A Monday Collage: A Short Story, Plus More

 

A short story, plus more

Field of Healing

The grim memory resurfaced as Faye surveyed her back yard. Still photographs paraded through her mind: black and white, in keeping with the pathos of that day.

In one, her mother was drawing up a plan of how she wanted things to be: perfect, neat, pristine, easily maintained. Boring.

The next snap shot; an image of her mother directing her father. Her shrill voice accompanying the memory. "No, George, it must be chopped out. Otherwise it will just grow back again and make more work." And, "Yes, I want the grass gone too. I've called the garden services. It's going to cost more than I want to pay, but it will be worth it."

The next scene brought the most pain. "But mommy, can't we keep it? Where will the butterflies and ladybirds live if you dig everything up?" Faye had hoped her mother would miss the wild patch of garden behind the shed. She'd always considered it to be hers: a little wonderland of sorts, where daisies, clover, and other wild flowers put on a charming show come Spring.

"They can live in Mrs Hill's garden. It's like a jungle over there. Our garden is going to be neat and tidy. Won't that be nice?"

Faye had cried into her pillow. By evening the fairy tale garden was gone. She'd later found solace by playing in Mrs Hill's garden, when the kindly woman babysat for mother, but the sadness had remained.

***

 Faye pushed the fading pictures out of her mind. She opened the back door with a flourish as  gentle Spring sunshine washed over her. Then balancing her washing basket on one hip, she walked out to the washing line. Here, a small reminder of her mother's merciless mission remained in the form of a narrow strip of concrete. The rest of the back yard was a riot of colour: an emerald lawn was bordered by beds filled with blooms of every hue, along with vegetables and herbs. Lime green and variegated trees paraded around the garden's perimeter. But the loveliest feature of Faye's garden lay beyond the old shed.

Faye made her way there once the washing was flapping in the playful breeze. For some moments, she just stood and smiled, dazzled by the beauty of Creation. The years seemed to slip away as she walked through the field, stooping every so often to pick some tiny blooms. The tiny white daisies would make a perfect bouquet for her daughter's barbie doll. Chores waited inside, but Faye lingered amongst the friendly faces around her, and allowed forgiveness to  soften the old snapshots to gray.

***

Scripture Writing

Recently, I have been writing out Scriptures in a more deliberate, rather than a random way. I short while ago, I watched a couple of videos about Scripture writing which covered the how to's and the benefits. I think the main benefit of writing Scriptures out by hand, is that you begin to absorb them; to ponder them.

Scripture writing can be as plain or as elaborate as you choose. You may write in ball point pen in a simple lined note book, or you may choose to write in a journal or on plain papers which you then file. You may add doodles, patterns, or stickers to the Scripture. 

One woman, whose video I watched, likes to write out whole books of the Bible, but she also writes Scripture on cards to give away.

Another idea is to write a Scripture verse on your daily to do list.

Below are some examples.

Happy writing! :)

In this example, I created a collage around the verse.

Above and below: Simple embellishments, including pictures from a colouring book. Recycle and re-use. ,)

A Little Poem

Written whilst enjoying a peaceful, blessed afternoon.

A sunny bench on a perfect winter day.

Simple, pretty, inspirational daisies.

Copyright: pencil in His Hand

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have a lovely, Jesus-filled week. See you, God willing, next month.

🤗💜🙏