Random stuff and a story ...

Hello, readers!

Today's post is a collection of musings and thoughts occupying space in my brain ever since I finished the Write 31 Days challenge. 

I hope all of you by now have managed to read all 31 Days of my serial, ANGEL ON ASSIGNMENT; The Book of Morgan. If not, (why not?) you can click here to go to a landing page that has a link for each day.

As a writer, it's been a wild ride since the idea first popped in my head to write a story about characters birthed from a prompt given in a virtual writing club meeting.

I'm reminded of the quote, 

“I was born to be wild, but only until around 9pm.” ― Unknown

... nevertheless, corralling the wild incessant thoughts of my characters was keeping me up nights.. I had a brain dump list so that I could put partial ideas down while they were fresh and revisit them later.

The month of September was a blur because every waking moment was consumed by Kai, Morgan, Sharon, etc.

I'd be driving down the road and suddenly realize I'm thinking of different scenarios Kai could be involved in.

I'd lay my head on the pillow at night to go to sleep when suddenly I would realize what Rose looked like and how she would talk.

I finished a few days before October started and thought the next month participating in the challenge would be a breeze and I'd have plenty of spare time.

Nope. Think edits, graphics and more edits. I was just as busy in October as September.

So, here it is early November, and I'm 8 pages into a sequel I've got planned. No rest for the weary!

I'm loving it, by the way.

Looking at my brain dump list, I see a story I was telling a friend the other day ... it has nothing to do with ANGEL ON ASSIGNMENT, and so I thought I'd share it with you today.

It's a story I heard years ago, and I have no idea who told it. I even googled it, so I'll give credit to Anonymous. ( I did, however, embellish it.) If you recognize it and know who told it, let me know. I would love to give them credit.

Three Christian Ladies Walking to Heaven

There were three ladies walking the road to heaven.

One lady was walking vigorously, climbing rough paths, even crawling to get there. Nothing was going to stop her. She was traveling all by herself.

The second lady was hesitantly making her way; but every once in awhile, she heard the voice of Jesus encouraging her, so she kept on going.

The third lady would come to a stop every little bit and would stand there forever until Jesus came and showed Himself to her and then she would go on.

Now, the question is this: why did one lady get to see Jesus, one get to hear Him, but one lady got no sign from Him at all?

Doesn't seem fair, does it?

Here is how it was explained to me. The first lady had enough faith, she would claw her way to heaven if she had to go never hearing from Him even once. The second lady just needed a little encouragement to go on. 

What about that third lady?  Even though it looked like she was the most blessed of the three, since she actually got to see Jesus in person; she was the one with the weakest faith. She couldn't believe without Him helping her.

So in heaven, it will be reversed. The first lady will get the most abundant blessing because she believed against all odds; the second lady will be blessed, to be sure, but not as greatly as the first. The third lady will have the smallest reward because she believed the least.

Of course, the main thing is to get there! 

I also believe the smallest blessing in heaven is way more than the hugest earthly blessing; but still, wouldn't you want to receive the biggest blessing and be known for having great faith?

Although this story is not biblical, it does mirror the parable of the talents found in Matthew 25. Remember? Three men were given talents according to their abilities; one was given 5, another 2, and the last was given one. The first two men went out and worked and doubled their talents. The last sat on his talent (well, literally he buried his talent). In the end, he was called wicked for not using his talent (subject matter for another whole blogpost!); and had his talent taken away and given to the one who had the most talents.

Let's say these three ladies walking to heaven had the talent of faith. One's talent was so much, she really had no need of help. She had enough for the journey.

The second lady's faith needed a helping hand now and then.

But the third lady's faith was very weak and the only way she would have enough faith is ... to wait until Jesus showed up to encourage her.

Whoa! That puts an entirely different spin on this little story, does it not?

Maybe the third lady was the smartest of all! 

My friend, have you been feeling weak - so weak you can't put one foot in front of the other? Take heart. If you have any faith at all, it can be increased. You just have to draw near enough to Him to receive what you need. 

See, Matthew 25:29 also tells us this:

"For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance."

I've always believed the answer to any problem in your life can be found at the feet of Jesus. Draw near, my friend, draw near.

~~~

I’m honored you stopped by the Journey today!

I don't want you to miss a post, so why not sign up to subscribe. It's easy-peasy. Just enter your email address in the sidebar right above my profile.

If a post resonates with you, please consider sharing by clicking one of the social media buttons at the bottom of this post.

I'm sharing this with the community at Trekking Through The Week and Porch Stories.