God Speaks in Packages — My Entry into the Thin Places Contest

I learned of this contest just today, so I’m just in time to post my entry.   Mary DeMuth is promoting her new book Thin Places by a writing contest, with the prize being an Amazon Kindle.   Here is a description of the contest:

In exactly 259 words — the retail value of a Kindle reader — tell us about a time you experienced a “thin place” in your life. These would be aha moments, beautiful realizations when the Son of God bursts through the hazy fog of our monotony and shines on us afresh, times when God has reminded or reassured you that he is real and present.

Without further ado, here is my entry:

Overwhelmed. That word best described me that night. I was woefully behind in my projects. Finals loomed ahead, almost as bleak as the financial pressures I felt. And I had never been busier in my life.

I suppose most freshmen go through a crisis their first semester. But for me this was huge. I was facing this alone — stressed out, at my wit’s end, and eaten by worry. Sounds a bit dramatic now, but I remember the feeling well.

I sought solace in a time of prayer, on my knees, under my desk in a dark room. I don’t remember if I was begging God for help, or just quiet and worn out, but I was desperate.

And then it came: a knock on the door, and a voice, “Delivery, for Bob Hayton!” I slowly backed out from my desk and met the fellow entering my room. A very large package had arrived.

I wondered if a check was inside, something tangible to get me out of the mess I was in. Instead, I was greeted with a wide assortment of treats and goodies. It was a simple care package, nothing more.

But for me, it somehow was more. It didn’t help me pass my exams or complete my projects, it didn’t rescue me from a financial bind, but it gave me the kind of help I really needed — strength to go on.

God answers prayer. He watches out for His children. Sometimes, through small things like packages, he intervenes, whispering, “I’m here, I know, I care.”

5 thoughts on “God Speaks in Packages — My Entry into the Thin Places Contest

  1. Great story Bob! Praise God that the comfort with which he comforted you is comforting others. Currently it is a comfort to me. I have been meditating on the infinite grace of simple blessings God brings into our lives. May he continue to grace us with his simple blessings and make us faithful to comfort others with the public praise of him because of them.

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