Today I'm posting something totally different.
It's a short story and.......
TaDa! It was written by me.
Yea me! My high school English teacher would be quite surprised. Me and creative writing did not click way back then.
Then how did I come up with this story?
I guess to start with I was inspired by a picture of an evergreen tree. Add to that the lessons learned as I spent six Monday nights in a ladies Bible study called Missing Pieces by Jennifer Rothschild. {by the way it was an awesome study!} And then there was a Bible verse in Habakkuk that was the theme of our study. Put it all together with writing, rewriting and prayer and this is what I got.
I'm not sure how good my little story is.
Cute? - yes.
Makes sense? - I think so.
Ever be published? - nah.
But hopefully, it gives a message of encouragement to the reader. And hey! That's what my little place in bloggy land is all about.
So friend, I hope you enjoy it -
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The Story of Evie the Evergreen:an Encourager
~by Debbie Gabelman
Up on the mountain top where Evie lived in her home tree sometimes the wind was wild and crazy and sometimes gentle and soothing.
Ever since Evie was just a seed-wingling in her pinecone she could hear the wind sing through the branches of the tall and majestic evergreens. It would sometimes shout the praises of Almighty God and His greatness. And sometimes it would whisper and seem to speak her name. More than once she heard it say her name and tell her that there was a special purpose for her and the tree she would one day become.  |
| photo found on Photobucket |
So when launch day came Evie squeezed out of her pinecone and leapt joyfully and expectantly onto a gentle breeze. She was followed by quite a few other of her seed-wingling friends.
From the tippy top branches in the home tree they twirled and drifted down, down to the soft and rich soil below.
But then something unexpected happened. A single gust of wind blew Evie – and only Evie - right over the mountain top’s side. She started spinning wildly. When she finally made an abrupt and rather hard landing she found herself part way down the mountain on a small shelf of rock that jutted out from the side of the mountain.
When she peeked over the ledge’s side she could see she was still very high up. If she had continued down to the bottom she most likely would not have survived. There was a road that ran around a lake that sat at the bottom of the mountain. If the cars on the road hadn’t squished her, than the lake’s water certainly would have drowned her.
She looked around at her little landing place and found it to be small, but comfortable enough. It even had some soft and fertile soil on it. Just enough for her to wiggle down into and start the process of becoming a tree.
Over the years she did grow. Oh but she often felt so alone. It was bad enough that all her friends from her seed-wingling days were up on the mountain top becoming beautiful and majestic trees. But she rarely heard the wind speak to her any more.
She started to think how it just wasn’t fair. And she started to doubt. Maybe what she thought she had heard as a seed-wingling had only been her imagination. Or maybe she didn’t understand. Or maybe God had changed His mind. Made a mistake? Didn’t care? And if He did care was He even aware of her and what had become of her?
Evie continued to grow into a very tall evergreen. She wasn’t as beautiful as she had imagined she’d be. She certainly would never be considered majestic. It had been rough trying to grow on that mountain’s side. She had a few bare spots where branches had snapped from a heavy snow one year. A few other branches just never seemed to stretch out very strong and straight. What with them always being whipped by the strong winds that came around the side of the mountain in the spring.
Every now and then she thought she heard the wind whisper her name and even speak words to encourage her. That she was still significant. That God did see her and did have a plan and purpose for her. That she would be an encouragement to many. She wanted to believe … to have faith… but the missing pieces in her branches seemed to match the missing pieces in her faith.
Until one day when a piece of paper came drifting down on the wind and landed in her branches. “Oh that’s just great”, Evie thought. “Now on top of everything else I’m a garbage collector. I can’t even get any birds to nest in my branches, but I can catch garbage.” And with that her branches seemed to droop a little bit more.
Just as she finished that thought - the wind suddenly blew from a different direction than usual for that time of year. It was a mighty and strong gust of wind. And she heard it as clear as she did back when she was just a seed-wingling. It told her that God had a purpose for her. That her sparse and bare places are the things that make her truly beautiful. Evie began to weep. She bowed her head and asked for Him to show her.
She waited and soon a soft breeze came and lifted the paper out of her branches. The piece of paper blew up and around. It seemed to dance on the wind.
That's when Evie saw that it was actually a photo. What?! It was a photo of Evie!
There were words written on it. They said - Yet I Will REJOICE in You!. Someone had seen her. Someone had seen beauty in spite of her imperfections. Or maybe because of them.
From that day on Evie stood as tall as she could and hoped others would see the beauty in what God had done in her life. She truly had become an encourager. She now knew that God is true to His word and promises. And she rejoiced with the wind that blew and sang that truth all around her.
There were words written on it. They said - Yet I Will REJOICE in You!. Someone had seen her. Someone had seen beauty in spite of her imperfections. Or maybe because of them.
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| Photo by Jessi / Design by Debbie |
The End
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Love ya,
