifteen now, Lord. And I’m done.” Fidgeting with my pajamas, I continued, “I just don’t have it in me anymore to deal with the daily battles. Please, can I release him into your care now? It’s been so hard lately.” The tears came then as the words spilled out in despair. My heart was weak and worn and I longed for rest.
During my oration, the screens in the room flickered and came to life. I turned to look at them and saw that nearly every screen had a video streaming on it. I stood from my chair and walked closer to the ones on the left.
I saw my younger self as I parented my son in various stages of life. The videos only moved to convince me of the toll parenting had taken on my body. I used to be young and full of energy. The early videos showed me refusing to entertain a tantrum over food, refusing to buy an item in the grocery checkout despite screams, refusing to allow TV time after a fight with his sister, and on and on they went.
I looked over at Jesus who watched as I walked through scene after scene. More recent videos showed me limiting screen time, monitoring social media, and screening text messages all while working to instill a spirit of respect in my teenage son. At the end of the line, I turned to Jesus. “See?” I questioned. “I’ve done this for years. For years I’ve butted heads with my child. Lord, please say I don’t have to do it anymore. That he’ll be ok. I want to love my child not hound him all the time.”
Jesus simply pointed.
I turned and as I did, the screens that had previously been black lit up. I returned to the beginning and once again began the walk through the past. But this time, it was a past I didn’t recognize. I saw my son in situations where I wasn’t present. Earlier videos showed him at a friend’s house eating graciously what was served and thanking the mom, showed him accepting a “no” to a request for a new toy when taken shopping by his dad, showed him choosing not to start a fight with his sister rather than suffer the consequences, and so on. Tears began to well in my eyes as I realized my efforts had yielded some positive results. I had been focusing on the negative when there was so much more to see. I looked at Jesus and He smiled but nodded for me to continue.
I stood transfixed as I saw my son. The son who my daily battles with were draining the life out of me. This son was making decisions I had never known existed and he was making the right ones. I saw him in situations he never shared with me and his actions made me proud.
Stunned, I stayed rooted to my spot. Jesus came and put His arms around me. “You asked if you could just release him to me? You can’t. He’s always been in my care you understand.”
I took the reprimand to heart.
He continued, “That’s why I gave him…you.”
I woke from the damp pillow beneath my head. When my son stumbled down the stairs that morning, I stopped him in his tracks with a big hug and a fresh determination to love him enough to fight him.
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