31 Day Writing Challenge Day 01 - Short Story

I have taken a writing challenge to improve my craft. The challenge is to write at least 500 words a day. As a way of holding my feet to the fire as it were, I will be posting here for the next 31 days the things I write each day. There will be no rhyme or reason to them; it is just the 500+ words I write. I'd love your feedback too; let me know if any of the things I write resonate with you.  Thanks in advance!

Sifting through the rubble with the tip of his axe, Straghn moved aside the smoldering timbers in an effort to look for something, though he wasn’t sure exactly what it was.  He had come upon this cottage in the woods as he was traveling north towards his homeland, and noticing the smoke it had drawn him like a moth to a flame.  He was hoping though, he would fare better than the moth.

By what was left of the residence, he could tell there was a family which had lived here.  So far he had turned up no remains of any human beings and this brought him a little relief, but it also made him think of his own wife and children back home and with those thoughts he wished he was already there.

This time in history was a brutal one, and men didn’t live long if you were unable to defend your own property.  Straghn’s wife Helga was a strong woman; a shield maiden of his people, and knew how to defend herself with both axe and sword.  It was one of the things which he admired about her, and he knew his family would be safe back in Kattagat while he was gone handling business for King Ragnar.

Feeling warmth through the soles of his boots told him this had happened not so long ago.  The ash hovered just over the ground behind everywhere he had walked, giving it an ethereal and unnatural look.  He half expected Loki; the god of mischief, to show up at any time in one of his many shape shifting forms bringing more trouble on his journey than he had already experienced.

Hearing a crow caw off in the distance he turned quickly looking for the source of the noise.  “Odin is close.” he thought, and muttered a prayer, “Odin, protect me.”  It was just then he heard the low feral growling of the wolf pack at the edge of the woods.  He could hear them, but couldn’t see them yet.  Looking over at his horse, he saw his bow and arrows hanging from his saddle, and wished now he had taken the time to bring them with him, knowing he would never reach them in time to use them against the wolves, he resigned himself to the knowledge this would be a brutal fight.

Deciding on the course of action he should take, he hefted his axe into the fighting position with his right hand, and with his left drew out the knife he carried on his belt, holding it up in a defensive manner.  He had a longer reach with his axe, and would use the knife like a shield against the coming attackers.  Moving out of the rubble in order to get better footing, Straghn watched the edge of the woods for any movement; eyes straining to see into the darker parts. 

It came almost without warning, a long shrill cry like a banshee from behind him.  Turning with lightning quick reflexes honed from countless battles serving King Ragnar, Straghn was shocked to see the woman racing towards him.  Her clothes were burned and tattered, and there was blood on her hands and face.  Forgetting the wolves for the moment, he wondered where she had come from and what had happened to her.

Leaping towards him, she left the ground with her hands outstretched reaching for his neck.  Shocked, Straghn side stepped causing her to miss her target and hit the ground like a thud.  Hearing the air leave her lungs as she hit, he knew he had just moments before she regained her composure and attacked again.  Placing his boot on the small of her back he applied pressure to pin her to the ground, but not enough to break her spine.

She lay squirming under the pressure, calling down curses of all the gods on him for what he had done to her family and home.  He realized this must be the lady of the cottage, and began telling her he was not part of the raiding party.  She screamed curses at him for the death of her family, and he could see she was unable to hear anything he was saying because she was in shock.  Turning the axe over in his hand, and using the wooden handle he hit her on her head; hard enough to knock her unconscious, but not so hard as to break the skin.

Secrets; We've All Got 'Em

Secrets, we've all got them don't we?  And yet when you meet and talk to people you would think you are the only person on the planet who has any secrets to be kept.  People as a whole are pretty good actors, because we've all got a few skeletons in our closets; you know things we don't want anyone to ever find out about us, but you would never know it to talk to them.

It's pretty crazy too, how we think we can stash these secrets away, figuring they will never be found out.  But in the end, secrets have a way of escaping from the behind the closet doors in our lives, often to our embarrassment and shame.  

One of my favorite stories found in the Bible is about King David and the time he watched a young lady taking a bath.  You can find it in 2 Samuel 11, but here is the "Dave" version. There was a time when kings were supposed to go to war, but King David stayed behind and sent his men on to the battle. One night he went for a walk on the roof of his palace, and happened to notice a lady bathing.  Immediately, he sent men to find out who she was, and she ends up coming to see the king, and they have sex producing a child.

This woman belonged to another man; one of David's own bodyguards, and this didn't even stop him from doing what he did.  Ultimately it ended in the death of Uriah, David's man. This secret came out, and David was humiliated by it, losing the respect of his men, and the people he ruled not to mention the son Bathsheba had given birth to.

We tend to hide our secrets because we are trying desperately to not look bad in the eyes of others. We are so concerned with our image, we let our integrity go by the wayside. While in the end, most secrets come to the light of day, embarrassing us anyway.  And this isn't just in Bible stories, it doesn't end there, every day we hear some story about someone who turns out to be someone different than we all thought.  

We see it on the news, or read it in an article and think to ourselves, "Oh my, how can this be?  I thought they were such a good person."  But the truth is, we start running through the Rolodex in our brain searching for our own skeletons making sure they are still hidden from view, with the thought, "If they can get to him, they can get me too."  

It's a horrible place to live as I'm sure you are well aware, I know this has been my address before.  What really makes this bad, is we were never meant to live like this. Adam and Eve started us on this path so many, many years ago, hiding from God after partaking of the fruit they were told not to eat. And to this day, we are all still trying to hide who we are too. We are bound by the secrets in our lives, because they keep us from living full lives they way we were intended to.

Maybe what we need to do, is offer a little bit of grace to those around us, realizing they, just like us have secrets which are keeping them bound and they need to be free from. What if we all worked at not having secrets? What if we brought those skeletons out of the closet into the light of day, and set them free? I'm pretty sure we would all be better people for it too. No more secrets to keep hidden from view, no more watching what we say, trying to keep people from knowing the truth about us; which is we are all imperfect, there is no one perfect, except Jesus.

Let's open the closet doors, release the skeletons and find the full life we are supposed to live; free of guilt and shame. Until next time, strength and honor for the Kingdom and the King.

What's So Important, What's He Carrying?

For those of you who may not know me yet, I'm a huge fan of the Star Wars movies.  While I was pondering what I should write about this morning, this phrase from the first movie came to mind.  Han Solo asks Princess Leia, "What's so important, what's he carrying?"  Of course if you've watched the movie you know R2D2 was carrying the technical readouts of the battle station known as the Death Star.  But what does this have to do with Dave Felts and the blog he is writing this morning you may ask?

Well let me answer this by asking you a question.  What's so important, what's Dave carrying on the inside of him?  Not technical readouts of a battle station I can assure you of this, but there are things on the inside of me which can actually help you in life.  I have lived long enough now to have acquired knowledge on many subjects, and the goal of my life has always been to help people improve themselves.

One of the ways I help people is through my writing.  I have loved to write for as long as I can remember. Putting words down on a page in more than just a random way really excites me. Forming thoughts and ideas and then conveying them to an audience brings me the greatest amount of pleasure. I truly love it when someone reads what I've written, and then tells me how much it helped them in their life. There is no greater joy for me than to help a fellow human being.

 

I'm embarking on a career as a writer; something I've been dreaming about for a long time which is finally becoming a reality, and I would like to invite you to come along with me.  Follow my blog, check out my books at amazon.com/author/davefelts, and watch where God leads me in the coming months and years.

What's so important, what's he carrying?  Questions, answers and a very unique way at viewing this world we live in.  I hope you'll come along with me.

  

I Pee Peed In The Potty

Last week at the conclusion of our Sunday service at church, I was standing around like we do, talking with friends when one of my favorite kids came up to give me a hug.  I then heard her tell her parents her little brother pee peed in the potty all by himself in his class.

After hearing this news, I leaned down to this little three year old and asked him if he had indeed pee peed in the potty all by himself.  His smile was from ear to ear as he loudly exclaimed, "Yes!  I pee peed in the potty all by myself!"  Of course others heard him state this, and it became a big celebration for him, and he excitedly told anyone and everyone he saw of his grand accomplishment.

Time passed, and I gathered my things to leave for lunch, when I saw this little tyke running up to total strangers and with the enthusiasm only a child can bring, sharing his big news.  I had to smile as I watched the reactions on both his face and those of the total strangers.  Then it dawned on me, I had seen this reaction before.

I had to chuckle, because this enthusiasm of a three year old who had just pee peed in the potty was the same enthusiasm I had seen in men I've been around when they did something they felt deserved recognition too.  I believe this is something hardwired into the male species; the need for recognition of a job well done.  We, as men have this need to be recognized for what we do.  

Unfortunately men tend to draw their value as a person from what they do, and if they don't get the recognition they feel they deserve, then they can spend their entire lives trying to find it in other places.  Trying to prove to themselves and others they are worth something.  Looking for this self-worth in the wrong place.

All of my worth comes from Jesus, and what He has done for me.  It's who I am in Christ which is the most important thing, not just the accomplishments and achievements I've managed.  Really, you can line up all of my accomplishments and achievements, and they would be worthless next to the reality of who I am in Christ.  I'm not saying we shouldn't take pride in our work, or the things we do.  What I'm saying is they shouldn't be our primary focus.

Finding out who you are, what you have and what you can do in Christ should be our priority.  Because once we figure all of this out, then we'll truly be fulfilled, and will have something we can tell everyone about!

For the Kingdom and the King!

To Those Who Are Forgiven Most

I was doing my usual Bible reading this morning and came across the story about when Jesus was invited to eat at a religious leader's home. A woman who was a sinner came in to the house with an alabaster box of ointment, and the Bible says with many tears and using her hair she washed the feet of Jesus and anointed his feet with the contents of the box. The story goes on to say the religious leader said within himself, "If Jesus knew what manner of woman this was, he would not allow this."

Jesus then tells the man a story about two people who owed debts; one large and the other small. Both debtors were forgiven of what they owed, and Jesus asked which one would be the most grateful. The man replied, "I guess the one to whom the largest debt was owed." Jesus congratulated him on the correct answer, then turning to the woman said to her, "Daughter, your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you."

I found something interesting in this story; the woman, when she heard about Jesus being at this man's house for dinner showed up to anoint the feet of Jesus.  Now I don't know about you, but if I'm throwing a dinner party and a stranger shows up, I'm probably not going to let them come in and accost my guests. This makes me wonder, how did the religious leader know she was a sinner, and why then if he knew this did he allow her to come in?

The skeptic in me thinks maybe he knew she was a sinner, because he had been one of the men who was visiting her?  After all, Jesus said there were two debtors in his story. Perhaps the woman was not the one with the greatest sin in the story he was telling? Maybe he was talking about this religious leader? Just a thought.

What this story made me think of, is all of those people out there who are living without Jesus in their lives, and how I treat them. Am I like this religious leader who, knowing people who are in sin, and just stand back looking down piously on them thinking to myself doesn't Jesus know what they do? Do I help them find the truth about who Jesus is, and what he can do for them? Or do I remain silent?

This passage of Scripture has kind of opened a can of worms for me I think. It definitely given me something to think about. I want to be more like Jesus and less like the religious leader in this story, I mean I know I've been forgiven for much, so I need to go and let others know too.

Truth or Fact

What do you do when the Bible says one thing, but the things you are seeing in your life say another?  One is the truth and the other is facts.  Is there a difference between fact and truth?  Absolutely there is.  Facts are what you r senses tell you, what you see, feel, hear, taste and can touch.  While truth is what you know, but cannot explain why it works.

What makes this difficult at times is we live in a world which is dominated by sin and still under the control of the devil; the enemy of all truth.  One of the things which he and his cohorts do is manipulate situations around us to get our view off of the truth and onto facts.

Going to school for so many years, we learned two times ten equals twenty, this is a fact of multiplication. Then we learn in church the truth about giving; how if we give away, we will get more in return.  It doesn’t make sense does it?  If I give the church ten percent of my income, this seems like subtraction, but in God’s Kingdom it is actually multiplication.

The enemy will then use facts on our brains to try and tell us what is real.  I understand facts are real too; when I look at my bank account and see the numbers dwindling, I realize this is a fact and there is no denying it.  But then I see the truth of what the Bible says about how it is God who makes my needs a reality when I give, and I realize regardless of what facts my bank account may be screaming at me, the truth is God has my back and is taking care of my needs.

And on a side note, I have a job, work hard at it and am watching what I’m spending too.  I’m not just out there living it up and blowing all my money.  I’m being a good steward of what God has given me.  I don’t believe for a minute we should go out, buy everything we see and then expect God to swoop in and save the day.  End of rant.

There is a story in the Bible which illustrates my point I think.  You’ve probably read it before; it’s the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.  These three Hebrew young men were taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and ended up serving as some of his advisors.  It came into the heart of the king to make a giant golden statue, and to hold a big celebration.  All the leaders of his lands were ordered to attend, and when they arrived they were instructed to bow down to the statue as they heard the music playing.  Anyone caught not bowing would be thrown into a fiery furnace to their death.

The time came, all were gathered together and the music sounded.  Everyone bowed down, except the three Hebrew men.  They had decided they could not bow down to an idol if they were truly followers of Jehovah.  Of course they were brought before the king, and given one more chance to bow; which they refused to do.  This made the king so furious he instructed that the furnace be heated seven times hotter than ever before.

What I really love about these three guys is what they told the king.  They said, “The God whom we serve is able to save us from your burning, fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand O king.  But even if He doesn’t, know this, we will not serve your gods or worship your golden statue.”  Talk about courage in the face of death.  Awesome!

Well the king instructed the army to tie them up and throw them in the fiery furnace, which was so hot the men who threw them in died instantly.  The story goes on to say when the king looked in he saw four men walking around in the fire.  He called them out, and when they were examined they were not burned, nor did they even smell like smoke.

When they were standing there waiting to be thrown in the fire, the fact was they were going to die, it was staring them in the face.  The truth however was what they chose to believe in the moments before being thrown into the fire.  This story was given to us as an example of how we are supposed to live our lives.  What is truly amazing about this, is these three men didn’t have the Bible we have today, nor were they born again and baptized in the Holy Spirit.  How much more should we be living like this then if we are born again and have the Holy Spirit?  Just a thought there you know.

Well I’ve encouraged myself this morning to rethink my place in God’s Kingdom, and how I’m doing things in my own life, how about you?  The next time I’ve got facts staring me in the face, I’ll accept them for what they are; facts, but then I’ll put my trust in the truth of God’s Word instead.  For the Kingdom and the King!

Home Alone

In the movie Home Alone, the young boy Kevin is accidentally left home alone by his family as they travel to France for Christmas. While I am neither a boy, nor have I been left behind by my family, this year does mark my first as a father with no children living at home on Father's Day. And you know what? I'm okay with this. 

Don't misunderstand me, I love my kids very, very much. It's just as a dad, one of the many jobs I have is to prepare them to find out what God wants them to do in the Kingdom, then go out and become productive members of society and leave the nest. It's a bitter sweet job too, because in order for them to do this, they have to leave and go out into the world.

I say bitter sweet, because in order for them to reach their potential they have to go out where I can no longer protect and watch out for them. As their dad it has been my job to make sure they were loved, had what they needed and showed them how to follow God. But now it is my job to pray for them and guide them with insight when they ask for it. 

My children are adults now; they are married and have started their own lives with their spouses. It's a great time in my life as I watch them make their way in the world. My prayer life has amped up too, because I don't want them making the same mistakes I made when I was starting out. 

One of the things I've noticed the most, is how quiet my house is now. My wife and I live here, but the noises we've grown accustomed too over the past twenty some years are gone. I remember thinking once how nice it would be when the kids were gone, because I wouldn't have to listen to the fighting or pestering one another. I've heard either Micah or April yell the name Noah when he'd did something to them so many times I wanted to scream (and did so on more than one occasion). And now I'd give anything to put up with this again.

In the book of Ecclesiastes it says for everything there is a season, and I'm just in another season of life; one I was unprepared for. As I mowed the yard yesterday I couldn't help but think about my youngest son Noah, and how he loved to mow. I also thought how he would still be living at home had he not killed himself 5 years ago. Yet one more thing I was unprepared for, but forced to deal with.

And this is it I think for dads, our children come into our lives fully dependent upon us for everything, then as they grow and mature they need us less and less. And if we're not careful we can lose touch with them because we feel as if they don't need us any more.When truthfully this may be the time they need us the most. Just because they've become adults doesn't mean they know everything now. There are still going to be things they need to learn, and can only learn from us because we've been there.

So while I may be home alone on this Father's Day it doesn't mean I am alone. Not at all, I've got the greatest kids out there, and they are impacting the world for God's Kingdom daily. They are doing the things I've trained them to do, and I'll be here for a long time to help them learn the things they still need to learn too. 

I'm a blessed man, because I had the opportunity to raise Micah, April and Noah. And they still make me very proud and I love them SO much!!! For the Kingdom and the King!