Faith Stories

Portrait of a Persistent Woman

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Portrait of a Persistent Woman: A fictional retelling of the woman in Matthew 15.

Her daughter was asleep. She peered carefully into her scratched-up face. Only strong herbs mixed with wine would calm her poor girl, ever since the demon had taken hold of her. Her sweet, loving, obedient daughter, the pride of the family and the village, had become hateful, violent, and abusive overnight.

They had chained her daughter to the bed to keep her from destroying every item in the house. She had broken half their pottery and torn their linens to shreds. She spewed vicious hatred from her mouth, and her eyes were wild with turbulence. They swaddled her hands so she would stop tearing at her own flesh.

A memory floated back: when her daughter was a newborn, she had fashioned tiny mittens to prevent her little fingernails from scratching her baby face. Oh, those days were long gone. Sorrow and desperation welled up in her spirit. She missed her girl terribly, and feared that the demon would kill her daughter unless she got help. She had to find healing, and she needed it now!

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Five Minute Friday: Steady

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Writing for five unedited minutes on the prompt “Steady” for Five Minute Friday.

After school in my childhood, my sister and I stayed with the “S” family after school. My sister and the youngest boy of the family loved to play in the open field behind the house, while I usually stayed inside and read books. But they begged me to come play with them. The problem was, I had to climb over a gate to get to the field.

The gate was locked by the field’s owner, so we couldn’t swing it open. If you wanted to cross, you had to climb over. And I couldn’t do it.

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Portrait of a Thirsty Woman

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Portrait of a Thirsty Woman: A fictional retelling of the Samaritan woman in John 4

Time to gather water again, she sighed to herself. She thought the years would have toughened her, strengthened her. But water gathering days made her soul feel weary.

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She was tired of putting defenses up, day after day. Defenses against being a Samaritan, who the Jews despised. Against being barren, which stripped her self-worth. Against being unmarried yet living with her lover. She was an outcast, even among her own people. And she felt weary from the constant fight to prove her value.

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Five Minute Friday: Worth

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When I was a teen, I used the bathroom as a hiding place when things got too intense.

I hid there on dates. I hid there at prom. I hid there almost every night family stuff got too heavy.

In the bathroom, I struggled with my identity. My head knowledge told me I was a child of God. But my broken heart told me I wasn’t worth very much.

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